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Fairness on the Security Council: Rediscovering the Duty to Abstain

Background The principle nemo iudex in causa sua—no one should be a judge in their own cause—has deep roots in international law, yet its codification in the UN Charter has often been disregarded. Article 27(3) requires a State that is a party to a dispute to abstain from voting on related Security Council resolutions under Chapter VI, provided the matter is non-procedural. Although long viewed as dormant, the Russia–Ukraine war has revived interest in this principle. The last notable compliance with Article 27(3) dates back to the Eichmann case in 1961, when Argentina abstained. Since then, the rule’s relevance has been questioned, particularly amid Russia’s repeated vetoes of Ukraine-related resolutions following its 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 invasion. Given Russia’s clear status as a ‘party to the dispute,’ scholars and practitioners have seen an opportunity to reassert Article 27(3) and to crystallize a workable definition of that term.

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Anti-war Protest: The Historic Case of Novaya Gazeta and Others v Russia

Born into a Jewish family in Ukraine, Vasily Grossman’s monumental account of totalitarian Stalinist Russia, Life and Fate, which included a remarkable portrayal of the battle of Stalingrad during World War II, was banned by the KGB before it could be published in the Soviet Union. In response, Grossman wrote to the then Soviet leader,…

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A Ukrainian Peace Agreement Without Ukraine?

Several months ago, I examined what was shaping up to be a very dark ending to the Ukraine conflict.  Russia and the United States would draft a peace agreement requiring that Ukraine cede substantial territory to Russia, as well as potentially granting immunity to Russian officials for international crimes and enabling the mass deportation…

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Legal Limits for UNSC Action on Peace in Ukraine

The last weeks have seen a gradual increase of pressure on the Ukrainian leadership to succumb to Russia’s imperialist demands. In particular, the United States of America under the Trump Administration have repeated their calls for a “Peace Deal” between the two states at war. The Administration suspended military and intelligence aid to Ukraine after asserting that President…

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Trump’s Coercion of America’s Allies: Part II

In a previous post, written before Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States, I wrote about the various measures – particularly those targeting America’s allies – that he threatened to implement, and whether those measures would be compatible with the principle of non-intervention under customary international law. In that post, which was based on…

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