DRC v. Uganda stands as one of the most practically consequential judgments ever delivered by the International Court of Justice on armed conflict between States.

Nicaragua v United States of America stands as one of the most consequential judgments ever delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Decided in 1986, the case remains a foundational reference for understanding the prohibition of the use of force, the principle of non-intervention, the relationship between treaty law and customary international law, and the legal limits of indirect or proxy warfare.

Arrest Warrant Case (Democratic Republic of the Congo v Belgium) is one of the few International Court of Justice decisions that still structures day-to-day legal advice on both (i) the criminal reach of national courts and (ii) the operational limits imposed by immunities of senior foreign officials.

The Ireland v. United Kingdom case is the European Court of Human Rights’ most consequential early attempt to draw a legally operational line between “torture” and “inhuman or degrading treatment” under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), while simultaneously adjudicating a security-state’s emergency measures under Article 15 and constructing a durable approach to proof in systemic ill-treatment litigation (European Court of Human Rights, 1978).