New Issue: International Community Law Review

The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 28, no. 1, 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Elia Alexiou, The Revival of the ICJ’s Advisory Function: Enhanced or Contested Legitimacy?
• Jennifer Buckesfeld, Cooperating by Means of Collective Countermeasures? Examining States’ Obligations Regarding Grave Human Rights Violations
• Zuzanna Pepłowska-Dąbrowska, Krzysztof Wróbel, Mateusz Gil, & Ryszard Wawruch, Collisions at Sea Involving Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: Notes on Prevention and Liability Rules

New Issue: Human Rights Quarterly

The latest issue of the Human Rights Quarterly (Vol. 48, no. 1, February 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Rachel Chambers, Shareen Hertel, & Cory Runstedler, Human Rights Due Diligence: Views of the Process, From the Ground Up
• Yulia Ioffe & Hedi Viterbo, Reassessing Age Assessment: When the Violence of Age Meets the Violence of the Border
• Zahra Motamedi, Religious and Tribal Sovereignty in Afghanistan: The Taliban’s Governance, Its Impact on Women’s and Minorities’ Rights, and Global Implications
• Valeria Ruiz Pérez, Legitimizing Penality: Human Rights Discourses and Punitivism in Colombia
• Patient Mpunga-Biayi & Robin Sinchrist-Lecheks, The Fight Against Female Genital Mutilation in International Human Rights Law: The Contribution of the Joint General Comment by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
• Qingxin K. Wang, Locke, Mencius, and Their Conceptions of Human Dignity and Rights

Kassoti: International Law as a Political Question: The CJEU’s Deference to the Institutions on Questions of International Law

Eva Kassoti (T.M.C. Asser Institute) has posted International Law as a Political Question: The CJEU’s Deference to the Institutions on Questions of International Law. Here's the abstract:

In the field of EU external relations law, judicial deference has been discussed mostly within the context of the political question doctrine debate. The latter has a long pedigree in US law. Its nature, scope and legitimacy as well as its applicability in the EU external relations context are controversial and the topic has been mainly discussed in the context of the CFSP. At the same time, the CJEU’s deference to the political institutions on questions relating to international law and international relations has been overlooked in the relevant literature, despite the historic relationship between the political question doctrine and international law and the fact that, there is relevant CJEU practice.

Questions of judicial deference in the realm of foreign affairs bring to the fore fundamental constitutional questions regarding the role of the judiciary and the proper division of powers between courts and the political branches.

In this light, the contribution focuses on the question of whether and under what circumstances the EU courts follow the lead of the political branches when faced with questions of international law. By doing so, the paper purports to feed into the broader debate on deference to the political institutions in EU external relations law as well as to illuminate the constitutional dimension of the discussion.

Allen, Diogo, Mensi, & Pereira Coutinho: Western Sahara in the International Legal Order – 50 Years after the ICJ Advisory Opinion

Stephen Allen (Queen Mary, Univ. of London - Law), João Francisco Diogo (NOVA School of Law), Andrea Mensi (Catholic Univ. of Milan - Law), & Francisco Pereira Coutinho (NOVA School of Law) have published Western Sahara in the International Legal Order – 50 Years after the ICJ Advisory Opinion (Brill | Nijhoff 2025). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book commemorates the 50th anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on the Western Sahara, bringing together leading international legal scholars to explore and critically assess the enduring relevance and implications of the Opinion. It offers a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of the main legal issues surrounding the status of the Western Sahara, including self-determination, territorial sovereignty, decolonization, and the role of international institutions. By providing historical context, legal interpretation, and contemporary perspectives, the volume serves as a definitive reference for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers interested in international law, conflict resolution, and the ongoing legal dimensions of the Western Sahara question.

Call for Papers: The European Union as a sanctioning actor: Legal and institutional developments

The Centre for the Law of EU External Relations at the T.M.C. Asser Institute and the Multidisciplinary International Network on Sanctions at Ghent University have issued a call for papers for a conference on "The European Union as a sanctioning actor: Legal and institutional developments," to take place on December 11, 2026, in The Hague. The call is here.

Call for Papers: The UN Security Council amid Fracture: Past, Present, and Future

A call for papers has been issued for a workshop on "The UN Security Council amid Fracture: Past, Present, and Future." The workshop will be part of the 13th European Workshops in International Studies, July 1-3, 2026, in Izmir, Turkey. The call is here. Abstracts may be submitted here. The deadline the submission of abstracts is February 11, 2026.

