General Principles of International Law

The Eagle S incident – a refresher On Christmas Day 2024, the Estlink 2 electricity cable connecting Finland and Estonia was cut by the Eagle S, an oil tanker sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands and linked to the Russian ‘shadow fleet’ (the vessel was later added to the EU’s list of sanctioned…

The International Law Commission (ILC) has published its advance report on the work completed during its 76th session this May. This post focuses on progress in two topics related to the theory of sources: the second reading of conclusions on general principles of law, and the first reading of conclusions on subsidiary means for the determination of…

Introduction Following mass student protests and a violent crackdown that killed at least 1,400 people, Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year authoritarian rule as Prime Minister of Bangladesh ended on 5 August 2024 (here, here, here). Amid unprecedented public outrage, she fled to India, and an interim Government led by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus…

Recently, arguments have emerged that a universal source exists from which it is automatically possible to derive binding due diligence obligations for states in relation to all forms of activities. Specifically, these claims contend that international law imposes a general obligation on states to act with due diligence to prevent their territory being used for activity which harms…