CIL Dialogues
An International Law Blog
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 Blogs
by Robert Beckman, Trung Nguyen and Joel Ong Jie Hao
At its thirty-third biennial meeting on 6 December 2023, the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (‘IMO’) adopted Resolution A.1192(33) urging Member States and all relevant stakeholders to promote actions to prevent illegal operations in the maritime sector by the ‘dark fleet’ or ‘shadow fleet’ (‘the 2023 Resolution’). Read on ...
Artificial Intelligence And Article 33.4 VCLT
by Tarcisio Gazzini
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 33.4 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, in particular, directs the interpreter in overcoming differences between equally authoritative texts. Read on ...
Does breaching UNCLOS invoke the right of self-defence?
by Shani Friedman
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 support of Hamas. The attacks range from non-violent boarding and rerouting of ships to using missiles and drones. Read on
China’s engagement with the ITLOS climate change advisory proceedings and its strategic formalism in international law
by Ryan Martínez Mitchell
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 as the potential use of such jurisdiction to define climate change obligations under the law of the sea. Read on ...