International Law and Domestic Law

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Red lines in a grey zone: the validity of a Russia-Ukraine peace treaty under international law

July 13, 2026

Asli Ozcelik

While peace still appears remote, the prospect of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine raises difficult questions concerning the international law governing inter-state peace treaties. The unlawfulness of Russia’s use of force and the peace plans proposed to date point to issues of validity, particularly under Articles 46, 52 and 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). This post discusses the extent to which the international law of treaty validity constrains the permissible terms and circumstances of concluding a peace treaty. It demonstrates that, in the context of a potential Russia–Ukraine peace treaty, international law requires respect for Ukraine’s fundamental constitutional constraints, safeguards its freedom to consent to a treaty, and precludes treaty terms that conflict with peremptory norms. Yet, construed along the lines advanced in this post, these constraints leave significant room for accommodating the imperatives of bringing a militarily unresolved conflict to an end.

Migration in Times of Fascization

June 23, 2026

Jens Theilen

In May 2025, the infamous “letter of the nine” was published. In it, the governments of nine European states laid out their vision of various anti-migrant policies and called for “a new and open minded [sic.] conversation about the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights”. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR),…

Israel’s Military Ad-hoc Court for October 7: Abdicating Truth and Justice

June 22, 2026

Smadar Ben-Natan

For decades, Israel prided itself on an ostensibly independent and professional civilian legal system, but when it came to prosecuting the accused of the October 7 attack, it chose to establish an ad-hoc military court. The Law for the Prosecution of October 7 Massacre was recently passed by an exceptional majority of the Israeli Knesset, establishing…

Can the Living Instrument Doctrine Be Reversed?

June 17, 2026

Marten Breuer

On 15 May 2026, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), meeting at ministerial level in Chişinău (Republic of Moldova), adopted a declaration in which the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) was called upon to recalibrate the standard of human rights protection in the field of migration policy. Much has been written…

Domestic Courts and the States’ Obligation to Prevent Genocide and Serious Violations of IHL: The Brussels Court of Appeal’s Interlocutory Judgment of 16 March 2026

May 26, 2026

Coline Minguet

On 16 March 2026, the Brussels Court of Appeal (hereafter, the “Court”) issued an interlocutory judgment in summary proceedings (référé) concerning the alleged failure of the Belgian State to comply with its international obligations in relation to the risk of genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law (“IHL”) in Gaza (hereafter, the “Judgment”). The…

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The Julian Assange Affair: May the UK Terminate the Diplomatic Status of Ecuador’s Embassy? UPDATED

August 17, 2012

Dapo Akande

Ecuador has announced that it is granting asylum to Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, who has taken refuge in the Ecuardor's embassy in London. Assange sought refuge in the Embassy after the UK Supreme Court ruled a few weeks ago that he may be extradited to Sweden where he is wanted for trial on allegation of committing…

UK Supreme Court Decides R (Smith) v SSD

June 30, 2010

Marko Milanovic

Today the UK Supreme Court decided R (Smith) v Secretary of State for Defence [2010] UKSC 29 (press summary), yet another fascinating addition to the unfolding saga on the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties. The plaintiff was the mother of a UK soldier stationed in Iraq who died there from a severe heatstroke. She demanded an inquiry…

Is there a place for sovereign immunity in the fight against terrorism? The US Supreme Court says ‘no’ in Bank Markazi v. Peterson

May 19, 2016

Victor Grandaubert

The US Supreme Court’s judgment of 20 April 2016 in the case of Bank Markazi, aka The Central Bank of Iran, Petitioner v. Deborah Peterson, et al. highlights the increasingly isolated nature of US practice on sovereign immunity. As well as addressing issues of constitutional law, the judgment is also significant from an international law perspective; the…

International Law in the Age of Trump

February 28, 2017

Monica Hakimi

In the second month of Donald Trump’s presidency, we still know little about his foreign policy agenda. He regularly said things during the campaign that suggested a radical departure from longstanding tenets of U.S. foreign policy. And during his first month in office, he caused more than his fair share of diplomatic offense and confusion.