Introduction Following mass student protests and a violent crackdown that killed at least 1,400 people, Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year authoritarian rule as Prime Minister of Bangladesh ended on 5 August 2024 (here, here, here). Amid unprecedented public outrage, she fled to India, and an interim Government led by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus took charge. The violence was largely triggered by the Government’s shoot-on-sight orders to suppress the protests. Legal proceedings under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act (ICTA) have since been initiated against Hasina and other Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) leaders for alleged crimes against humanity. Although the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) has requested her extradition from India, Indian authorities have refused, citing carve-out clauses under the extradition treaty. Special Adviser to the Chief Prosecutor, Toby Cadman, has asserted that the trial will proceed in Hasina’s absence, if necessary. However, this post challenges the legality of conducting such trials in absentia, arguing they lack justification under both the ICTA and international criminal law. This…
General Principles of International Law
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A general obligation of due diligence in international law?
Recently, arguments have emerged that a universal source exists from which it is automatically possible to derive binding due diligence obligations for states in relation to all forms of activities. Specifically, these claims contend that international law imposes a general obligation on states to act with due diligence to prevent their territory being used for activity which harms…
Damaged Beyond Repair? International Law after Gaza
“Never has [an international law professor] sensed such profound skepticism about the legitimacy and usefulness of the discipline he teaches. Hasn’t the appalling conflict unfolding before our eyes demonstrated with tremendous eloquence the vanity, or at least the extreme fragility, of a so-called legal order in relations between states, at the very moment when its development was…
Identifying Customary LOAC in Practice
The following post is part of a symposium based on a conference panel that discussed issues of customary law of armed conflict, at the 4th Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Military Advocate General (MAG) Conference on the Law of Armed Conflict, held in Herzliya, Israel, during May 8-10, 2023. The post is based on Colonel…
General Principles of Law Formed Within the International Legal System?
Article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice provides that one of the sources of international law is the general principles of law. This source of international law has given rise to many controversies. However, the issue which is giving rise to the most controversy in the International Law Commission’s ongoing work…
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