Introduction In April and May 2025, the International Law Commission (ILC) is due to discuss, and possibly adopt on second reading, the Draft Articles on immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, adopted on first reading in 2022. During its session, the ILC will examine amendments to draft articles 7 to18 and an Annex proposed by the ILC Special Rapporteur on the topic, Claudio Grossman, in his second report published in January 2025 (draft articles 1 to 6 were the object of the Special Rapporteur’s first report). One of the provisions that has attracted most attention is draft article 7 (p. 230), which excludes the application of immunity ratione materiae, or functional immunity, with respect to a number of crimes under international law (for analysis, see here, here, here and here). This is understandable in light of the long-standing debate on the existence of exceptions to immunity ratione materiae (see relevant contributions here), particularly with a view to ensuring accountability for crimes…
Jurisdiction and Admissibility
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Another Genocide Convention case, another conundrum for interventions
On 5 March 2025, Sudan instituted proceedings against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding alleged violations by the UAE of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (the Genocide Convention). The case concerns allegations that the UAE is supporting Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against…
Preservation of Territorial Integrity – A Substantive Rule under UNCLOS?
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes a comprehensive dispute settlement mechanism applicable to any dispute, subject to the exhaustive list of limitations and optional exceptions in Section 3, concerning the interpretation or application of UNCLOS. A complex topic that has arisen in several disputes regarding the application of UNCLOS is how to…
Breaking New Ground: Climate Change before the Strasbourg Court
An ocean of ink has been already spilt for the long-awaited judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, the Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others and the Carême v. France case (see inter alia here,…
The Discomfort of Extraterritoriality: US Semiconductor Export Controls and why their Chokehold on Dutch Photolithography Machines Matter
In the wake of the US Department of Commerce’s announcement on 17 October 2023 of new sweeping semiconductor export control restrictions, China began stockpiling photolithography machines produced by ASML based in the Netherlands. Why did China scramble towards a Dutch company because of US restrictions? These regulations were designed to restrict the transfer of…
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