International Law in Art, Literature, Thought

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Two Weeks in Review: 13—24 July 2026

The last fortnight has seen commentators focus primarily on conflict, climate, and immigration. A mini-symposium has ranged over a number of legal questions raised by a potential Russia-Ukraine peace treaty: from  VCLT rules on treaty validity and security guarantees, to free economic zones and the question of the reconstruction of Ukraine through seized assets of the Russian Central Bank. The Iran War continues to provoke deep reflection: while US attacks on neutral commercial vessels expose a fundamental tension between the Law of Naval Warfare and the UN Charter; the uneven international reaction to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Iran’s response, force us to think about what state silence can—and cannot—tell us about the law. Climate obligations for states and corporations continue apace, as Paris Judicial Court’s judgment against TotalEnergies marks a significant advance in corporate climate litigation, and advisory opinions by the ICJ and IACtHR potentially open the way for a customary obligation on states to “actively pursue” climate science. The sharpening of EU immigration policy through the Return Directive and the Chișinău Declaration remain…

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Christopher Nolan and International Law

Sand Tomorrow, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey will come clattering into cinemas around the world. There will no doubt be talk of plotlines, performances, accents, and fidelity to the source text—perhaps even some mentions of the curious absence of Greek actors. There is less likely to be talk about sand. But the…

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Eurovision, Non-Recognition and Bangaranga?!

Bulgaria won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with Dara’s “Bangaranga”; Israel finished second; and five countries, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland, stayed away in protest at Israel’s participation. That combination, spectacle, boycott and contested belonging, is a useful entry point into a wider legal problem. Eurovision is not the United…

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Stones of Memory: When the Streets of Gaza Speak the Names of Their People

Introduction: Confronting the “Double Erasure”  As the dust of explosions settles over the Gaza Strip, a profound realization dawns upon the survivors: the destruction is not merely physical. It is a systematic attempt to tear the memory of the place, uproot victims from their human context, and dissolve them into silent, anonymous statistics. This “double erasure”—of…

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A Brechtian Way of Mooting

This year, international legal education reached a (cinematic) milestone. The documentary film African Moot (Shameela Seedat, African Moot, 2022) was showcased at the international documentary festival HotDoc and entered several other film festivals across the world. The film follows a group of law students who take part in the annual African Human Rights Moot Competition. The audience…

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