Mbengue, Cima, & McGarry: Shelton's International Environmental Law (Fourth Edition)

Makane Moïse Mbengue (Univ. of Geneva - Law), Elena Cima (Univ. of Geneva - Law), & Brian McGarry (Leiden Univ. - Law) have published the fourth edition of Dinah Shelton's International Environmental Law (Brill | Nijhoff 2025). Here's the abstract:

Dinah Shelton’s International Environmental Law provides a comprehensive and updated analysis of international environmental frameworks, offering insights into the triple planetary crisis—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. This edition further develops the intersection of environmental law with human rights, trade, and other international legal fields, while examining the role of global institutions, treaties, and customary law in addressing today’s most pressing environmental issues. The book provides an essential guide to the legal frameworks that underpin efforts to protect the environment and ensure sustainable development in the 21st century.

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 74, no. 4, October 2025) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Lord Sales, Purpose in Law and in Interpretation
• Caroline E. Foster, The 2025 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change
• Benoit Mayer, Victims in Climate Litigation
• Julien Chaisse, Investment Facilitation Agreements and Treaty Function Reordered: A Theory of Procedural Treaty Design
• Adeline Chong, ‘Salami-Slicing’ and Issue Estoppel: Foreign Decisions on the Governing Law
• Barend van Leeuwen, From Comparison to Effectiveness: The Scope and Aims of Comparative Analysis in Free Movement Judgments of the CJEU
• Shaun Matos, The Imposition of International Obligations on Domestic Non-State Actors
• Shorter Articles
• Sebastian von Massow, Using International Law in UK Courts
• Eleni Polymenopoulou, Provisional Measures in the African Human Rights System

New Volume: African Journal of International Economic Law

The latest volume of the African Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 5, 2025) is out. Contents include:

• Keynote Article
• Joel M. Ngugi, TWAIL, Transformation, The National Judge, Academic and Municipal Lawyer
• Special Issue: The African International Economic Law 2023 Conference: International Economic Law in an Era of Multiple Crises: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa
• Titilayo Adebola, Regis Y. Simo, Suzzie O. Oyakhire, Tsotang Tsietsi, Harrison Mbori, & Ashimizo Afadameh-Adeyemi, Introduction to the Special Issue
• Richard Frimpong Oppong, International Economic Law in an Era of Multiple Crisis: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa (Keynote Address: African International Economic Law Network 2023 Conference)
• Obiora C. Okafor, African States’ Priorities for International Economic Law and Socio-Economic Prosperity on the Continent in this Era of Multiple Crises: Reflections on Some of the Themes in Richard F. Oppong’s Keynote Address
• Caroline B. Ncube, Cascading Crises Call for a Concerted and Inclusive Continental Response: Reflections on Richard F. Oppong’s Keynote
• Kathleen Mpofu, Assessing the Viability of Investor Liability Provisions in the Reform Agenda of International Investment Law
• Atupele Masanjala, Malawi’s Cotton Trade: Riding the Coattails of the Cotton-4
• Chido Teclar Mitchel Muza, Unlocking the Potential of Blockchain Technology for Secured Payments in International Commercial Transactions
• Mbakiso Magwape, AfCFTA and Revenue: Navigating Outstanding Fiscal Issues and Legal Framework to attain Agenda 2063
• Suzzie O. Oyakhire & Ohiocheoya Omiunu, Decolonising the Teaching of International Economic Law: A Critical Reflection of Two Global South Scholars Situated on Either Side of the North-South Divide
• John S. Nyanje, ‘Swahilinisation’ of the East African Court of Justice: Decolonising Through Language

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 25, no. 1, February 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Mona Paulsen & Dan Ciuriak, The Case for WTO Collective Action
• Eloise Elizabeth Gluer, The Level Playing Field and Determining Trade Impact under Trade Agreements: Implications from the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
• Xiu-qun Ye, Qin Guo, Changjin Liu, Miraj Ahmed Bhuiyan, & Da Wang, Can Pilot Free Trade Zones Improve Local Governance Quality? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China
• Tianqi Gu, Friend-Shoring Critical Minerals: Investment Law at the Intersection of Geo–economics and Treaty Restraint
• Silvana Tarlea & Florian Weiler, What Drives International Cooperation? Evidence from WTO Negotiations
• Martina F. Ferracane, Simón González Ugarte, & Tomás Rogaler, Global Trends in Digital Trade Policies and Practices: Evidence from the Digital Trade Integration Database

Call for Submissions: Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law

The Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law has issued a call for submissions for its Volume 29 for contributions related to the "Law and Practice of the United Nations" and "Legal Issues Related to the Goals of the United Nations." The call is here.

