Making Apartheid Irreversible: Israel’s Death Penalty Statutes and Third State Obligations
When the Israeli Knesset voted to approve the Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill on 30 March 2026, it made irreversible through state-administered killing what the International Court of Justice (ICJ)...
ICJ Rules Reform: Evaluating changes to Article 63 non-party intervention
The procedure for non-party intervention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was historically seldom used. It has, however, recently taken centre stage in the Ukraine v Russia and South...
The Right to Strike in the International Court of Justice
On 21st May 2026 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion of historic significance. The Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) requested an advisory opinion...
Law, Hegemony, and the Erosion of the Prohibition on the Use of Force: Part II
The first part of this discussion examined the growing tendency of powerful states not merely to violate international legal rules but to reshape their meaning through increasingly expansive interpretations of...
A New Avenue for Climate Change Victims: Rethinking the Causation Threshold
2025 was a crucial year for international climate law and human rights. Two advisory opinions (AOs) were issued, one by each of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the...
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States with Respect to Climate Change: Human Rights-Based Reflections on Due Diligence
I. INTRODUCTION The much anticipated ICJ Advisory Opinion of 23 July 2025 was historic in its affirmation of Member State obligations to act to curb climate change through adaptation and...
Can the International Court of Justice Finally Declare Fossil Fuel Subsidies a Violation of International Law?
The ICJAO has the historic opportunity to legally interrogate fossil fuel subsidies. Judge Cleveland’s question invites the Court to finally place fossil fuel production and its explicit and implicit financial...
A Manifest Lack of Justice?: The ICJ’s Decision in Sudan v. United Arab Emirates
On 5 March 2025, Sudan submitted an application instituting proceedings against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ/Court), alleging that the UAE is in violation...
Pacific Island Countries Make Historic Submissions to the International Court of Justice Climate Change Advisory Opinion
March marks a major moment for the Pacific. After nearly a year since the General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice...
South Africa vs Israel
The essence of the crime of genocide is in its combination of intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” and actions taken...
Ukraine v Russian Federation – ICJ Continues to Struggle with the Grounds of Racial Discrimination
On 31 January 2024, the International Court of Justice announced its decision in Ukraine v Russian Federation concerning the application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing...
The International Court of Justice’s Order in South Africa v Israel
This blog considers the case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) between South Africa and Israel. It summarises the court’s order, before looking ahead to the impact of the...
