CIL Dialogues is the re-imagination of the existing blog of the Centre for International Law (CIL) of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The editorial team’s approach to CIL Dialogues reflects two shared commitments. First, we share a generalist perspective of international law, viewed as raising shared foundational questions across specialised fields, institutions, regions, and inquiries. Secondly, we are appreciative that CIL Dialogues is not based in (the virtual space of), or associated with institutions in the ‘Western European and Others States Group’. The blog will therefore be interested in international law broadly conceived and seek to be attentive to regional perspectives to questions of universal and general relevance, particularly relating to Asia Pacific, as well as the views and voices that may have been traditionally excluded. More...
Featured Symposium ...
May the United States Unilaterally Conduct or Regulate Activities in the Area According to International Law? By Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mello Filho Published on 4 April 2025 https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/53593818135/in/photostream/ On 27 March 2025, The Metals Company (TMC), a Canadian company, announced that its US subsidiary will apply for exploitation permits under the US 1980 Deep Seabed …
The United Nations General Assembly advances towards the negotiation of a Convention on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters By Lucía Solano Legal adviser at the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN Published on 10 March 2025 In what constituted a historic moment for the codification and progressive development of international …
Non-recognition of Unconstitutional Changes of Government: From African Union to ASEAN By Dr Trung Q.T. Nguyen Published on 2 March 2025 In the pre-dawn hours of 1 February 2021, military vehicles rolled into Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. Senior civilian leaders were detained, and by sunrise, the Tatmadaw had declared a state of emergency, effectively terminating the …
Non-recognition of Unconstitutional Changes of Government: From African Union to ASEAN Read More »
Timor-Leste’s Upcoming Membership to ASEAN: Clearer Guidance Needed By Johan Pahlepi Published on 2 March 2025 Image credit: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (orthographic projection). The map has been created with the Generic Mapping Tools: https://www.generic-mapping-tools.org/ using one or more of these public-domain datasets for the relief. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons …
Timor-Leste’s Upcoming Membership to ASEAN: Clearer Guidance Needed Read More »
A New Beginning for International Benefit-Sharing? Harmonising and Complying with Rules on Digital Sequence Information by Adam Strobeyko Published on 23 February 2025 Opening Plenary of the HL Segment – Peace with Nature at COP16. The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will convene in …
Massive Pollution, States’ Positive Obligations and Remedies Critical Appraisal of the European Court of Human Rights’ Cannavacciuolo et al. v. Italy Judgment By Hélène Tigroudja Published on 23 February 2025 In a very detailed judgment of almost 200 pages and more than 500 paragraphs, a Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the ‘Court’) …
The Azerbaijan–Armenia Lawfare Goes Ahead: Contrasting the Twin Judgements on Preliminary Objections within the Constellation of Inter-State Legal Proceedings by Kei Nakajima (Associate Professor of International Law, University of Tokyo) Published on 21 January 2025 On 12 November 2024, the International Court of Justice (‘the Court’) delivered two judgments on preliminary objections raised by Armenia …
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Expansion of Jus Cogens and the Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Aggravated State Responsibility by Diego Enrique Uribe Bustamante (Adjunct Professor, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) Last 18 November 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR or ‘the Court’) published a landmark decision in the case of Pueblos …
Addressing the Criticisms against the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime by Nguyen Thanh Trung Cybercrime is a crisis brought about in the digital age. A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (‘UNODC’) estimates financial losses between US$18 billion and US$37 billion from cyber scams targeting victims in East and Southeast …
Addressing the Criticisms against the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime Read More »
Key contentions at the Hearings on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change By Danilo B. Garrido Alves and Efstathios-Effraim Giannidakis Published on 3 January 2025 Between 3 and 13 December, over 100 States and international organisations appeared before the International Court of Justice (some of which—such as Barbados, Sierra Leone, the Cook Islands, Micronesia, …
Key contentions at the Hearings on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change Read More »
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers The distinctive role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in shaping the future of international dispute resolution by Celine Lange Published on 12 December 2024 Panellists at the Singapore Commemorative Event on the 125th anniversary of the Permanent Court of …
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers A PCA for the Next Century by Wenlan Yang Published on 12 December 2024 The third panel of the commemorative event held in Singapore on 25 July 2024 for the 125th anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) featured …
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers Innovations in Dispute Resolution: the PCA and Singapore on the Cutting Edge by Daniel Pakpahan Published on 12 December 2024 The second panel of the commemorative event held in Singapore on 25 July 2024 for the 125th anniversary of the …
Innovations in Dispute Resolution: the PCA and Singapore on the Cutting Edge Read More »
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers The Permanent Court of Arbitration through the Ages by Liyuan Feng Published on 12 December 2024 In 2024, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) celebrates 125 years of existence. The PCA was established by the Convention for the Pacific …
The Permanent Court of Arbitration through the Ages Read More »
The ICC arrest warrants in the Palestine Situation: double standards, limitations and opportunities By Alessandra Spadaro Published on 11 December 2024 On 21 November 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued the first arrest warrants for crimes committed in the Situation in the State of Palestine. The warrants of arrest for …
Benefit v Consent: CJEU’s Front Polisario II Judgment and the Law of Self-Determination By Andrea Maria Pelliconi and Jed Odermatt Published on 15 November 2024 On 4 October 2024, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found that fisheries and trade agreements concluded between the European Union (EU) and …
Benefit v Consent: CJEU’s Front Polisario II Judgment and the Law of Self-Determination Read More »
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The politics of facts before the International Court of Justice By Ana Luísa Bernardino Published on 23 October 2024 There was a time in the history of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in the years immediately following its establishment and, most acutely, in the aftermath …
