Two Weeks in Review, 24 February – 9 March 2025

Over the previous two weeks, EJIL’s contributors have offered insightful analyses on a spread of urgent authorized points. Among the many subjects mentioned are latest resolutions adopted by the UN Safety Council, developments in human rights legislation, the erosion of the worldwide authorized order, and important updates in worldwide legislation extra broadly. 

UN Safety Council

Marco Longobardo analyzes three key authorized points stemming from UNSC Decision 2773 (2025) regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo. First, he examines the Safety Council’s authority to demand Rwanda’s withdrawal from the DRC, elevating issues in regards to the limits of UNSC mandates over sovereign state actions. Second, he assesses the decision’s directive for the M23 insurgent group to stop hostilities and dismantle parallel state constructions, discussing the authorized complexities of imposing obligations on non-state actors. Lastly, he highlights the potential penalties for states failing to adjust to the decision, emphasizing the necessity for larger readability in worldwide authorized enforcement mechanisms. Learn the total publish right here. 

Florian Kriener analyzes UNSC Decision 2774, adopted on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which requires a “lasting peace” however lacks key parts similar to recognition of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Kriener argues that the decision undermines Ukraine’s place and worldwide legislation by equating Russia’s unlawful actions with Ukraine’s self-defense and framing the battle as a mere “Russian Federation-Ukraine battle.” The creator additional warns that the decision may pave the best way for a peace deal that legitimizes Russian territorial conquest and disregards worldwide authorized rules. Learn the total publish right here. 

Alejandro Rodiles Breton and Larissa van den Herik focus on Decision 2744, which revamped the UN Safety Council’s Focal Level mechanism for delisting people and entities from sanctions lists. The authors word that whereas the decision exhibits incremental progress in bettering due course of requirements for these listed beneath sanctions regimes, significantly exterior the Al-Qaida/ISIS framework, it isn’t an entire resolution. The improved Focal Level mechanism permits listed people or entities to request delisting, with a evaluate course of, but it surely lacks the Ombudsperson’s energy to make binding suggestions. The authors spotlight the necessity for ongoing enhancements, together with aligning the Focal Level’s procedures with the Ombudsperson’s practices and addressing further points, similar to offering authorized counsel for listed people. Learn the total publish right here. 

Human Rights

Katia Hamann explores the European Court docket of Human Rights (ECtHR) discovering in Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy, the place Italy was present in violation of Article 2 of the European Conference on Human Rights for failing to guard residents from environmental dangers. The creator highlights the Court docket’s precautionary method to the suitable to life, stressing that states should take proactive measures to stop hurt even when scientific certainty in regards to the threat is missing. Hamann finds that the judgment broadens the interpretation of state accountability in environmental instances, reinforcing the obligation to mitigate potential threats to human life. Learn the total publish right here.

Isobel Renzulli explores the compatibility between the EU’s unbiased nationwide mechanisms (INMs) and the UN’s Nationwide Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs), significantly relating to their roles in monitoring human rights compliance at EU borders beneath the 2024 EU migration rules. Renzulli highlights potential tensions associated to the scope of monitoring actions, the monetary independence of those mechanisms, and the way these mandates might overlap. The creator argues that whereas utilizing present NPMs may enhance migrant rights safety at borders, clarifying the connection between the EU and worldwide human rights legal guidelines is essential to keep away from conflicts and guarantee efficient monitoring. Learn the total publish right here. 

Worldwide Legal Legislation

Vinícius Alexandre Fortes de Barros explores the Worldwide Legal Court docket’s (ICC) case in opposition to Taliban leaders, specializing in gender-based persecution and the concentrating on of LGBTQI+ people. The creator discusses the ICC Prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants, marking the primary time the Court docket has acknowledged persecution based mostly on sexual orientation and gender id as crimes in opposition to humanity. This authorized improvement expands the interpretation of gender-based persecution and has important implications for worldwide human rights protections. Learn the total publish right here.

Arne Bardelle and Arie Mora look at the position of common jurisdiction (UJ) in prosecuting worldwide crimes dedicated throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The authors spotlight the challenges confronted by each Ukraine and different international locations in investigating and prosecuting these crimes, particularly given Ukraine’s restricted home capability and the complexities of extraterritorial jurisdiction. They additional argue for a extra proactive method to UJ, alongside home and worldwide efforts, to make sure accountability and forestall impunity for perpetrators of warfare crimes. Learn the total publish right here.

