Immigration & International Law — INA, Refugees, IHL, Treaties, ICJ

This note covers two adjacent bodies of law that overlap most visibly in refugee protection, deportation, and the law of armed conflict. Part I is United States immigration law — the Immigration and Nationality Act, the administrative architecture, asylum, removal, recent Supreme Court decisions, and the enforcement landscape under the second Trump administration. Part II is public international law — sources, major treaty regimes, international humanitarian law, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the law of the sea, trade, and sanctions.

---

PART I — UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION LAW

1. Statutory framework — the INA

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 (Pub. L. 82-414; the McCarran-Walter Act, enacted over President Truman’s veto) is the principal codification of US immigration law, embedded at 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq.. Cross-references in this note use INA § numbers (e.g. INA § 208 = 8 U.S.C. § 1158).

Major amending statutes:

• Hart-Celler Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 89-236): abolished the national-origins quota system that had governed since the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, replaced it with a hemispheric cap and family + employment preferences; the foundational legislation of the modern system.
• Refugee Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-212): conformed US law to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees; created the modern asylum/refugee process and ORR (Office of Refugee Resettlement).
• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) (Pub. L. 99-603): legalised ~2.7M unauthorised residents who entered before 1982; introduced employer sanctions and I-9 verification; signed by Reagan.
• Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT) (Pub. L. 101-649): raised numerical caps; created the Diversity Visa lottery (55,000/yr, later 50,000); created TPS (Temporary Protected Status); restructured nonimmigrant categories (H-1B, O, P).
• Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) 1996 (Pub. L. 104-132): expanded criminal grounds of removability.
• Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) 1996 (Pub. L. 104-208): expedited removal (INA § 235(b)(1)), 3- and 10-year unlawful-presence bars (INA § 212(a)(9)(B)), expanded aggravated-felony definition (INA § 101(a)(43)), made § 245(i) adjustment narrower, limited judicial review of discretionary decisions.
• USA PATRIOT Act 2001 + Homeland Security Act 2002 (Pub. L. 107-296): abolished INS, transferred functions to DHS sub-agencies.
• REAL ID Act 2005: standards for state IDs; expanded asylum-credibility findings.
• William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 2008 (TVPRA) (Pub. L. 110-457): protections for unaccompanied alien children (UAC); HHS-ORR custody framework.

2. Administrative architecture

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — established 2002 under Homeland Security Act; three principal immigration components:
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): adjudicates affirmative applications (asylum, naturalisation, adjustment, work authorisation, family petitions). Fee-funded.
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): ports of entry, Border Patrol, AMO (Air & Marine Operations).
  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) + Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
• Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) — within Department of Justice (not DHS). Houses Immigration Courts (Article I administrative; “immigration judges” are DOJ employees, not Article III judges) and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
• Judicial review of BIA decisions: petitions for review to the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals (circuit varies by where IJ proceedings were completed). 8 U.S.C. § 1252.
• DOJ Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) — represents the government in federal-court immigration cases.
• Department of State (DOS) — issues visas at consulates abroad; the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) runs the refugee resettlement program.
• Department of Labor (DOL) — Foreign Labor Certification; PERM, prevailing-wage determinations.

3. Immigrant (permanent) categories

3.1 Family-based

INA § 203(a) preferences:

• F1: Unmarried sons/daughters of US citizens (23,400/yr).
• F2A: Spouses + minor children of LPRs (~87,900/yr).
• F2B: Unmarried adult sons/daughters of LPRs.
• F3: Married sons/daughters of US citizens.
• F4: Brothers/sisters of adult US citizens.

Immediate Relatives (IR) of US citizens — spouses, unmarried children under 21, parents of adult citizens — are not numerically limited.

Wait times are governed by the State Department Visa Bulletin (final action and dates-for-filing charts), which often exceed two decades for Mexican and Philippine F-family preferences. As of the May 2026 Visa Bulletin, F4 Mexico priority dates remain in 2001.

