Arrest Warrants

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The ICC, Arrest Warrants, and Peace Negotiations

August 18, 2026

Introduction On 9 June 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued a decision in response to a request by a State for consultations under Article 97 of the Rome Statute. Article 97 provides an avenue for State Parties to consult the Court where it ‘identifies problems which may impede or prevent the execution of the request’ for cooperation, including arrest and surrender. The decision itself frames the issue at stake: a State, whose identity is not disclosed, requested consultations relating to ‘the avenues available to States Parties to allow the organisation of peace talks on their territory involving a person subject to a warrant of arrest issued by the Court’ (para 4). The person concerned is Vladimir Putin; the cooperation request relates to the issuance of an arrest warrant in 2023 for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.  In short, the Court accepted that there may be circumstances which justify non-execution of a…

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Once Again in Belgium: Prosecuting a Colonial Crime – The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba

April 22, 2026

In December 2024, a Belgian Court of Appeal recognised the civil liability of the Belgian State for a colonial crime committed in the Belgian Congo between 1948 and 1953. In the Métis case, as already addressed by scholars, the Court held that the Belgian policy of systematically removing children born to a Black mother and a…

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Judicial Independence Under Threat: Russia’s Conviction in absentia of Nine International Criminal Court Officials

February 18, 2026

On 12 December 2025, the Moscow City Court convicted nine International Criminal Court (ICC) officials in absentia for crimes relating to the unlawful prosecution of Russian citizens. These individuals were prosecuted in retaliation for the issuance of ICC arrest warrants against several Russian nationals, including President Vladimir Putin. A group of UN experts promptly declared the…

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Which Immunity for Nicolás Maduro? Personal immunity, Inviolability, and the Implausible Exceptions the US Might Claim

January 22, 2026

On 3 January 2025, the US carried out a military operation on Venezuelan territory that culminated in the capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro and his wife. This operation plainly breaches Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and may amount to an act of aggression (as explained here, here or here). Not only that, but…

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The Prosecution ‘Gap’ for Attacks on Subsea Cables and Pipelines

November 13, 2025

Recent incidents in the Baltic Sea and elsewhere have exposed both the vulnerability of undersea infrastructure and the fragility of the legal order meant to protect it. While recent pieces on EJIL: Talk! and in Ocean Development & International Law address key facets, this post takes a step back to map the wider prosecutorial gap and…

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