International Law in Brief


International Law in Brief (ILIB) is a forum that provides updates on current developments in international law from the editors of ASIL's International Legal Materials.
Obstetric Violence as a Human Rights Violation: Insights from HRW's Sierra Leone Report
| By: Brianne Blain : November 20, 2025 |

Photo by Robert Yates / Department for International Development (CC BY 2.0)

In November 2025, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released “No Money, No Care,” a detailed report documenting obstetric violence in Sierra Leone’s public health system. Sierra Leone, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, has long been plagued by delays or outright denial of care for patients unable to pay hospital staff, despite the establishment of a free healthcare initiative in 2010.

Obstetric violence refers to abuse experienced by pregnant women...

ASEAN Adopts Declaration on the Right to Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment
| By: Ylian Gassmi : November 20, 2025 |

On October 26, 2025, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment. The Declaration takes place in a context of increasing regional environmental degradation and climate vulnerability in Southeast Asia. It also goes along with growing international recognition, under the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN General Assembly’s 2022 resolution on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, that environmental protection constitutes a fundamental human right...

EU Releases Revised Amendment on Western Sahara in Response to CJEU Rulings
| By: Brianne Blain : November 20, 2025 |

Photo by Michele Benericetti (CC BY-ND 2.0)

On October 6, 2025, the European Commission released a revised amendment to the EU-Morocco trade agreement concerning Western Sahara, a territory disputed between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front. Listed by the UN as a “non-self-governing territory,” Western Sahara has been under Moroccan occupation since 1975. Its people, the Sahrawi, continue to seek independence, while the region remains contested.

The amendment responds to rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which emphasized that...

ITLOS Releases Annual Report for 2024
| By: Özge Karsu : November 19, 2025 |

On April 17, 2025, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) submitted its Annual Report for 2024 to the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which took place in New York from June 23-27 2025. The report covered the Tribunal's activities from January 1 to December 31, 2024. It included information on judicial proceedings, organizational structure, administrative works, and capacity-building activities.

The report highlighted the Tribunal’s Advisory Opinion in the Request submitted by the Commission of...

ECtHR Found Serbia Responsible for Severe Impact on Living Conditions and Property Value
| By: Özge Karsu : November 10, 2025 |

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Serbia violated Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property), in a case concerning the impact of a neighboring construction project on the applicant’s living conditions and the market value of her property.

The construction of a six-storey building less than two meters from the applicant’s ground-floor apartment resulted in loss of natural light and ventilation. Further, the experts concluded that the apartment was transformed...

Russia Appeals ICAO Council Decision on MH17 to the ICJ
| By: Özge Karsu : November 10, 2025 |

On September 18, 2025, the Russian Federation filed an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), appealing a decision of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The underlying dispute concerned the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. In March 2022, Australia and the Netherlands initiated the proceedings before the ICAO Council, under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). The submission alleged that Russia violated its obligations under the Chicago...

UN Committee Finds France in Violation of Migrant Children’s Rights
| By: Emma Yadene : November 04, 2025 |

On October 3, 2025, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child released an inquiry report finding that France committed grave and systemic violations of the rights of unaccompanied migrant children. Conducted under Article 13 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the inquiry revealed serious flaws in France’s age-assessment procedures. The Committee found that the presumption of minority, which ensures children are treated as such until proven otherwise, is applied only until an initial decision is made. Once classified as adults, many are excluded from...

ECtHR finds Greece in Violation of Right to Fair Trial under Art. 6(1)
| By: Emma Yadene : November 04, 2025 |

In Tsatani v. Greece, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) examined whether disciplinary proceedings against a Greek prosecutor complied with Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to fair and impartial hearings. The applicant, Tsatani, faced disciplinary actions initiated by the President of the Court of Cassation after she closed a criminal investigation into alleged fraud involving Greek and Cypriot individuals.

Tsatani filed a recusal request, arguing that the President had a conflict of interest and could not be impartial. She...

UN Extends Haiti Arms Embargo Amid Ongoing Gang Violence
| By: Brianne Blain : November 04, 2025 |

Photo by Voice of America

The UN Security Council adopted resolution S/RES/2794 (2025) to extend Haiti’s sanctions regime for an additional year in response to the rising threat of gang violence. The renewed measures aim to combat the country’s high levels of homicide, kidnapping, trafficking, and sexual violence, all of which continue to undermine stability. The illegal trade and distribution of weapons to armed gangs further threaten Haiti’s rule of law.

The original 2022 resolution established a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo, targeting both...

French Court of Cassation Rules on Functional Immunity and International Crimes
| By: Özge Karsu : October 29, 2025 |

On July 25, 2025, the France’s highest court delivered its judgment dismissing an appeal of a former Syrian Minister of the Economy and Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, who were indicted in France for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The appellant argued that, under customary international law, state officials enjoy functional immunity for acts committed in the exercise of sovereign functions, even when such acts are alleged to constitute serious international crimes. He claimed that the investigating chamber erred in denying him that immunity.

The Court rejected...

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