Local weather Change

Geoff Gilbert and Tamara Wooden focus on the rising relevance of local weather change and disasters in worldwide safety claims, regardless of the absence of a proper “local weather refugee” class. The authors spotlight the newly developed Sensible Toolkit, created by authorized consultants in collaboration with UNHCR, to information decision-makers in assessing asylum claims influenced by climate-related displacement. The piece additionally explores evolving authorized interpretations, together with worldwide refugee legislation, human rights legislation, and regional mechanisms, emphasizing that climate-related components can contribute to persecution or inhuman remedy, thus justifying worldwide safety. Learn the total publish right here.

Felix Lange and Julian Schophaus focus on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on local weather change and its implications for the Paris Settlement, significantly the authorized obligation of state events to progressively improve their nationwide decided contributions (NDCs) each 5 years. The authors argue that the Paris Settlement’s language and up to date state submissions in the course of the ICJ proceedings assist the view that states are legally sure to develop into extra formidable of their local weather commitments, contradicting any notion that they might decrease their targets. They additional spotlight a consensus amongst states in opposition to downgrading their emissions targets, reinforcing the authorized obligation for development in local weather mitigation efforts. Learn the total publish right here.

World Well being Group

Donato Greco and Giulia Perrone look at the authorized and political implications of the US’ choice to withdraw from the World Well being Group (WHO) beneath President Donald Trump’s administration in 2025. The authors focus on the authorized foundation for withdrawal, highlighting the distinctive U.S. reservation that enables it to exit, whereas different international locations, similar to Argentina and Italy, lack a transparent authorized pathway to do the identical. The publish concludes that whereas worldwide legislation might forestall sure states from formally withdrawing, the WHO should have interaction diplomatically to take care of cooperation and forestall broader disengagement from world well being governance. Learn the total publish right here.

The Worldwide Authorized Order

Kushtrim Istrefi and Luca Pasquet focus on how the erosion of worldwide legislation, significantly the disregard for authorized norms and establishments by highly effective states, is turning into more and more problematic. The authors emphasize that the perspective of states towards worldwide legislation, such because the willingness to violate it for nationwide pursuits, weakens its authority and undermines its position in world affairs. The authors additional warn that this shift in perspective may result in a breakdown of the worldwide authorized system, drawing parallels to the failures of the League of Nations and the risks posed by ignoring worldwide legislation’s rules. Learn the total publish right here. 

Devika Hovell critiques the U.S.’s evolving method to worldwide legislation beneath the Trump administration, particularly in relation to its imposition of sanctions on the Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC). Hovell argues that these sanctions replicate a broader shift in the direction of an isolationist, unilateral method to world governance, undermining worldwide establishments and authorized frameworks designed to make sure accountability for warfare crimes. Hovell requires authorized and diplomatic methods to withstand these actions, shield the rule of legislation, and protect the integrity of worldwide justice programs. Learn the total publish right here. 

Legislation of The Sea

Jacques Hartmann argues that assaults on undersea cables and pipelines must be categorized as piracy beneath UNCLOS, permitting states to board and prosecute vessels engaged in such acts. Hartmann challenges the normal interpretation of Article 101, which requires a “two-ship” rule, highlighting that subparagraph (a)(ii) permits piracy fees for acts in opposition to property in areas past nationwide jurisdiction. This broader interpretation gives a sensible authorized framework to handle rising threats to crucial subsea infrastructure with out counting on prolonged treaty negotiations or politically fraught UNSC resolutions. Learn the total publish right here.

Worldwide Court docket of Justice 

Mais Qandeel examines the legality of Israel’s potential annexation of components of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) and analyzes the worldwide authorized implications of such actions, significantly in gentle of the 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion. Qandeel emphasizes the illegal nature of territorial annexation, whether or not de jure or de facto, and the duty of third states to not acknowledge or help in sustaining Israel’s unlawful management over the oPt. The creator discusses the authorized penalties for different states, together with their obligation to stop annexation and chorus from recognizing the modifications within the area’s standing. Learn the total publish right here. 

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