War Crimes

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A peace treaty for Ukraine: Mini-symposium on international legal issues

July 10, 2026

In the four years since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the prospects of a negotiated peace settlement have waxed but mostly waned. But the possibility of an agreement has been an ongoing focus for international lawyers. This is primarily because Russia has demanded territorial concessions from Ukraine that appear at odds with fundamental prohibitions on aggressive force and territorial annexation, as well as on treaties that facilitate those outcomes. Beyond the headline question of negotiated annexation, the parties’ public positions raise a number of other complex legal questions. How does the principle of self-determination affect proposed territorial changes? How can an agreement create accountability for aggression and other international crimes? How and in what amounts should Ukraine be compensated for its losses? How should security guarantees be structured? What role can the UN Security Council play in endorsing the agreement? And looming over the entire process is the question of whether Ukraine can even consent to an agreement it may well accept only because Russia has threatened further…

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War Crimes without a War Crimes Statute? The Shajareh Tayyebeh Minab School Attack and the Possibility of Domestic Prosecution of Serious Violations of IHL in Iranian Courts

June 18, 2026

Introduction The initiation of criminal complaints concerning the attack by the US armed forces on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab has brought a doctrinal issue of direct practical relevance before Iranian prosecutorial authorities. The complaints filed by victims’ families transform what would otherwise remain an abstract question of international humanitarian law (IHL)…

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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

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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Two(ish) Weeks in Review: 6 April—1 May 2026

May 3, 2026

In a slightly extended version of Two Weeks in Review, we take in fundamental questions about what happens when law and lawyers seek or refuse to justify illegal actions, “relocation orders” issued by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, Australian soldiers and Belgian consular officials in domestic courts for international crimes, the…

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Challenging Times Ahead: Australia’s War Crimes Prosecutions

April 27, 2026

On Tuesday, 7 April 2026, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. He is the second soldier charged following Australia’s Brereton Inquiry, which, in November 2020, found credible information of 23 incidents of unlawful killing and two incidents of cruel treatment by Australian…

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