EJIL: Talk!
- Harmonizing the Fragmented Right to Education: The Proposed Free Education Optional Protocol 28/08/2026Nothing inherent in children’s development explains why their right to education should be more or less accessible depending on whether they are 4, 8, or 16. Yet international law treats financial barriers to education as more or less problematic depending on their stage of childhood. For primary education, the obligation to remove fees is clear […]Bede Sheppard
- From Specificity to Institutional Reliability: J.B. v. Greece and Diplomatic Assurances 27/08/2026On 26 May 2026, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered its judgment in J.B. v. Greece (no. 54796/16). The case concerns the potential removal of a Syrian national from Greece to Türkiye under the EU-Türkiye Statement of 18 March 2016, following the rejection of his asylum claim on safe third country grounds. […]Tamar Vardiashvili
- Beyond Forcible Relocation: Article 49(6) and State-Facilitated Settlement in Occupied Territory 26/08/2026Russia does not forcibly relocate its civilians into the occupied territories of Ukraine. Instead, it relies on an array of incentives, including preferential mortgages, employment programmes and tax benefits to increase the attractiveness of relocation. This gives rise to a question under the law of occupation: when does voluntary settlement of the Occupying Power’s civilian […]Veronika Vozniuk
- Rethinking the Hormuz Toll Debate: Can Coastal States Monetize Maritime Security? 25/08/2026“Some reconcilement of remotest mind, Leaves [H]ormuz rubyless, and Ophir chill.” Hart Crane (1899–1932) With the United States waging an illegal war against Iran to reshape the architecture of the Middle East, the architecture of the Hormuz Strait may now be reshaped, moving toward its own “Malacca Moment”: a shift toward cooperative arrangements between strait […]Soheil Golchin
- Apportioning Historical Responsibility After the ICJ’s Climate Advisory Opinion: From Principle to Practice 24/08/2026When the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change on 23 July 2025, commentators rightly called it a watershed for international environmental law. The Court unanimously confirmed that the customary rules of State responsibility, as reflected in many respects in the ILC’s Articles on […]Tonmoy Halder
- Two Weeks in Review: 10—21 August 2026 23/08/2026As we swelter through late summer, a hardy few have retained a cool hold over their critical faculties. In the last two weeks, attention has turned chiefly to the ICC: from the in absentia convictions of members of the Rapid Support Forces, to the removal of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, and a decision recognising that […]Sebastian von Massow
- Announcements: DigitalRights in the Contemporary World Webinar; CfP WCS 2026 – Rights in the AI Race; CfP Central Asia Yearbook on International Law 23/08/20261. DigitalRights in the Contemporary World Webinar. NUS Centre for International Law is pleased to invite to attend the webinar “DigitalRights in the Contemporary World” (27 August 2026, 4pm – 6pm, Singapore time). The webinar brings together distinguished experts from practice and academia, including Rangita de Silva de Alwis, Ashwini K.P., Heba Hagrass, Sophie Kiladze, […]Mary Guest
- Can “Safety Zones” provide Safety to Critical Submarine Cables? 21/08/2026Following the submarine cable cuts in the Baltic Sea, the Australian Federal Police was urged to commence an investigation at the behest of Subco, a private submarine cable operator, concerning the damage to two submarine cables. On the second August weekend, technicians detected faults on two submarine cables in an offshore area located in Australia’s […]Natascha Gojkovic
- Institutional Discretion, Due Process and the Common Heritage of Humankind: The First Provisional Measures Orders in NORI and TOML v. the Authority 20/08/2026The first contentious proceedings ever brought before the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (the Chamber) concern far more than a procedural dispute between two contractors and the International Seabed Authority (the Authority). They represent the first judicial examination of the legal limits of the Authority’s discretion when […]Dr. M. E. Salamanca-Aguado
- The ICJ’s Unwritten Rulebook: Regional Succession and Institutional Equilibrium 19/08/2026For almost eighty years, United Nations Member States have behaved as if a mandate required them to maintain regional continuity in elections to the International Court of Justice. Yet, the Court’s Statute contains no such rule. Article 9 requires only that the Court, taken as a whole, represent “the principal legal systems and civilizations of […]Marcel Gross