International Law Archive

Nine years after its launch in July 2002, the International Criminal Court has made a promising though problematic start. Some of its difficulties are inherent in its mission and context. Others have been generated by states’ and officials’ behavior. Carrying out the court’s mandate to prosecute the perpetrators of humanity’s worst crimes would be difficult even in ideal circumstances. Circumstances are not ideal: The ICC is an international organization that many important states have not joined; it commands a limited budget; it is subject to the political and personal foibles common to international organizations; and finally, its independence is constrained […]

A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruled earlier this year that China was violating its obligations in restricting exports of several raw materials. In an email interview, Terence Stewart, an expert in international trade law at the law firm Stewart and Stewart, discussed China’s compliance with its WTO obligations. WPR: What has been China’s track record on compliance with its WTO obligations since its accession in 2001? Terence Stewart: China’s accession to the WTO has been a great experiment for the global trading system. Many of China’s obligations were phased in, so not all obligations were in place by late-2001. […]

A United Nations vote on statehood for Palestine will not determine whether and how a Palestinian state is established and recognized. That will be determined predominantly by the political realities dividing and linking Israel and Palestine. However, regional and global factors may influence the timing and shape of the forthcoming Palestinian state, the extent to which its prospects for peace and prosperity are enhanced and the basis on which its relations with surrounding states are put in place. Since one important area in which exogenous factors may be as important as internal factors in Palestine and Israel is refugee return, […]

Later this month, the Palestine Liberation Organization is expected to call upon the United Nations to recognize Palestinian statehood based on the 1967 borders. The initiative is not based on any hope that the move will itself bring about a concrete change in conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories. Rather, it is intended to more firmly anchor the principle of a Palestinian state, at a time when Palestinian leaders fundamentally doubt Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution. The move is vehemently opposed by Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arguing that the effort seeks to circumvent the peace process. U.N. […]

Fresh from the battle to take Tripoli, fighters from Libya’s opposition have set up camp on the outskirts of Bani Walid. The town is a stronghold of former leader Muammar Gadhafi, and the hunt is on to find him.