3 h. ago Gaza on brink of catastrophe as aid runs out and prices soar, groups warn

Palestinians face starvation and severe malnutrition as Israel’s blockade continues, say aid agenciesSoaring prices of basic foodstuffs, diminishing stocks of medical supplies and sharp cuts to aid distribution threaten newly catastrophic conditions across Gaza, Palestinians and international aid officials in the battered territory are warning.Humanitarian organisations including the World Food Programme and Unwra, which supplies food and services to more than 2 million Palestinians across Gaza, have now distributed the last of their stocks of flour and other foodstuffs to the dozens of community kitchens in the territory that serve basic meals to those with no other option. Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago Israel faces legal pressure at UN’s top court over Unrwa blockade

Hearings in The Hague over Palestinian aid agency ban mark major test of Israel’s compliance with international lawIsrael will come under sustained legal pressure this week at the UN’s top court when lawyers from more than 40 countries will claim the nation’s ban on all cooperation with the UN’s Palestinian rights agency Unrwa is a breach of the UN charter.The five days of hearings at the International court of justice in The Hague have been given a fresh urgency by Israel’s decision on 2 March to block all aid into Gaza, but the hearing will focus on whether Israel – as a signatory to the UN charter – acted unlawfully in overriding the immunities afforded to a UN body. Israel ended all contact and cooperation with Unrwa operations in Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem in November, claiming the agency had been infiltrated by Hamas, an allegation that has been contested. Continue reading...

Events

9 h. ago The international criminal court should prosecute Syria’s Assad | Kenneth Roth

For the foreseeable future, international courts provide the only realistic prospect of justice for SyriansThere are few regimes as cruel as the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. There was seemingly no limit to what it would do to sustain his grasp on power, including dropping chemical weapons and barrel bombs on civilians in territory held by the armed opposition, and starving, torturing, “disappearing” and executing perceived opponents. The victims numbered in the hundreds of thousands.Since December, Assad is gone, toppled by the HTS rebel group that now controls the interim government in Damascus. The leader of the interim authorities, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has promised a far more inclusive and rights-respecting rule. The jury is still out on whether he will live up to those vows, but one place where he has fallen short is in satisfying the Syrian people’s quest for justice. Both he and international courts could play a role.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights...

Events

13 h. ago What is the International Court of Justice and why is it weighing in on humanitarian aid in Gaza?

The top United Nations court on Monday will begin hearing from 40 countries on what Israel must do to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank

Society

50 h. ago ICE is reversing termination of legal status for international students around US, lawyer says

A government lawyer said the federal government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students after many filed court challenges around the U.S. Judges around the country had already issued temporary orders restoring the students’ records in a federal database of international students maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE

Society

3 d. ago International court appeals panel orders judges to reconsider Israel's jurisdiction challenge

Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court have ordered a pretrial panel to reconsider an Israeli appeal against the court’s jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank

Events

3 d. ago A dozen US states sue to stop Trump’s ‘reckless and insane’ tariff policy

Lawsuit rebukes claim that president can arbitrarily impose tariffs based on act intended for emergenciesA dozen states sued the Trump administration in the US court of international trade in New York on Wednesday to stop its tariff policy, saying it is unlawful and has brought chaos to the American economy.The lawsuit said the policy put in place by Donald Trump has been subject to his “whims rather than the sound exercise of lawful authority”. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Putin will not attend pope's funeral, Kremlin reveals, as the Russian leader faces International Criminal Court arrest warrant

The Vatican announced today that the funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am local time in the square in front of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Events

8 d. ago Lawsuit challenges revocation of visas for international students

A class action lawsuit filed Friday asks a federal court to reinstate the legal status of international students who have been stripped of their visas in a Trump administration crackdown that has left more than a thousand fearful of deportation

Society

1 week ago ICC opens inquiry into Hungary for failing to arrest Netanyahu

Judges at the International Criminal Court have asked Hungary to explain why it failed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Budapest earlier this month

Events

1 week ago ICJ hears Sudan case accusing UAE of ‘complicity in genocide’

United Arab Emirates says Sudan ‘misusing’ world court in proceedings relating to African nation’s civil warThe international court of justice will rule in the next few weeks on whether the United Arab Emirates can be plausibly found “complicit in the commission of genocide” by arming the Rapid Support Forces militia in Sudan’s civil war.The case was brought by Sudan, whose acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, told the world court in The Hague last week that the country’s “ongoing genocide would not be possible without the complicity of the UAE, including the shipment of arms to the RSF”. Sudan wants ICJ judges to force the UAE to stop its alleged support for the RSF and make “full reparations”, including compensation to victims of the war. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump memo outlines plan to slash US state department budget in half

