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Two Weeks in Review: 29 June—10 July 2026

July 12, 2026

“The test of a first-rate intelligence,” according to F. Scott Fitzgerald, “is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” For international lawyers in these times of the Board of Peace and the Gaza Riviera, this kind of functional cognitive dissonance has become less a mark of intelligence than a basic job requirement. But contrary to common usage, Fitzgerald did not have cynics and pragmatists in mind—quite the opposite. He continues, “One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.” In this spirit, commentators over the last fortnight have turned their attention to what Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas can teach us about AI governance, China’s “quiet renegotiation” of UNCLOS and its application in times of war, and the continuity of statehood for soon-submerged island states—as well as the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s decision on the termination of the UK–Rwanda Asylum Partnership Agreement, battlefield medicine and the principle of unnecessary suffering, and the…

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Constitution or Compass? A Quiet Renegotiation of the Maritime Order

July 7, 2026

Constitution or Compass? A Quiet Renegotiation of the Maritime Order Vito De Lucia In June 2026, the China Institute for Marine Affairs published a substantial assessment of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Assessment Report on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Achievements,…

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Crimean Coastal State Rights and the Resilience of International Arbitration

June 30, 2026

Introduction On 15 June 2026, the Permanent Court of Arbitration published its merits award in Ukraine v. the Russian Federation concerning coastal state rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Kerch Strait (PCA Case No. 2017-06). The award itself had been issued on 22 April 2026. The case concerned an array…

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Contracting Sovereignty? Greece’s Experiment with the Contractual Allocation of Maritime Delimitation Risk in Offshore Lease Agreements

June 26, 2026

In February 2026, Greece signed offshore lease agreements with a Chevron-led consortium for the exploration of oil and gas south of Crete. A month later, the agreements were ratified by the Greek Parliament, thereby acquiring binding force in domestic law. Turkey and Libya were quick to condemn the contracts as unlawful and as encroaching upon the areas…

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Obscure: Jurisdiction over External Rules in M/T Heroic Idun (No.2)

June 18, 2026

On 27 May 2026, the ITLOS Special Chamber rendered its judgment in M/T Heroic Idun (No. 2). Brought by the Marshall Islands against Equatorial Guinea, the case concerns the lawfulness of the latter’s arrest and detention of the vessel and its crew. At first glance, the case appears to fall squarely under UNCLOS, as it revolves around…

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