3.2 Employment-based (EB)

INA § 203(b):

• EB-1: Persons of extraordinary ability (1A), outstanding researchers (1B), multinational executives (1C). No labor certification.
• EB-2: Advanced-degree or exceptional-ability. National Interest Waiver (NIW) under Matter of Dhanasar (AAO 2016) lets applicants self-petition without an employer or labor cert.
• EB-3: Skilled workers + professionals + “other workers” (unskilled).
• EB-4: Special immigrants (religious workers, Special Immigrant Juveniles SIJ, Afghan/Iraqi translators).
• EB-5: Investor green card; $1,050,000\ast \ast minimum,\ast \ast$800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA), with 10 full-time-jobs creation; reformed by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103, Div. BB).

Each EB category is annually capped; per-country cap is 7% of total preference numbers under INA § 202(a)(2), producing massive Indian and Chinese backlogs especially in EB-2 and EB-3.

3.3 Diversity Visa (DV)

INA § 203(c). 50,000 visas/yr (down from 55,000 after NACARA reallocation) by lottery for nationals of low-admission countries.

3.4 Humanitarian / protection-based

• Asylees (INA § 208) and refugees (INA § 207) — adjustable to LPR after 1 year (§ 209).
• U visas — crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement (INA § 101(a)(15)(U)); 10,000/yr cap; massive backlog.
• T visas — trafficking victims (INA § 101(a)(15)(T)).
• VAWA self-petitioners — abused spouses/children of citizens/LPRs (INA § 204(a)(1)(A)(iii)).
• SIJ — Special Immigrant Juveniles (INA § 101(a)(27)(J)) — abused/neglected/abandoned youth with state-court findings.

4. Nonimmigrant categories

INA § 101(a)(15) — selected highlights:

• B-1/B-2: business + tourism.
• F-1: academic student; OPT (Optional Practical Training) 12 months post-completion, STEM OPT 24-month extension.
• J-1: exchange visitor; two-year home-residency requirement (INA § 212(e)) for some categories.
• H-1B: specialty occupation; cap 65,000 regular + 20,000 US-master’s; lottery system since 2008, beneficiary-centric registration since FY2025; “specialty occupation” definition updated by USCIS final rule January 2025.
• H-2A: seasonal agricultural; uncapped.
• H-2B: seasonal non-agricultural; 66,000 cap with seasonal split, plus supplemental allocations almost every year.
• L-1A/L-1B: intracompany transferee, executive/manager or specialised-knowledge.
• O-1: extraordinary ability/achievement.
• E-1 / E-2: treaty trader / treaty investor (requires bilateral treaty).
• E-3: Australian specialty occupation (10,500/yr).
• TN: USMCA/(former NAFTA) — Canadian and Mexican professionals on a closed schedule.
• P-1/P-2/P-3: athletes + entertainers.
• R-1: religious workers.

5. Asylum and refugee law

5.1 Statutory basis

• INA § 208 — asylum: discretionary; one-year filing deadline (with changed-circumstance + extraordinary-circumstance exceptions); applicant must establish “well-founded fear of persecution” on account of one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (PSG).
• INA § 241(b)(3) — withholding of removal: mandatory if applicant proves persecution is “more likely than not” (higher bar than asylum); does not grant a path to LPR but is statutory non-refoulement.
• Convention Against Torture (CAT) — implemented via 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.16–18 and INA § 241; protection from removal if “more likely than not” the applicant would be tortured by or with acquiescence of government.

5.2 Affirmative vs defensive

• Affirmative: filed I-589 with USCIS while in the US not in removal proceedings; asylum officer non-adversarial interview; if not granted, referred to immigration court.
• Defensive: raised as a defense to removal in EOIR proceedings.

5.3 Credible-fear / reasonable-fear screening

For people in expedited removal (INA § 235(b)(1)) who claim fear: USCIS asylum officer screens for “credible fear” (significant possibility, ~10%) or — for prior-removed — “reasonable fear” (reasonable possibility, ~50%). Negative finding may be reviewed by an IJ.