Rachovitsa: AI and Human Rights

Mando Rachovitsa (Univ. of Nottingham - Law) has published AI and Human Rights (in Artificial Intelligence: Law and Regulation, Charles Kerrigan ed., 2nd ed., Edward Elgar Publishing 2025). Here’s the abstract:

This chapter positions the relevance of human rights law to risks associated with AI, AI systems and algorithmic decision-making. The discussion is informed by EU developments on protecting against the harmful effects of AI systems, under the AI Act and the Digital Services Act, as well as the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. The analysis addresses states’ human rights obligations within the lifecycle of AI systems by focusing on the challenges of algorithmic opacity and states’ responsibility to regulate AI systems via impact assessments. The discussion moves on to highlight how the regulatory framework evolves regarding non-state actors’ human rights duties. Business corporations increasingly find themselves being scrutinised by domestic courts in connection to human rights issues. The obligations, under the EU AI Act, to conduct a fundamental rights’ impact assessment for high-risk AI systems and, under the Digital Services Act, to conduct a risk assessment for systemic risks, which includes actual or foreseeable negative effects for the exercise of human rights, reposition the relevance of human rights in designing and deploying AI. The last part of the chapter engages with the incompatibility of certain AI systems with human rights law. The chapter concludes by reinforcing the value of human rights law to AI while interrogating its capacity to capture all novel algorithmic harms.

Cakal: Law and Torture: Widening the Apertures from the Doctrinal to the Critical

Ergün Cakal (Univ. of Copenhagen) has published Law and Torture: Widening the Apertures from the Doctrinal to the Critical (Cambridge Univ. Press 2025). Here's the abstract:

Contemporary understandings of torture are ruled by a medico-legal duopoly: the language of law (regulating definition and prohibition) and that of medicine (controlling understandings of the body in pain). This duopoly has left little space for contextual conceptualisation – of ideological, emotional and imaginational impulses which function in readily recognising some forms of violence and dismissing others. This book challenges the rigour of this prevailing duopoly. In its place, it develops a new approach to critique the central scripts of 'law and torture' scholarship (around progress, violence, evidence and senses). Drawing on socio-legal and critical-theoretical scholarship, it aims to 'widen the apertures' of the dominant dogmas to their interconnected social, political, temporal and emotional dimensions. These dimensions, the book advances, hold the key to more fully understanding not only the production of torture's definition and prohibition; but also its normative contestation – to better grasp whose pain gets recognised and redressed and why.

New Issue: International Organizations Law Review

The latest issue of the International Organizations Law Review (Vol. 22, no. 2, 2025) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: EU Responsibility in the International System
• Vassilis Pergantis, The International Responsibility of the EU and its Member States: Anything New under the Sun?
• Lorenzo Gasbarri, Lex Specialis and Eurocentrism
• Vassilis Pergantis, The Road (to Hell) not Taken in the EU Accession to the ECHR: Automatic Attribution Clauses & Tertiary International Responsibility Rules as a Nostrum to the CFSP Roadblock?
• Cristina Contartese, The Contribution of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee to the Debate on the Apportionment of Obligations between the EU and its Member States
• Vladyslav Lanovoy, Responsibility for Aid or Assistance in the Commission of an Internationally Wrongful Act: A Significant Risk for the European Union and its Member States?
• Kathleen Gutman, Are They Really So Far Apart? Reflections on Causation and Damage in the Internal and External Systems of EU Liability
• Esa Paasivirta, Some Reflections on the EU’s International Responsibility

Alves & Lixinski: Enforcing International Judgments Domestically: The Case of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Ayla do Vale Alves (Adelaide Univ. - Law) & Lucas Lixinski (UNSW Sydney - Law) have published Enforcing International Judgments Domestically: The Case of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Brill | Nijhoff 2025). Here's the abstract:

This book broaches a hitherto unexplored subject. It is a systematic overview of the domestic implementation or enforcement of Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgments across all the countries that accept its jurisdiction. This book urges (and allows) us to move beyond the discourse of "influence" of international courts, a discourse that, while helpful in some respects, also has limited usefulness for the victims of human rights violations in judgments. Comprehensive and theoretically sophisticated, this book sheds new light into how human rights law, international courts, and even international law more broadly can in fact be transformative on the ground.

Henrard & Duin: Research Handbook on Accountability for Human Rights Violations

Kristin Henrard (Brussels School of Governance) & Michelle Duin (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands) have published Research Handbook on Accountability for Human Rights Violations (Edward Elgar Publishing 2025). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Despite the expansion of the human rights paradigm, not only in terms of the variety of rights recognized – both general rights and those for particular groups – but also in terms of available supervisory mechanisms and remedies, multiple challenges can still be identified for the realization of the effective enjoyment of fundamental rights.

This thought-provoking Research Handbook explores accountability for human rights violations in terms of international law from a rich spectrum of angles. A conceptual angle, investigating the broader understanding of ‘accountability’, is followed by explorations of the who (can be held accountable), for (the violation of) what (rights), how (following what supervisory mechanisms) and to what extent (leading to what remedies). These angles translate into the five main parts of the Research Handbook and are complemented by a sixth part with contemporary case studies whereby, in each case study, the focus will be placed on a particular accountability challenge.

