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 ...
Symposium: Small States, Legal Argument, and International Disputes Small States and international litigation to minimise climate insecurity by Shirley V. Scott Published on 17 July 2023 The amount of climate litigation is increasing. Indeed, litigation holds the promise of adding impetus to action in a world in which efforts to mitigate climate change have been so …
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Symposium: Small States, Legal Argument, and International Disputes Litigating Imperialism? Lessons from the South West Africa saga by Ntina Tzouvala Published on 14 July 2023 Amongst international lawyers in my adoptive country, Australia, the South West Africa saga tends to elicit cryptic comments and long pauses. The role of the then International Court of Justice (ICJ) …
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Canada and the Netherlands Institute ICJ Proceedings Alleging Violations by Syria of the Convention against Torture By Priya Urs Published on 13 July 2023 [Many thanks to Miles Jackson, Massimo Lando and Martins Paparinskis for their very helpful comments.] Other significant developments in recent weeks (see e.g. here and here) have perhaps overshadowed the joint …
Symposium: Small States, Legal Argument, and International Disputes The Australia/Timor-Leste maritime boundary dispute by Bill Campbell Published on 12 July 2023 This post seeks to go some way towards dispelling the notion that there was a complete asymmetry of power involved in the settlement of the long-running dispute between Australia and Timor-Leste over maritime delimitation in …
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Symposium: Small States, Legal Argument, and International Disputes Great Hall, Small States by Juliette McIntyre Published on 10 July 2023 Introduction This contribution argues that small State participation in the oral phase of a case gives an important expression to sovereign equality. This is, in and of itself, an important strategic outcome in litigation against more …
Symposium: Small States, Legal Argument, and International Disputes Litigation as legal statecraft: Small states and the law of the sea by Douglas Guilfoyle Published on 7 July 2023 The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the UN, holds public hearings in the advisory proceedings in respect of the Legal consequences of the …
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Symposium Introductory Blog Small States, Legal Argument, and International Disputes By Douglas Guilfoyle Published on 7 July 2023 The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the UN, holds public hearings in the advisory proceedings in respect of the Legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 from …
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What’s Next if the South China Sea Code of Conduct Negotiations Fail? By Aristyo Rizka Darmawan Published on 12 June 2023 The ASEAN-China South China Sea Code of Conduct (CoC) negotiations have resumed and picked up pace after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased. Despite the optimistic statements expressed by ASEAN leaders and that Indonesia as …
What’s Next if the South China Sea Code of Conduct Negotiations Fail? Read More »
Exercise of Jurisdiction or Admissibility? Delimitation of Outer Continental Shelf (Part II) By Professor Bjørn Kunoy Published on 1 June 2023 Conflicting approaches in Jurisprudence With the recent judgment of the Special Chamber in Mauritius v. Maldives there are now five decisions addressing the merits of questions regarding the delimitation of the outer continental shelf …
Exercise of Jurisdiction or Admissibility? Delimitation of Outer Continental Shelf (Part I) By Professor Bjørn Kunoy Published on 29 May 2023 This is the first part of a total of two posts that endeavour to pursue a critical analysis of the reasoning underlying courts’ and tribunals conclusions for delimiting overlaps of outer continental shelf entitlement …
Freedom of information, materials conditions, and the ICCPR’s stylistic choice By Wanshu Cong Published on 15 May 2023 There is a growing interest in the international legal scholarship to study the materiality of international law. Termed as ‘new materialism’, this recent material (re)turn has animated inquiries which pay attention to concrete and specific objects. These …
Freedom of information, materials conditions, and the ICCPR’s stylistic choice Read More »
The Causal Question in the Application of the Law on the Use of Force to Cyber Operations By Priya Urs Published on 25 April 2023 [The research for this post was carried out as part of a project at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict funded by the Government of Japan. For …
The BBNJ Agreement – new treaty, old challenges By Shani Friedman* Published on 24 April 2023 On March 4, 2023, the text of the international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS/ Convention) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction …
Intervention and obligations erga omnes at the International Court of Justice By Benjamin Salas Kantor Research Scholar at Columbia Law School Dr. Massimo Lando Assistant Professor at the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong and Global Fellow at CIL Published on 20 April 2023 It is not too often that one attends …
Intervention and obligations erga omnes at the International Court of Justice Read More »
The BBNJ Agreement: Links between the New and Existing Laws on Protecting Marine Biodiversity By Nguyen Thanh Trung (CIL Research Fellow) Published on 17 April 2023 4 March 2023 was a historic day for the international law of the sea. The United Nations International Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), led …
Regime Interaction between Deep Sea Mining and the Conservation of Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction By Digvijay Rewatkar* Published on 13 April 2023 The question of conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) in their current form have been under discussion since the 2015 recommendations of the …
The final hours of a treaty negotiation By Joanna Mossop* Published on 11 April 2023 As I walk around the echoing corridors of the United Nations Conference Building basement, groups of people are huddled in corners, or sprawled out among the chairs in the closed ‘Vienna Cafe’, or are slumped in their chairs in Conference …
Symposium Introductory Blog Accountability for core international crimes in the ASEAN region: diversity in recent developments A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices by Dr Cheah W.L., National University of Singapore Published on 5 April 2023 “Map of Southeast Asia” by Cacahuate; amendments by Globe-trotter and Texugo. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. …