Cuts would mean dramatic decreases in funding for humanitarian aid, global health and international groupsThe Trump administration is reportedly proposing to slash the state department budget by nearly half in a move that could drastically reduce US international spending and end its funding for Nato and the United Nations, according to an internal memorandum.The memo based on spending cuts devised by the White House office of management and budget envisions the total budget of the state department and USAID, the main foreign assistance body which has been largely dismantled by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, being reduced to $28.4bn, a reduction of $27bn or 48% from what Congress approved for 2025. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump ICC sanctions order challenged in US court by human rights advocates

Exclusive: Lawsuit says ‘unconstitutional’ order violates right to share information with court’s chief prosecutorDonald Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the international criminal court (ICC) is facing a legal challenge from two US human rights advocates who argue it is “unconstitutional and unlawful”.In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday, the advocates said the order had forced them to stop assisting and engaging with the ICC out of fear the US government would punish them with criminal prosecution and civil fines. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Is legal action our best hope for holding back the climate crisis?

Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take actionIn November 2024, Monica Feria-Tinta, a veteran of UN tribunals and the international criminal court, strode through a heavy black door into a Georgian building in London’s august legal district for a meeting about a tree in Southend. Affectionately known as Chester, the 150-year-old plane tree towers over a bus shelter in the centre of the Essex seaside town. The council wanted to cut it down and residents were fighting back – but they were running out of options. Katy Treverton, a local campaigner, had travelled from Southend to ask Feria-Tinta’s legal advice. “Chester is one of the last trees left in this part of Southend,” said Treverton, sitting at a large table in an airy meeting room. “Losing him would be losing part of the city’s identity.”Feria-Tinta nodded, deep-red fingernails clattering on her laptop as she typed. She paused and looked up. “Are we ent...

Events

2 w. ago ‘All other avenues have been exhausted’: Is legal action the only way to save the planet?

Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take actionIn November 2024, Monica Feria-Tinta, a veteran of UN tribunals and the international criminal court, strode through a heavy black door into a Georgian building in London’s august legal district for a meeting about a tree in Southend. Affectionately known as Chester, the 150-year-old plane tree towers over a bus shelter in the centre of the Essex seaside town. The council wanted to cut it down and residents were fighting back – but they were running out of options. Katy Treverton, a local campaigner, had travelled from Southend to ask Feria-Tinta’s legal advice. “Chester is one of the last trees left in this part of Southend,” said Treverton, sitting at a large table in an airy meeting room. “Losing him would be losing part of the city’s identity.”Feria-Tinta nodded, deep-red fingernails clattering on her laptop as she typed. She paused and looked up. “Are we ent...

Politics

2 w. ago Who is the chairman of the Southport Inquiry Sir Adrian Fulford?

He sat as a judge of the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2012.

Politics

3 w. ago The people of Myanmar can’t seem to catch a break. Here’s my plea to the international community | Thin Lei Win

We have had to be resilient because no one has come to our aid. Myanmar needs tangible support before the humanitarian crisis claims even more livesTwo thoughts entered my head as soon as I saw that Myanmar, my home country, had been hit by an earthquake: “Is everyone OK?”, followed by, “We just can’t catch a break”.My loved ones thankfully turned out to be badly shaken but physically OK. There were material losses but nothing compared with what so many others are going through. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘International man of mystery’ denies aiding Russia sanctions breach, court told

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, 48, the former mayor of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, is facing seven counts of circumventing sanctions.

Events

3 w. ago As Orbán quits the ICC, other nations have a choice to make: do we back the rule of law or not? | Steve Crawshaw

There is a principle that even the most powerful leaders must be accountable. Increasingly, that is under threat, but it must be defendedIt was unsurprising that Benjamin Netanyahu praised Viktor Orbán’s “bold and principled” stand, in response to Hungary’s announcement yesterday that it will leave the international criminal court (ICC). More dismaying is that too few governments seem ready to stand up against impunity at a time when, because of Donald Trump, the very existence of the Hague court is under threat.Hungary’s leader described the ICC as “a political forum”; the Israeli prime minister, during his defiant visit to Budapest this week, complained of a “corrupt organisation”. That is all logical enough. Four months ago, the court confirmed an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. He could hardly be expected to praise his own indictment.Steve Crawshaw is the author of Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice. H...

Politics

3 w. ago What is the International Criminal Court and how can a member country like Hungary leave?

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced his intention to withdraw his country from the International Criminal Court

Events