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UN General Assembly Committee Adopts Resolution Requesting Second Advisory Opinion from ICJ on Occupied Palestinian Territory

December 20, 2022

Susan Power

On 10 November 2022, at the Seventy-seventh session of the UN General Assembly, Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), the State of Palestine- in a move which skirted largely under the media radar- tabled a resolution under Item 47 calling for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the legal status of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory and the consequences arising from it. Given the prolonged nature of the occupation, now in its 55th year, and what the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, deems a “permanent” occupying administration, with generations of Palestinians growing up under the oppressive restrictions of military rule, expanding settlement construction and purported de facto and de jure annexations, and a plethora of recent human rights reports indicating the existence of an apartheid regime, a second advisory opinion is not just urgent, for Palestine, it is existential. The resolution was adopted on Friday 11th, with 98 States voting in…

The Protection of the Atmosphere and the ‘Regressive’ Development of International Law

November 1, 2022

Islam Attia

In a few weeks, the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-27) will be convening in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. States will negotiate higher ambitions on mitigation, adaptation, and climate finance, in an attempt to curtail the apocalyptic consequences of climate change. In this context, the identification of relevant principles of international law is necessary and will provide timely…

Looking Behind the UN Youth Office: Considering Structural Limitations of Youth Participation After the Party

October 4, 2022

Julian A. Hettihewa

Last month, the UN General Assembly decided “to establish the United Nations Youth Office as a dedicated office for youth affairs in the Secretariat” (op. para. 1). While the new office was met with general praise, it is important to understand this development in a broader context of international law’s engagement with youth. Pointing to structural limitations,…

Russia and the UN Human Rights Council: A Step in the Right Direction

April 8, 2022

Rosa Freedman

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia’s membership of the UN Human Rights Council. This is only the second time in the Council’s 16 year history that a member has been suspended under GA resolution 60/251 paragraph 8 for committing ‘gross and systematic violations of human…

EJIL:The Podcast! Episode 14 – “From Russia With War”

March 7, 2022

Dapo Akande

In this episode Philippa Webb, Marko Milanovic and I are joined by Rebecca Barber (Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect) and Mike Becker (Trinity College Dublin) to examine various aspects of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The discussion begins with an evaluation of Russia’s legal justification for invading Ukraine, moving to…

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The Legality of Military Action in Syria: Humanitarian Intervention and Responsibility to Protect

August 28, 2013

Dapo Akande

It now seems fairly clear that the US and the UK are set to take military action in Syria in the coming days in response to the recent chemical attacks there. The UK Prime Minister, UK Foreign Secretary and the UK Secretary of State for Defence have all asserted that any action…

So, Has This Ever Happened Before?

September 19, 2017

Marko Milanovic

For the past week or so I’ve been enjoying the start of my sabbatical in New York, as a visiting professor at Columbia this semester. And for the past couple of days I’ve been enjoying – well, experiencing – the chaotic collapse of parts of the city during the UN General Assembly. And today I could enjoy –…

ICJ Delivers Chagos Advisory Opinion, UK Loses Badly

February 25, 2019

Marko Milanovic

Earlier this afternoon the ICJ delivered its Chagos advisory opinion. Briefly, the Court found that the separation of the Chagos archipelago from the British colony of Mauritius was contrary to the right to self-determination and that accordingly the decolonization of Mauritius was not completed in conformity with international law. As a consequence, the Court found that the UK's…

Surveillance without Borders: The Unlawfulness of the NSA Panopticon, Part II

November 4, 2013

Anne Peters

This is Part II of a post assessing the international law implications of the U.S. National Security Agency's global spying program. Part I focused the general international law implications of the program. This part focuses on potential violations of human rights law and breaches of the law of diplomacy. Constitutional fundamental rights binding the…