Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made two trips in April without being arrested: one to Hungary and the other to the United States (US). While commentators criticized Hungary for failing to arrest Netanyahu, arguing that as a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), it had a duty to do so (the ICC initiated non-compliance proceedings), there has been no similar commentary regarding his trip to the US. This is likely because the US is not a state party to the ICC and is therefore under no obligation to cooperate with the Court and arrest him. However, in this blog post, I argue that there is a universal obligation to arrest Netanyahu for the commission of grave breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) against Palestinians. The source of this obligation lies in the grave breaches regime of the Geneva Conventions for 1949. For that purpose, this post is divided into four sections. First, it outlines the obligations under the grave breaches regime. Second, it demonstrates the status of these obligations under contemporary international law. Third, it…
Immunities
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Immunity of State Officials: A Jus Cogens Criteria for Draft Article 7?
Immunities of state officials are a subject matter in international law that continues to raise tensions between States. The seventy-sixth session of the International Law Commission (ILC) will take place in Geneva from April 14 to May 30 and June 30 to July 31, 2025. One of the topics to be discussed on the agenda is the Immunity…
Undoing the Grand Bargain? Pax Americana and the United Nations
Since its 3 February 2025 Executive Order, the United States has engaged in a series of decisions to either pause or entirely remove funding for various international organizations and agencies within the United Nations system, including withdrawing from the World Health Organization, withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the 90-day pause in…
Immunity of State Officials from Criminal Jurisdiction: The Debate Continues
Introduction The Sassi and Benchellali v. France case in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), that dealt with immunity of former United States (US) officials in criminal proceedings for allegations of torture in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, joins the ongoing discussion on immunity for State officials (the text of the decision is available in…
The “Loaded Weapon” of Presidential Immunity: An International Law Perspective on Trump v. United States
In July 2024, the US Supreme Court held, in a 6-3 ruling, that former President Donald Trump enjoys absolute immunity for acts he committed within his constitutional powers as President, even though they were unlawful under US law. The decision has sparked debate over potential implications for rogue presidents who may wish to subvert the law (…
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