Accountability
Mission Command Responsibility
When Justice Paul Brereton’s report on alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan was released, it sent shockwaves in Australia and internationally. It confronted and confirmed uncomfortable truths: that within Australia’s most elite military units, a small number...
In Honor of Françoise Hampson – Fact-Finding in Law of Armed Conflict Investigations
Editors’ note: This post is part of a series to honor Françoise Hampson, who passed away on April 18, 2025. These posts recognize Professor Hampson’s work and the significant contribution her scholarship made to our understanding of international law. In preparing to...
Revisiting Customary IHL Series – A Question of Methodology: Should International Criminal Law Shape IHL?
Editors’ note: This post is part of a series relating to the ICRC's Customary International Humanitarian Law Study, featured across Articles of War and Völkerrechtsblog. The introductory post is available here. The series highlights presentations delivered at the...
Non-State Cyber Actors in the 12-Day War – The Gray Zone of LOAC, Part II
Editors’ note: In a prior post Professor Gary Corn described recent cyber operations undertaken during conflict between Iran and Israel. He related details of the hacking group, Predatory Sparrow, and mapped possible legal analysis of its status under the law of armed...
From Outrage to Engagement: Might Promoting Compliance Succeed Where Condemnation Has Failed?
The mood at this year’s European Humanitarian Forum (EHF) oscillated between frustration, foreboding, and a pervasive sense of hyper-normalization. The Secretary-General of the International Federation of the Red Cross, Jagan Chapagain, was quoted as saying “I am...
Prosecuting the Starvation War Crime in Germany: The Yarmouk Case
On 6 June 2024, the Investigative Judge at the Federal Court of Justice issued arrest warrants for five individuals apprehended in Germany. The suspects, taken into custody a month later, allegedly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with...
Australia’s Afghanistan Inquiry Compensation Scheme: A Pragmatic Model for Individual Reparations
Editors’ note: This post draws from the author's forthcoming examination of the Afghanistan Inquiry Compensation Scheme's legal framework and international law implications, to be published in the Australian Yearbook of International Law later this year. Professor Ben...
Ukraine Symposium – War Termination: Legal Implications for International Security
The Kremlin announced on June 20 that it would finalize a date for a third round of peace talks with Ukraine. This follows two meetings in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2, 2025, marking the first such negotiations in over three years. But Ukraine and Russia remain...
Prosecuting Rwanda for Aggression in the DRC: Legal Feasibility and Challenges
Rwandan involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been reported in two principal forms: first, direct intervention by Rwandan State forces across the border; and second, indirect support for the rebel group M23. UN experts and other observers have...
Analyzing State Support to Non-State Actors – Part II: Response Options and Conflict Classification
As non-State actors assume an increasingly prominent role in international affairs, State support to them as a strategic tool for advancing political objectives has become more common. Such support presents significant challenges to the clear-eyed application of...
Analyzing State Support to Non-State Actors – Part I: Primary Obligations and Attribution
Today, armed conflicts are frequently characterized by State support to non-State actors as a means of advancing the former’s strategic objectives. For instance, Iran continues to enable Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi, and other militia operations throughout the Middle East...
Lieber Studies Series – Military Investigations
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s chapter in Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict: Select Issues (Jelena Pejic and Margaret Kotlik eds. 2025), the eleventh volume of the Lieber Studies Series published with Oxford University Press. Military...
