Chemical weapons are prohibited under international law, but enforcing that prohibition remains a challenge. This article examines the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the OPCW's verification and investigative powers, chemical agents such as VX and sarin, and the legal mechanisms for holding states and individuals accountable for chemical weapons use.

Is a formal declaration of war still legally required? This article examines Hague Convention III of 1907, the UN Charter, and the Geneva Conventions to explain when declarations are required, how armed conflicts can exist without them, and what the Iran conflicts reveal about modern international law.

The Third Geneva Convention establishes who qualifies as a prisoner of war and the legal protections governing captivity. This article examines combatant status, POW rights, humane treatment, criminal responsibility, and the rules governing release and repatriation after the cessation of active hostilities.

Brazil’s 1988 Constitution gives international treaties different legal status depending on their subject and approval process. This article examines treaty incorporation, the STF’s supralegal doctrine, Constitutional Amendment No. 45, and Brazil’s relationships with the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, and Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Command responsibility establishes when military commanders and other superiors may be held criminally liable for crimes committed by subordinates. This article examines effective control, knowledge requirements, failures to prevent or punish crimes, ICC Article 28, and the landmark Čelebići and Bemba judgments.

Collective security under the UN Charter enables the Security Council to address threats to international peace through sanctions and military enforcement. This article examines the legal foundations of Chapter VII, the historical experiences of Korea, Kuwait, and Libya, and the limitations imposed by the veto, political disagreements, and dependence on member states.

A coup d'état is usually unconstitutional under domestic law, but international law does not impose one universal rule making every coup unlawful. This article explains regional anti-coup regimes, human rights, non-intervention, state responsibility, recognition, and state continuity.

Hybrid courts combine national and international elements to prosecute serious crimes, but they do not follow a single legal model. This article examines the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Cambodia’s Extraordinary Chambers, the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic, and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, comparing their legal foundations, jurisdiction, judicial structures, and institutional limits.

UNCLOS compulsory conciliation allows states to initiate settlement proceedings in certain maritime disputes without the other party’s consent to that particular proceeding. This article examines when the procedure applies, how commissions operate under Annex V, and why their recommendations are non-binding. It also considers the Timor Sea conciliation between Timor-Leste and Australia.

How is the UN Secretary-General selected, and why can one permanent Security Council member block a candidate? This article explains the appointment procedure under Article 97 of the UN Charter, including nominations, straw polls, the General Assembly’s authority, the disputed 1950 precedent, and reforms shaping the 2026 selection process.

The proposed EU KIDS Act would restrict independent social media accounts for children under 15 and introduce safeguards for minors across digital services. This article explains the age limits, parental controls, privacy protections, AI chatbot rules, and how the proposal would interact with existing EU law.

Territorial waters, formally known as the territorial sea, may extend up to 12 nautical miles from legally determined baselines. Coastal States exercise sovereignty in this zone, but that authority is limited by rules on innocent passage, foreign ships, maritime boundaries, and neighboring zones such as the EEZ.

Innocent passage allows foreign ships to navigate through another State’s territorial sea under UNCLOS. The regime balances coastal-State sovereignty with navigational rights, defining when passage is lawful, when it becomes non-innocent, and what measures coastal States may take.

Who owns Antarctica is a more complex legal question than it first appears. Seven states maintain territorial claims, but the Antarctic Treaty preserves those positions without resolving sovereignty, while regulating science, jurisdiction, environmental protection, and resources.

Piracy under international law is narrowly defined by UNCLOS and does not cover every act of maritime violence. The legal regime turns on Article 101, maritime location, the two-ship requirement, universal jurisdiction, and the distinction between piracy and armed robbery against ships.

UN peacekeeping developed through practice rather than an express Charter provision. Its legal framework draws on Security Council mandates, consent, impartiality, rules on the use of force, status of forces agreements, international humanitarian law, human rights, and the rules governing attribution and responsibility.

International environmental law governs environmental protection, transboundary harm, shared resources, and global environmental risks through treaties, customary international law, and general international law. This article explains prevention, precaution, environmental impact assessment, sustainable development, major treaty regimes, compliance, and State responsibility.

Extradition allows one State to surrender an accused or convicted person to another for prosecution or punishment. Its legality depends on treaties, domestic law, refusal grounds, human rights obligations, and, in some cases, duties to extradite or prosecute.

Diplomatic protection allows a State to invoke another State’s international responsibility for injury suffered by a protected national or legal person. Its operation depends on nationality of claims, exhaustion of local remedies, corporate protection rules, and the relationship between general international law and direct treaty-based remedies.

State succession raises difficult questions about what happens when one State replaces another in responsibility for a territory. This article examines continuity, treaty obligations, property, State debts, nationality, organizational membership, and State responsibility under international law.