Occupation
Advisory Opinion 2.0: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Returns to The Hague
The United Nations General Assembly Fourth Committee, also known as the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, addresses a range of issues, including matters relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The committee’s latest resolution, which the UN General...
Ukraine Symposium – Russia’s Forcible Transfer of Children
Earlier last month, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. The resolution follows months of reporting that Russian authorities have been separating children from their parents, conducting abductions...
Ukraine Symposium – Illegality of Russia’s Annexations in Ukraine
On 30 September 2022, a ceremony took place in Moscow’s Kremlin in which Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, signed “treaties” with representatives of four entities formed in the territory of Ukraine: the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and...
Abu ‘Aram: Displacement of Persons, Displacement of Law
On May 4, 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court sitting as High Court of Justice handed down its decision in HCJ 413/13 Abu ‘Aram v. The Minister of Defense. This decision granted the Israeli military authorities permission to displace over 1,000 Palestinians (and possibly as...
Abducting Dissent: Kidnapping Public Officials in Occupied Ukraine
In the last two weeks, it has been reported that Russian occupying forces have abducted up to three Ukrainian mayors with new mayors installed in their place. On Friday 11 March, it was reported that Russian soldiers occupying the city of Melitopol had taken the...
Levée en Masse in Ukraine: Applications, Implications, and Open Questions
On February 24, 2022, facing an existential threat, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree ordering a general mobilization to defend Ukraine against a Russian invasion. Posted on the presidential website, the decree intended "to ensure the defence of the state”...
Prisoners of War in Occupied Territory
It seems increasingly likely that the international armed conflict raging in Ukraine will devolve into a partial Russian occupation of large portions of Ukrainian territory. President Putin may very well declare annexation—or reincorporation—of that territory into...
Application of IHL by and to Proxies: The “Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk
From March 2014 until 23 February 2022, Russia denied any involvement in Ukraine (other than Crimea which it has annexed). It claimed that hostilities in the Donbas were conducted by forces of the “republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk (the “republics”). Ukraine argued...
Reflections on the Law of Occupation: Afghanistan and Iraq
A recent New York Times article discussed, in part, the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, raising important, yet underexplored, questions about occupations under the law of armed conflict (LOAC). The article focuses primarily on the U.S. armed forces’ transition...
Russian Cyber Operations and Ukraine: The Legal Framework
Last week, hostile cyber operations targeted approximately 70 Ukrainian government websites, including that of the Cabinet. Affected sites included Diia, the most widely used site for handling online government services. The operations included posting the message,...
Occupation Resistance, War-Rebels, and the Lieber Code
The origin of the codified law of belligerent occupation is often traced to the Hague Regulations of 1899 (updated in 1907). However, the Lieber Code of 1863 laid important and underappreciated legal groundwork for the Hague treaties’ occupation provisions. In it,...