Calls for Papers: ESIL Interest Groups Workshops Preceding ESIL Research Forum 2026

In the context of the ESIL Research Forum 2026 in Kraków, ESIL Interest Groups are inviting submissions for online workshops occurring in the days preceding the Forum. Here are the calls that are currently open:

• ESIL Interest Group on International Legal Theory and Philosophy – Call for Online Workshop “Normalizing Sustainability. Theoretical Perspectives on Stability and Change in International Law” (Deadline: 2 February 2026)
• ESIL Interest Group on International Business and Human Rights – Call for Online Workshop “Sustainability, Business & Human Rights: Evolutions from Soft to Hard Law” (Deadline: 9 February 2026)
• ESIL Interest Group on the Law of the Sea – Call for Online Workshop “To be or not to be: The sustainability of international law of the sea and the international law of sustainable seas” (Deadline: 15 February 2026)

AJIL Unbound Symposium: INTERPOL at 100: Improving the Organization’s Legal Framework

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on “INTERPOL at 100: Improving the Organization’s Legal Framework.” The symposium includes an introduction by Brian McGarry, and contributions by Benjamin Katzenberg and Ananya Kuthiala, Michael Wood, Machiko Kanetake, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes and Camille Letoublon, Kristina Daugirdas, and August Reinisch.

Call for Rapporteurs: Oxford International Organizations

Oxford University Press has issued a call for rapporteurs for its database Oxford International Organizations. Reporters have the task of providing a short legal commentary (headnote) on documents and materials relevant to the law and practice of international organizations. The call is here.

New Volume: Australian Year Book of International Law

The latest volume of the Australian Year Book of International Law (Vol. 43, 2025) is out. Contents include:

• Lecture
• Jane McAdam, The Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law Annual Conference 2025 Keynote Address: The Role of History in International Law Scholarship: A Personal Reflection
• Articles
• Zar Chavla, Amy Maguire, & Leigh Toomey, Conscientious Objection to Military Service, A Comparative Human Rights Analysis in the Context of Ukraine’s War against Russia
• Emily Camins, Operationalising Individual Rights to Reparation: Australia’s Afghanistan Inquiry Compensation Scheme and the Development of International Law
• Eden McSheffrey, Execution against Sovereign States in Australia and the Problem of Separate Legal Entities

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added the following materials to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law: two lectures, in English and Spanish, on The Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, by Gina Romero; two lectures, in English, on Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) and Annulment of Arbitral Awards under the ICSID Convention, by Penelope Ridings; one lecture, in English, on The BBNJ Agreement, by Cymie Payne; and one Introductory Note, in English, on The United Nations Convention against Corruption, by Nikos Passas.

The Audiovisual Library of International Law is also available as an audio podcast on Apple, SoundCloud, and other platforms.

Call for Contributions: Motherhood and International Law

Völkerrechtsblog has issued a call for blog post proposals for its upcoming symposium "Motherhood and International," which will be held online, March 2-6, 2026. This is Völkerrechtsblog's fifth annual symposium on "Women and International Law." The call is here.

Berkes: International Law Without Statehood: The Outlier Application of International Law by Eurasian De Facto Regimes

Antal Berkes (Univ. of Liverpool - School of Law and Social Justice) has posted International Law Without Statehood: The Outlier Application of International Law by Eurasian De Facto Regimes (Asian Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This paper explores how unrecognised separatist entities in Eurasia—de facto regimes such as Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics—engage with international law. It examines whether, and to what extent, these regimes comply with international law, analysing court decisions and legislation to move beyond simplistic views of non-recognition or assumed legality. The findings reveal that de facto regimes tend to mirror the international law approaches of the states they are most closely connected to—whether the territorial state (e.g., Ukraine) or an outside state exercising effective control over the entity (e.g., Russia or Armenia). This pattern is explained by the theory of “acculturation to statehood”: through sustained legal and institutional interaction, these regimes internalise and replicate the legal systems of their reference states. The study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the role of de facto regimes in the international legal order.

Webinar: A Report Card on the Laws of Armed Conflict

On February 17, 2026, the American Branch of the International Law Association will host a webinar on "A Report Card on the Laws of Armed Conflict." Speakers include: Janina Dill, Cordula Droege, Oona A. Hathaway, Gabor Rona, and Mike Schmitt. Registration is here.

Conference: L'utilisation stratégique des juridictions internationales

On February 5, 2026, a conference will be held on "L'utilisation stratégique des juridictions internationales" at the Université de Rennes. Details are here.