5.4 BIA precedent on social-group asylum

• Matter of Acosta, 19 I&N Dec. 211 (BIA 1985) — defined PSG by immutable characteristic.
• Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 227 (BIA 2014) + Matter of W-G-R-, 26 I&N Dec. 208 (BIA 2014) — PSG requires immutability, particularity, and social distinction.
• Matter of A-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 316 (AG 2018, Sessions): tightened DV-based asylum claims — vacated by AG Garland in Matter of A-B- (A-B- III), 28 I&N Dec. 307 (AG 2021).
• Matter of L-E-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 581 (AG 2019, Barr) — restricted family-based PSG — vacated by AG Garland 28 I&N Dec. 304 (2021).

5.5 Recent regulatory and policy actions

• Title 42 (CDC public health expulsion authority, 42 U.S.C. § 265) used to expel migrants at the border March 2020 – May 11, 2023; ended with end of COVID-19 PHE.
• Title 8 “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule (88 Fed. Reg. 31314, May 16 2023) — presumption of asylum ineligibility for those who transit a third country without seeking protection or use the CBP One app; largely upheld by Ninth Circuit in East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Biden (procedural posture, with revised injunction). Continued and expanded by Trump administration EOs January 2025.
• CBP One mobile app for asylum-seeker scheduling — implemented under Biden, terminated January 2025 by Trump executive order, replaced with CBP Home (for self-deportation).
• Asylum Officer Rule (87 Fed. Reg. 18078, 2022) authorising AOs to grant asylum at credible-fear stage — implementation paused under Trump 2.0.

6. Removal (deportation)

6.1 Removal proceedings — INA § 240

Initiated by Notice to Appear (NTA) (INA § 239). NTA defects: Pereira v. Sessions, 585 U.S. 198 (2018) and Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 593 U.S. 155 (2021) — a single NTA must contain time-and-place to trigger the “stop-time” rule for cancellation eligibility.

Charges of removability under INA § 237 (deportability of admitted aliens) or § 212 (inadmissibility).

6.2 Forms of relief from removal

• Cancellation of removal for LPR (INA § 240A(a)): 5/7/no-aggravated-felony rule (LPR ≥5 yr, residence ≥7 yr after admission, no aggravated felony conviction).
• Cancellation of removal for non-LPR (INA § 240A(b)): 10-yr continuous physical presence, good moral character, no specified criminal disqualifier, “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to qualifying USC/LPR relative.
• Adjustment of status (INA § 245) — green card from within US.
• Asylum / withholding / CAT (above).
• Voluntary departure (INA § 240B) — pre/post-conclusion; avoids removal-order consequences.
• Waivers (INA § 212(h), § 212(i), § 237(a)(1)(H), § 209(c), § 240A(c), § 245(i)).

6.3 Expedited removal — INA § 235(b)(1)

Originally limited to noncitizens at ports of entry within 14 days of entry and 100 miles of border. In 2019 DHS expanded by regulation to anywhere in the US, within 2 years of entry (upheld by D.C. Circuit in Make the Road New York v. Mayorkas on procedural grounds). January 2025 EO directed maximal use.

6.4 Detention and Flores

• Mandatory detention under INA § 236(c) for certain criminal aliens — Jennings v. Rodriguez, 583 U.S. 281 (2018), held no implied right to bond hearing after 6 months.
• Flores Settlement Agreement (1997, Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993) underlying litigation): minors must be released “without unnecessary delay” — interpreted as a soft 20-day cap on family detention by Judge Dolly Gee (CDCA). 2024 Final Rule by Biden DHS/HHS attempted to codify Flores standards; revised under Trump.
• Alternatives to detention (ATD) — ISAP electronic monitoring; SmartLINK app; case management. Largely scaled back January 2025.

7. Naturalisation

• INA § 316(a) general rule: continuous LPR ≥5 years, physical presence ≥30 months, residence ≥3 months in state, good moral character, English + civics tests, attachment to Constitution, oath.
• INA § 319(a) spouse of USC: ≥3 years LPR if married to + living with USC throughout.
• INA § 328 / § 329 military service.
• INA § 322 children born abroad to USC parents.