Symposium: Accountability for core international crimes in the ASEAN region: diversity in recent developments The ICL Ecosystem in the Asia Pacific: The Rome Statute and Beyond A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices by Dr Priya Pillai Published on 5 April 2023 “Map of Southeast Asia” by Cacahuate; amendments by Globe-trotter and Texugo. This file is licensed under the Creative …
The ICL Ecosystem in the Asia Pacific: The Rome Statute and Beyond Read More »
Symposium: Accountability for core international crimes in the ASEAN region: diversity in recent developments The ‘Things Said in Passing’: The Duterte Drug War, Philippine Presidential Foreign Policy Prerogatives, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in Pangilinan v Cayetano A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices by Romel Regalado Bagares Published on 5 April …
Symposium: Accountability for core international crimes in the ASEAN region: diversity in recent developments Justice Beyond the Courtroom? Residual Functions at the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices by Andre Kwok Published on 5 April 2023 The legacy of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is …
Symposium: Accountability for core international crimes in the ASEAN region: diversity in recent developments The right to non-discriminatory reparations for slavery crimes: Malaya Lolas secure ground-breaking CEDAW decision and holistic recommendations A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices by Priya Gopalan and Alexandra Lily Kather Published on 5 April 2023 On 3 March 2023, published on …
Symposium: Accountability for core international crimes in the ASEAN region: diversity in recent developments Linking the law and public advocacy: a win-win for legal scholars and activists A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices by Chris Gunness, Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project Published on 5 April 2023 Lawyers and Journalists: greater than the sum of …
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Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Remembering the Thai-Myanmar Death Railway: In Conversation with Chandra Sekaran, Chairman of the Death Railway Interest Group Published on 3 April 2023 Chandra Sekaran is the Chairman of Death Railway Interest Group. Andre Kwok is final year Asian Studies and Laws (Honours) student …
Symposium: Use of force, territorial integrity, and world order: continuing the debate Use of force, territorial integrity and world order: a response by Professor Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk and Professor Monica Hakimi Published on 29 March 2023 We are grateful for the challenging and interesting responses to our editorial comment on Ukraine and for the opportunity to …
Use of force, territorial integrity and world order: a response Read More »
First hearings in climate change cases before the European Court of Human Rights: tackling the victim status By Celine Lange Published on 28 March 2023 In February 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (the ECHR or the Court) issued an update on the ‘status of climate applications’ pending before it. It had shortly before …
Symposium: Use of force, territorial integrity, and world order: continuing the debate Reflections on the Ukraine Moment and Western Selectivity: A Response to Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk and Monica Hakimi by Dr Ardi Imseis Published on 27 March 2023 In their recent Americal Journal of International Law editorial on the war in Ukraine and the future of …
Symposium: Use of force, territorial integrity, and world order: continuing the debate On force, territory, and independence: how (not) to narrow down a rule by Anastasiya Kotova & Dr Ntina Tzouvala Published on 24 March 2023 In analysing the legal and political implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk and Monica Hakimi suggest that …
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Symposium: Use of force, territorial integrity, and world order: continuing the debate Ukraine and Beyond: the need to reaffirm basic principles and to build a new consensus on the prohibition of the use of force in international relations by Professor Sâ Benjamin Traoré Published on 22 March 2023 A divided world In their introduction to the …
Symposium: Use of force, territorial integrity, and world order: continuing the debate Unpacking the comparison between Ukraine and Iraq by Professor Alejandro Chehtman Published on 20 March 2023 In a recent Editorial Comment in the American Journal of International Law (AJIL), Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk and Monica Hakimi claim that the Russian invasion of Ukraine challenges …
Unpacking the comparison between Ukraine and Iraq Read More »
Symposium Introductory Blog Use of force, territorial integrity, and world order: continuing the debate by Dr Ntina Tzouvala (ANU College of Law) Published on 20 March 2023 “NO WAR – piece of art in the streets Berlin” by Etienne Girardet. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Few international …
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Piercing the glass ceiling at UNCLOS tribunals By Dr Lan Nguyen Published on 17 March 2023 While there has been progress in certain international courts and tribunals, the fact remains that female judges or arbitrators still constitute only a small minority in the international bench. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea …
Navigating the Seas of Soft Law in the Implementation of the Law of the Sea Convention By Dita Liliansa* Published on 15 March 2023 This essay explores the role of regional soft law instruments in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to protect endangered sea turtles and their habitats …
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Beyond a feminist approach to international law and diplomacy, reflections By Celine Lange Published on 8 March 2023 On 15 February 2023, the first Singapore Roundtable on Women Leaders in International Law and Diplomacy (‘Singapore Roundtable’) was held, gathering more than 80 law practitioners, members of the diplomatic corps and associations’ representatives. This event was …
Beyond a feminist approach to international law and diplomacy, reflections Read More »
Might It Just Work? How To Interpret Customary International Law (Maybe) By Dr Massimo Lando Published on 6 March 2023 Green light, but only in principle The feasibility of interpreting customary international law has been a matter of much academic debate. Essentially, this debate concerns whether customary rules can be objects of interpretation, which is …
Might It Just Work? How To Interpret Customary International Law (Maybe) Read More »
A hollow—and slightly homophobic—victory for LGBTIQ+ rights? Fedotova and others v Russia By Professor Lucas Lixinski Published on 22 February 2023 The European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) Grand Chamber consolidated its jurisprudence on the legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Fedotova and others v Russia (Fedotova). In doing so, it advances a key cause …