International Criminal Law

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The ICC, Arrest Warrants, and Peace Negotiations

August 18, 2026

Miles Jackson

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…

The Removal of the ICC Prosecutor and the Edge of the ICC’s Political Universe

August 17, 2026

Yuval Shany

Maria Varaki

“…I understood that I had collided with the edge of the political universe in which the Tribunal was allowed to function” (Carla Del Ponte, Madame Prosecutor: Confrontations with Humanity’s Worst Criminals and the Culture of Impunity (2009), p. 60) The process culminating in the 24 July 2026 decision by the ICC…

Sudan’s Death Sentences Against RSF Leaders: Complementarity and Accountability Under International Law

August 11, 2026

Samson Ristom Asfaha

Senai Woldeab Andemariam

On 12 July 2026, the Anti-Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court in Port Sudan sentenced General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (‘Hemedti’), commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and fifteen others to death in absentia (See also here and here). The convictions relate to the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar in…

Ensuring Accountability and Remedy for Victims of Mercenarism: Colombia at an Inflection Point

August 10, 2026

Olivia Herman

Sorcha MacLeod

In March 2026, the Colombian Parliament and then-President Petro agreed to accede to the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (International Convention). With the deposit of the accession instruments, Colombia will end a multi-year gap in the Convention’s adoption and become its 39th State party. This move represents a significant…

A Third Category of Enforced Disappearance? The Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ Article 34 Resolution on Mexico

July 31, 2026

Salvador Leyva Morelos-Zaragoza

In April 2026, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) adopted a resolution under Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (hereinafter “the Convention”) and urgently brought the matter before the UN General Assembly. Article 34 empowers the CED to bring a situation to the attention of…

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Ukraine Files ICJ Claim against Russia

February 27, 2022

Marko Milanovic

Earlier today President Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has filed an application against Russia before the International Court of Justice: Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease…

The Self-Fragmentation of the ICTY Appeals Chamber

January 23, 2014

Marko Milanovic

Today the ICTY Appeals Chamber (thankfully) affirmed the convictions of high-ranking Serbian leaders for crimes in Kosovo in Sainovic et al, even though it somewhat reduced the sentences. The judg(e)ment is gigantic, especially for an appeals decision, at 800 pages+, and obviously I haven't read it. But buried in all that is one very important development…

Can the ICC Prosecute for Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria?

August 23, 2013

Dapo Akande

Recent reports regarding the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria are very disturbing indeed. If it turns out that there is concrete evidence that chemical weapons have been used, many will hope this will (finally) provoke action by the Security Council. There will inevitably be calls for accountability of those responsible and hopes that the Syrian situation will be referred…

ICC Appeals Chamber Holds that Heads of State Have No Immunity Under Customary International Law Before International Tribunals

May 6, 2019

Dapo Akande

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has, this morning, issued what seems to be an extremely controversial decision on Head of State Immunity. At the time of writing, the full written judgment is not yet available in the appeal by Jordan against the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber referring that state to the UN Security…