Annual naturalisations: ~800,000–1,000,000 typical; FY2024 USCIS naturalised ~818,500.

8. DACA and Dreamers

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — created by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano memorandum June 15, 2012 under Obama. Provides renewable 2-year deferred action + EAD to those who entered before age 16, were under 31 in June 2012, continuously resident since June 15, 2007, in school or with GED, no significant criminal record.

• ~580,000 active recipients as of 2025.
• DHS v. Regents of the University of California, 591 U.S. 1 (2020) (Roberts, 5-4): Trump administration’s 2017 wind-down arbitrary and capricious under APA.
• Texas v. United States, 50 F.4th 498 (5th Cir. 2022) + 2023 remand: DACA’s substantive grant is unlawful; rule allows only renewals, not new applications. Status now: appellate decision binding (5th Cir.) with renewal-only operation.
• Dream Act / American DREAM Act — perennially proposed since 2001; never enacted as standalone.

9. Supreme Court immigration jurisprudence — selected recent cases

• Patel v. Garland, 596 U.S. 328 (2022) — courts of appeals lack jurisdiction to review factual findings underlying discretionary relief denials.
• United States v. Texas, 599 U.S. 670 (2023) — Texas + Louisiana lacked Article III standing to challenge Biden DHS Mayorkas-memo enforcement priorities; 8-1, Kavanaugh.
• Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. 667 (2018) — third “travel ban” Presidential Proclamation 9645 upheld 5-4 (Roberts).
• Pereira v. Sessions, 585 U.S. 198 (2018); Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 593 U.S. 155 (2021) — NTA stop-time.
• Sessions v. Dimaya, 584 U.S. 148 (2018) — INA § 16(b) “crime of violence” residual clause void for vagueness.
• Pereida v. Wilkinson, 592 U.S. 224 (2021) — burden on noncitizen to show prior conviction not disqualifying.
• Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez, 596 U.S. 543 (2022) — 8 U.S.C. § 1252(f)(1) bars classwide injunctive relief.
• Department of State v. Muñoz, 602 U.S. 899 (2024) — no constitutionally protected interest of US citizen spouse in noncitizen’s visa.
• Biden v. Texas, 597 U.S. 785 (2022) — termination of MPP not arbitrary and capricious; Biden could end Remain-in-Mexico.

10. Enforcement landscape 2024–2026

Second Trump administration (inaugurated January 20, 2025):

• Birthright citizenship Executive Order (EO 14160, January 20, 2025) purporting to deny citizenship to children born to certain noncitizen parents — preliminary injunctions issued in Washington v. Trump (W.D. Wash., Coughenour J.), CASA v. Trump (D. Md., Boardman J.), New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support v. Trump (D.N.H.). Trump v. CASA, 606 U.S. ___ (2025) — Supreme Court 6-3 limited universal injunctions; merits of EO unresolved.
• Laken Riley Act (Pub. L. 119-1, January 29 2025) — mandatory ICE detention for noncitizens charged with theft, burglary, assaulting law enforcement, or any offence causing death/serious bodily injury; first major statutory immigration enactment of the new Congress.
• TPS terminations: Venezuela (announced Jan/Feb 2025), Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras — litigation in National TPS Alliance v. Noem (N.D. Cal.).
• Alien Enemies Act of 1798 invocation March 2025 against alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members — J.G.G. v. Trump litigation; emergency Supreme Court rulings April-May 2025.
• Sanctuary city EO restoration of federal-funding conditions.
• Refugee admissions ceiling for FY 2025 cut to historic lows.
• Border encounters dropped sharply post-January 2025 (~7,000 monthly southwest border encounters by April 2025, vs ~250,000 peak in Dec 2023).