The politics of facts before the International Court of Justice Read More »
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice’s intrinsic powers to decide all cases brought before it By Ambassador Carlos Argüello Published on 22 October 2024 This symposium invites us to reflect on the proliferation of cases concerning “high politics” adjudicated at the International Court of Justice (ICJ or …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The Power of the World Court Unleashed: The Chagos Archipelago Advisory Opinion and Decolonisation By Trung Nguyen Published on 21 October 2024 British colonialism marked a dark page in humankind’s history and it still haunts us today like the ghost of Hamlet’s father. The story of …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The Rohingya Crisis at the ICJ: Caught between Legal Technicalities and Limits of the Court By Emraan Azad Assistant Professor in Law, Bangladesh University of Professionals Published on 18 October 2024 The crisis in relation to the protection of the Rohingya has two dimensions: one is …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice High Politics and the International Court of Justice By Gleider Hernández Published on 17 October 2024 The notion of ‘high politics’ in international adjudication is only paradoxical if one insists strictly on a conceptual separation between law and politics. Though the point of law and legal …
High Politics and the International Court of Justice Read More »
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice Mega-Political Cases before the ICJ: Transforming a Hegemonic into a Negotiated Order? By Heike Krieger Published on 16 October 2024 In recent years, states have increasingly turned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to adjudicate what one may describe as ‘mega-political’ cases. Such cases concern …
Mega-Political Cases before the ICJ: Transforming a Hegemonic into a Negotiated Order? Read More »
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice ‘High Politics’ at the International Court of Justice By Ntina Tzouvala Published on 16 October 2024 It is a long-held position of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it is not precluded from pronouncing on the legal dimensions of a question simply because said question …
‘High Politics’ at the International Court of Justice Read More »
Combating Biopiracy by Fostering Coordination across the Environment, Intellectual Property and Trade Regimes By Pallavi Arora Published on 5 August 2024 The advent of biotechnology has raised concerns about biopiracy: the utilization of biological resources and traditional knowledge without permission from or compensation to the local communities who are the rightful custodians of these resources …
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Gravity at the International Criminal Court: A Response By Priya Urs Published on 8 August 2024 I am grateful to Meg deGuzman, Patryk Labuda and Martha Bradley for generously giving their time to reflect on Gravity at the International Criminal Court. Each of them raises a variety of …
Gravity at the International Criminal Court: A Response Read More »
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Gravity at the International Criminal Court: Admissibility and Prosecutorial Discretion by Priya Urs: A significant contribution offering a refreshing guidance towards the assessment of the gravity criterion to insure prosecutorial consistency By Martha M Bradley Published on 8 August 2024 Gravity at the International Criminal Court: Admissibility and …
Admissibility and Prosecutorial Discretion by Priya Urs Read More »
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Law versus Policy? Exploring the Meaning of Gravity before the International Criminal Court By Patryk I. Labuda Published on 7 August 2024 Priya Urs’ new book is an important contribution to the literature on the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court). In under two hundred pages, she manages …
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Faith in Gravity By Margaret M. deGuzman Published on 6 August 2024 The concept of gravity—that some crimes are especially serious—is at the heart of the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court) regime. Among other things, it helps to determine which situations and cases the ICC investigates and …
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Gravity at the International Criminal Court: An Introduction By Priya Urs Published on 6 August 2024 I began thinking about the selectivity of the investigation and prosecution of international crimes in 2014, when I worked with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to strengthen its role in monitoring …
Gravity at the International Criminal Court: An Introduction Read More »
Legality of Cyber Operations in the Israel-Hezbollah War By Mr Hussein Badreddine Published on 23 May 2024 In the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 attack conducted by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, Israel claimed the right of self-defence and began a widespread operation in the Gaza strip. On 8 October 2023, Hezbollah launched rockets …
Legality of Cyber Operations in the Israel-Hezbollah War Read More »
Strengthening Global Biosecurity and Biosafety Efforts: The Role of the BWC National Implementation Database in Informing and Guiding National Policies By Dr. Jaroslav Krasny Published on 24 April 2024 The Biological Weapons Convention National Implementation Database (“BWC Database”), developed collaboratively by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the Verification Research, Training and …
Environmental Provisions in ASEAN’s Investment Agreements: The Need to Strengthen Member States’ Right to Regulate Environmental Issues By Kim Anh Dao Published on 4 April 2024 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds a significant position in the international investment rule-making arena. Alongside treaties concluded by its individual members, ASEAN, as a unified entity, …
Artificial Intelligence and Article 33.4 VCLT By Tarcisio Gazzini Published on 14 March 2024 Introduction Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to radically change legal education and the legal profession. Suffice it to mention the administration of justice through machines. This comment focuses on a much more specific issue, namely the interpretation of multilingual treaties. Article …
Does breaching UNCLOS invoke the right of self-defence? By Shani Friedman Published on 19 February 2024 Introduction Since October 2023, as part of the Israeli-Hamas war following the October 7 massacre in Israel, the Houthis – an Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist group – attacked commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in …
Does breaching UNCLOS invoke the right of self-defence? Read More »
China’s engagement with the ITLOS climate change advisory proceedings and its strategic formalism in international law By Ryan Martínez Mitchell Published on 6 February 2024 Several months ago, Beijing decided to take a stand against the expansion of advisory opinion jurisdiction to the full International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), as well …
Israel, South Africa and the Power of Genocide By Yusra Suedi Published on 23 January 2024 The International Court of Justice (ICJ, the Court) has increasingly been the theatre for accusations of the crime of genocide. The latest instalment is South Africa’s institution of proceedings against Israel for committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Genocide …