Klein, Purcell, & McNally: Submarines in International Law

Natalie Klein (Univ. of New South Wales - Law), Kate Purcell (Univ. of New South Wales - Law), & Jack McNally (Univ. of New South Wales - Law) have published Submarines in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

Submarines in International Law is the first book to explore both the legal history and the contemporary regulation of submarine operations in varied areas of international law. The analysis demonstrates the instances where submarines influenced the development of the law of the sea and the law of armed conflict, as well as highlighting where international law needs to give greater account for submarines in existing bodies of law-including international marine environmental law, the law on the use of force, navigational safety rules, transnational criminal law and international cultural heritage law. Submarine operations range from military and defence uses, to supporting research and commercial seabed industries, to ocean tourism and smuggling of illicit goods. International law regulates all these activities to varying degrees. While submarines may strive to be evasive objects in the ocean, this book demonstrates why they cannot and should not elude the reach of international law.

Kari: The Classical Doctrine of Civil War in International Law

Ville Kari (Tilburg Univ. - Law) has published The Classical Doctrine of Civil War in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

In the classical law of nations there was a doctrine of civil war. This book sets out to recover the forgotten legal tradition that shaped the modern world from 1575-1975. The result is an autonomous reassessment of four hundred years of the law of insurgencies and revolutions, both in state practice and in legal scholarship. Its journey through centuries of rebellion and the rule of law touches some of the most basic questions of international law across ages. What does it mean to stand among the nations of the world? Who should be welcomed among the subjects of international law, who should not, and who should decide? Its findings not only help make the classical doctrine understandable again, but also offer potential new insights for present-day lawyers about the origins, aspirations and vulnerabilities of the legal tradition with which they work today.

Brudney & Bellace: The Elgar Companion to the Law and Practice of the International Labour Organization

James J. Brudney (Fordham Univ. - Law) & Janice R. Bellace (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Wharton School) have published The Elgar Companion to the Law and Practice of the International Labour Organization (Edward Elgar Publishing 2026). Here's the abstract:

This comprehensive book analyzes the laws and practices of the International Labour Organization (ILO), addressing the distinctive role of tripartism within the ILO governance structure since 1919, and analyzing the organization’s contributions to the protection and promotion of workers’ rights on a global scale.

Contributors explore a breadth of issues crucial to the ILO’s objective of achieving decent work in collaboration with governments, workers, and employers. Topics covered include application of the ILO’s ‘fundamental principles’ covering freedom of association, equality, safety and health, and the prevention of forced labour and child labour. In addition, the book addresses provision of social security benefits, the development of effective employment policies, the implementation of functional labour inspection, and the recognition of indigenous peoples’ voices. Chapters also present a granular analysis of the ILO supervisory system, outlining the value and limits of the organization’s soft power. The Companion envisions the ILO’s future, highlighting the obstacles that prevent secure worker rights and protections in both the informal and digital economies, as well as the impact of ILO conventions on trade agreements.

Bicknell: Quelling Insurrection: Lethal Force, Human Rights and the Laws of War

David Bicknell (King’s College London) has published Quelling Insurrection: Lethal Force, Human Rights and the Laws of War (Hart Publishing 2026). Here's the abstract:

This book re-examines the origins and development of the laws of war and human rights law and exposes an overlooked provision of the European Convention on Human Rights which permits the use of lethal force where absolutely necessary to quell an insurrection.

When civilian casualties occur in internal armed conflicts, questions are asked about how civilians can be better protected against the use of force by armed insurgents and state security forces. The laws of war include protection against the targeting of civilians but permit the use of force based on 'military necessity' and allow 'proportionate' civilian casualties. Where those laws do not apply, the use of force is generally seen as being limited to self–defence. This creates paradigms of armed conflict and law–enforcement with very different rules. The paradigms are then treated by governments and other actors as being separate and divided by a threshold of violence, when, in practice, they overlap, both in the conduct of military operations and, this book argues, as a matter of law.

Revisiting the law provides the opportunity to reassess the benefits and risks of the existing paradigms and consider how applying the provision permitting the use of lethal force in quelling an insurrection would affect them. The book concludes that it offers a middle way based on the existing law, but it requires wider recognition and development in order to achieve a more appropriate balance between human rights and collective security.

Anggadi: Sea-Level Rise and the Legal Stability of Maritime Zones

Frances Anggadi (Univ. of Wollongong - Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security) has published Sea-Level Rise and the Legal Stability of Maritime Zones (Oxford Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a State's maritime zones and the rights they confer are tied to its land territory. As climate change accelerates coastal erosion and inundation, traditional assumptions suggest these entitlements could shrink or disappear, with profound implications for access to marine resources. Sea-Level Rise and the Legal Stability of Maritime Zones explores the development of a new legal perspective that supports the preservation of maritime zones despite rising sea levels.

This book advances a contemporary interpretation of UNCLOS, drawing on a broad spectrum of state practice as reflected in international declarations and domestic legislation. Through systematic analysis of this evidence within the framework of treaty interpretation, Frances Anggadi consolidates the doctrinal basis for the view that the preservation of maritime zones may be achieved through interpreting existing provisions of UNCLOS, rather than requiring a treaty amendment.

As the first comprehensive work to conceptualize this emerging perspective, it offers a clear and principled framework for safeguarding maritime zones, demonstrating how international law can evolve to address global environmental challenges.

Ikonomou, van Leeuwen, & Rasmussen: The Cambridge Handbook of the League of Nations and International Law

Haakon A. Ikonomou (Univ. of Copenhagen), Karin van Leeuwen (Maastricht Univ.), & Morten Rasmussen (Univ. of Copenhagen) have published The Cambridge Handbook of the League of Nations and International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

Established in the wake of the First World War, the League of Nations fundamentally transformed international politics, global governance and multilateral cooperation in a multitude of fields from the economy, labour and social affairs to colonial, minority and security questions. This Handbook analyses the central role of law in the construction of a new international order under the League of Nations. Drawing from innovative research of recent years that analyses the League of Nations through the prism of ultimate success and failure, it offers twenty-one rich chapters that showcase an interdisciplinary, contextual and archive-based approach with brand new and unexplored case studies that address key topics of the legal history of the League, the International Labour Organization and the Permanent Court of International Justice. Finally, it offers a new historical synthesis of how to understand the role of international law in international organizations during the interwar period.

New Issue: Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies

The latest issue of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies (Vol. 17, no. 1, 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Jane McAdam & Thomas Mulder, A Last Resort? Reframing Evacuations as an Anticipatory Disaster Risk Management Strategy
• Matthias Vanhullebusch, The Case for a Prohibition on Arbitrary Denial of Humanitarian Relief in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Prospects, Challenges and Ways Ahead
• Giulia Bosi, The Protection of Mental Health under International Humanitarian Law
• Rohit Gupta, Forgotten Blind Spots of Jus in Bello: The 1972 World Heritage Convention and the Natural Environment as ‘Cultural Heritage’
• Joshua F. Berry & Hitoshi Nasu, Wartime Imagery and the Standard of Care in the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law
• Emanuela Merck Giuliani, The European Union’s International Obligations Regarding Trade with Occupied Territories: A Case Study of Western Sahara Litigation Before the cjeu