At the Nexus of Reproductive Crimes and Torture
07.08.2025
Susann Aboueldahab
Alexandra Lily Kather
Akila Radhakrishnan
This post examines the case of Alaa M. to shed light on an often-forgotten dimension of gender-based crimes – reproductive violence. In an important new precedent, the Higher Regional Court...
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The Conundrum of Initial Appearance
23.07.2025
On 3 June 2025, the Appeals Chamber (AC) of the International Criminal Court (the ‘ICC’) pronounced its judgement on the confirmation of charges in absentia in the case of Joseph...
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Historical Responsibility at Hammelsgasse 1
03.07.2025
Whenever Germany applies universal jurisdiction, abstract allusions to the country’s historical responsibility abound. Responsibility is a state of being; but eight decades after the end of the Second World War,...
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Dracarys and Law
11.06.2025
Fiction constructs speculative worlds where the meaning of restraint, responsibility, and legitimacy can be tested and revealed. Focusing on the destruction of King’s Landing in Season 8, Episode 5 of...
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The Hague and Europe’s Last Dictatorship
10.06.2025
Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime has been in power for over 30 years. Belarusians who have fled the country report years of systematic repression, persecution, and inhuman treatment by authorities. These accounts...
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Deutschland im DämMerzustand?
05.06.2025
Niklas von Estorff
Lukas Herich
Die Regierung der 21. Legislaturperiode, bestehend aus einer Koalition von CDU, CSU und SPD, wurde am 06.05. vereidigt und Friedrich Merz zum 10. Bundeskanzler gewählt. Die Besuche in Warschau, Paris...
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Ecocide as the Fifth International Crime
16.01.2025
The international criminal law framework could soon expand to include ‘ecocide’—the arbitrary, severe, and either widespread or long-term destruction of ecosystems. On September 9, 2024, Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu submitted...
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La Destruction de la « Victime Idéale »
09.01.2025
Avec le récent rapport d'Amnesty International sur le génocide en Palestine et les mandats d'arrêt de la Cour Pénale Internationale (CPI), les violences sexuelles et sexistes (VSS) pourraient enfin recevoir...
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Crushing the “Ideal Victim”
09.01.2025
Amid the recent Amnesty International report on genocide in Palestine and the ICC arrest warrants, it is to be hoped that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) will now receive increased...
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Proxy Wars and International Criminal Law
17.12.2024
José Manuel Aznar Puyalto
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a resurgence in the discussions around aggression and the homonym crime. However, the debate has mainly centred around...
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Closure of Protection Gaps?
18.06.2024
Livia Benschu
Alexandra Lily Kather
On Thursday, June 6, 2024, the German Parliament adopted the Federal Government's draft bill on the further development of international criminal law as amended by the Committee on Legal Affairs....
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Progress or Patchwork?
17.01.2024
Germany has received widespread acclaim for its domestic implementation of international criminal law (ICL) in the German Code on Crimes against International Law (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch) and for completing multiple universal jurisdiction...
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Fortschritt oder Flickwerk?
17.01.2024
In Hinblick auf die kommunikative Offenheit der Verfahren hat die deutsche Strafjustiz die avisierte „Vorreiterrolle“ bei der Verfolgung von Völkerrechtsverbrechen bisher nicht einnehmen können. Anders als in anderen europäischen Staaten,...
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Indignity Trending
15.01.2024
Hamas’ assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s scorched-earth response in Gaza, has captivated global audiences for over three months. The staggering loss of life and the brazen...
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Transboundary Elements of Crime
24.11.2023
On 12 October, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) addressed the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh in response to the Azerbaijani military operation that commenced...
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A ‘Clear’ War Crime Against the Environment?
28.07.2023
On the morning of June 6, 2023, the first news agencies reported that the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled area in southern Ukraine was destroyed. The spilling water masses...
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Islamic State, Women, and Their Role as Perpetrators in International Criminal Law
27.07.2023
In June 2023, the Koblenz Higher Regional Court handed down one of the most significant sentences to female Islamic State (ISIS) returnees. The verdict against Nadine K. included charges for...
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Islamischer Staat, Frauen und ihre Täterinnenrolle im Völkerstrafrecht
27.07.2023
Das OLG Koblenz verurteilte die Rückkehrerin aus dem Islamischen Staat (IS) Nadine K. im Juni 2023 u.a. wegen der mitgliedschaftlichen Beteiligung an einer terroristischen Vereinigung, Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit durch...
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Rectifying the Coloniality of Omission
16.05.2023
On the 24 February 2023, the German Federal Ministry of Justice published a white paper outlining proposals of legislative amendments that in its view seek to develop and strengthen international...
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The ICC’s Channels of Communication
24.04.2023
In May 2022, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Outreach Unit conducted an outreach mission in Timbuktu, Mali, as part of the The Prosecutor v. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag...
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Zwischen normativem Anspruch und prozessualer Wirklichkeit – Teil II
21.09.2022
Nicolai Bülte
Franziska Gruber
Stefan Vasovic
Der erste Teil dieses Beitrags ist hier erschienen. Die prozessuale Hürde: Immunitäten Größter Vorteil – und größter Streitpunkt – einer internationalisierten Strafverfolgung ist die potentielle Umgehung von Immunitäten. Während...
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Zwischen normativem Anspruch und prozessualer Wirklichkeit – Teil I
21.09.2022
Nicolai Bülte
Franziska Gruber
Stefan Vasovic
Seit am 24.02.2022 russische Truppen in die Ukraine einmarschiert sind, scheint das Völkerstrafrecht eine Renaissance zu erleben. Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) nahm bereits wenige Tage nach Kriegsbeginn Ermittlungen auf, eine...
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Mission Accomplished
12.09.2022
There are two things every development agency does when launching a new program: First, formulating a robust theory of change, and second, devising an exit strategy. These steps serve to...
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The Ongwen case: A prism glass for the concurrent commission of gender-based crimes
15.03.2021
Alexandra Lily Kather
Amal Nassar
In a long-anticipated judgment at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Trial Chamber IX found Dominic Ongwen, a former commander in the Lord Resistance Army (LRA), guilty of 61 counts of...
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