EJIL: Talk!
- The Chișinău Declaration in the Data: Non-Refoulement and States’ Insatiable Appetite for a Restrained Court 19/06/2026There is a striking hidden controversy at the heart of the recent Chișinău Declaration issued by the members of the Council of Europe on May 15, 2026. All 46 member states have adopted a coordinated demand, asking that the European Court of Human Rights (the Court, the ECtHR) in particular to narrow their interpretation of […]Ezgi Yildiz
- One Step Forward, Two Steps Obscure: Jurisdiction over External Rules in M/T Heroic Idun (No.2) 18/06/2026On 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 […]Lan Nguyen
- 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 18/06/2026Introduction 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) into […]Heybatollah Najandimanesh
- Can the Living Instrument Doctrine Be Reversed? 17/06/2026On 15 May 2026, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), meeting at ministerial level in Chişinău (Republic of Moldova), adopted a declaration in which the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) was called upon to recalibrate the standard of human rights protection in the field of migration policy. Much has […]Marten Breuer
- When Blockade Goes Global: The Sumud Flotilla Interceptions and the Legality of Israel’s Gaza Blockade 16/06/2026In the early hours of 30 April 2026, Israeli naval forces boarded 22 vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla near Crete, roughly 600 nautical miles from Gaza and apprehending approximately 175 civilian activists. A few weeks later, on 19 May 2026, the Israeli Navy intercepted a second wave of 54 vessels about 70 nautical miles […]Frederik Rogiers
- EJIL: The Podcast! Episode 44: One Strait, Many Chokepoints: International Law and the New Geopolitics of Energy 15/06/2026The war in the Middle East has plunged the world into yet another crisis. Days are paced by minute-by-minute updates: at first, tragic reports of civilian deaths and incendiary threats from US President Donald Trump, now fragile peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has spiked oil […]Justina Uriburu
- Genocide Modelling as Ladder and Ceiling: Ecocide and the Limits of the Rome Statute 15/06/2026When Arthur Galston coined the term ‘ecocide’ in 1970, the choice to model it on ‘genocide’ was deliberate; the etymological echo was designed to generate political leverage and signal the gravity of environmental destruction caused by the US’ Operation Ranch Hand in Vietnam. The same analogy that gave ecocide its political traction has also constrained […]Emma Bertipaglia
- Two Weeks in Review: 1—12 June 2026 14/06/2026The last fortnight has been dominated by two major developments: the proceedings initiated by deep-seabed mining contractors before the ITLOS Seabed Disputes Chamber, and the ICJ’s Right to Strike Advisory Opinion. Interventions have also grappled with different institutional silences around Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank, from Eurovision to the Human Rights Committee […]Sebastian von Massow
- Announcements: CfP International cooperation under the ECHR; CfP International Business Law Scholars Roundtable; CfP Beyond the Gender Blind Spot; CfP Theorising the New Age of Environmental Human Rights Law Conference; The Relevance of ICJ Advisory Opinions Event; Postdoctoral Researcher Vacancy; Remembering Nuremberg Dialogue; Nuremberg Forum 2026; International Law & the Mind Workshop; CfA International Climate Change Law Conference; CfP Asymmetries in Public Policy Conference 14/06/20261. Call for Papers: International cooperation under the European Convention on Human Rights. The University of Liverpool is organising a two-days conference on “International cooperation under the European Convention on Human Rights” (Liverpool, 15 – 16 October 2026). The conference relies on a dialogue of scholars and practicing experts from the European Court of Human […]Mary Guest
- Pre-Exploitation Litigation: Cases No. 34 and 35 and the Timing of Deep-Sea Mining Governance 12/06/2026On 5 June 2026, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) announced two new proceedings before its Seabed Disputes Chamber (SDC). Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. (TOML) each instituted proceedings against the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and requested provisional measures. The cases have been entered as Case […]Yinuo Kang