09 April 2026
Three Lessons from the UN Declaration on Enslavement
On 25 March 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, led by African and Caribbean states, the Declaration on the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity. The Declaration can be read as operating within the language of foundational instruments of international law while simultaneously pushing their limits through a set of decisive doctrinal moves. Seen in this light, the Declaration offers at least three lessons for international law today. Continue reading >>
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10 July 2024
The Rule of Law and the United Nations Summit of the Future
Is the rule of law an unwritten principle for the UN system? Today, rule of law language has been gradually replaced by a new paradigm of ‘inclusivity’. The rule of law debate within the UN was centered on a thick understanding of the rule of law, highlighting substantive values rather than procedural guarantees. Absent a consented definition of the term, the rule of law was never considered to be an unwritten principle for the UN system. Continue reading >>
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13 April 2023
A Glimpse into More Equitable International Governance
On March 29, the United Nations General Assembly passed a landmark resolution asking the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on state obligations relating to climate change and the consequences of breaching them under several sources of international law, including the UN Charter, human rights treaties, and international customary law. The import of both the request and the opinion, however, is not just about Earth’s climate system and the extent of state obligations for protecting it; it is also about the potential for more equitable, just, and effective international governance. Continue reading >>
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