Jurisdiction and Admissibility

In mid-2025, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III (WGIII) released a new set of Draft Provisions on Procedural and Cross-Cutting Issues, as part of its ongoing reform of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which aims at addressing long-standing concerns about the fairness, balance, and effectiveness of the current system. One of…

In the shadows of the ICJ’s climate advisory opinion, Strasbourg has been busy with climate cases too – busy, mostly saying no. Published on 28 August 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declared Engels and Others v. Germany, a follow-up to Germany’s Neubauer litigation, inadmissible. The decision leans heavily on the demanding victim-status test…

In the recent Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgment on Preliminary Objections of August 21, 2025, in the Case of Chirinos Salamanca et al. Vs. Venezuela, the Court dismissed the preliminary objection regarding the Court’s lack of jurisdiction ratione voluntatis and ratione temporis raised by the State of Venezuela. With significant implications for the Court’s…

On 23 July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its long-awaited Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (for an overview of the opinion, see here). The ICJ identified the erga omnes character of specific obligations pertaining to the protection of the climate for the first time, and its…