---

PART II — PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

11. Sources of international law

Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice lists the sources:

1. International conventions (treaties), general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognised.
2. International custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law — requires (a) consistent state practice and (b) opinio juris (sense of legal obligation).
3. General principles of law recognised by civilised nations.
4. Subsidiary: judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists.

Jus cogens (peremptory norms): rules from which no derogation is permitted — prohibitions on aggression, genocide, slavery, torture, racial discrimination, crimes against humanity. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) Art. 53, 64.

Erga omnes obligations — owed to the international community as a whole (Barcelona Traction (Belgium v. Spain), ICJ 1970).

12. Major multilateral treaties

• UN Charter (San Francisco, 26 June 1945; in force 24 October 1945) — Art. 2(4) prohibition on use of force; Art. 51 self-defence; Chapter VII Security Council enforcement.
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR; UNGA Res. 217A, 10 December 1948) — non-binding but customary force in much of its content.
• Genocide Convention (1948, in force 1951) — Art. II definition; Art. IX ICJ compulsory jurisdiction clause used by The Gambia and South Africa.
• Geneva Conventions I–IV (12 August 1949) + Additional Protocols I + II (1977), III (2005).
• Refugee Convention (28 July 1951) + Protocol (31 January 1967).
• Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (18 April 1961) and Consular Relations (24 April 1963) — LaGrand (Germany v. USA, ICJ 2001), Avena (Mexico v. USA, ICJ 2004) on Art. 36 consular notification.
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) + International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (both 1966, in force 1976).
• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) (23 May 1969, in force 27 January 1980) — codifies treaty law (interpretation, reservations, termination); US has signed but not ratified, treats most as customary.
• CEDAW (1979) — women’s rights.
• Convention against Torture (CAT) (10 December 1984).
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (1989) — universally ratified except by the United States.
• UNCLOS — UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (10 December 1982, in force 16 November 1994).
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (17 July 1998, in force 1 July 2002).
• Paris Agreement under the UNFCCC (12 December 2015, in force 4 November 2016).
• BBNJ Agreement (“High Seas Treaty”; 19 June 2023, adopted; opened for signature 20 September 2023, not yet in force) — biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

13. International humanitarian law (IHL)

The law of armed conflict (LOAC) / jus in bello, distinct from jus ad bellum (the law governing the resort to force).

Cardinal principles (ICJ Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion 1996):

• Distinction between combatants and civilians, between military objectives and civilian objects.
• Proportionality in attack: civilian harm not excessive relative to direct + concrete military advantage anticipated.
• Precautions in attack and against effects of attack.
• Military necessity (justifies only what IHL permits).
• Humanity (no unnecessary suffering).

13.1 The Geneva Conventions of 1949

• GC I — wounded and sick on land.
• GC II — wounded, sick, and shipwrecked at sea.
• GC III — Prisoners of War.
• GC IV — Civilians.

Common Article 3 applies in non-international armed conflicts (NIAC); prohibits violence to life and person, hostage-taking, humiliating treatment, summary execution.

Additional Protocol I (1977) — international armed conflict (IAC); the US has signed but not ratified. AP II (1977) — NIAC. AP III (2005) — red crystal emblem.

13.2 Hague law

• Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 — methods and means; Hague Regulations Art. 22: “the right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited.”
• Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) — 1993, in force 1997; OPCW (Nobel Peace Prize 2013).
• Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) — 1972, in force 1975.
• Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC / Ottawa Treaty) — 1997, in force 1999.
• Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) — 2008, in force 2010.
• Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) — adopted 7 July 2017, in force 22 January 2021 — not joined by any nuclear-armed state.
• Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) — 2013, in force 2014.

13.3 ICRC and DPH

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a mandate under the Geneva Conventions to protect victims of armed conflict and to develop IHL. The ICRC Customary IHL Study (Henckaerts & Doswald-Beck 2005, updated database) catalogues ~161 customary IHL rules.

Direct Participation in Hostilities (DPH) — ICRC Interpretive Guidance (2009) — when civilians lose IHL protection; the “for such time” debate.

13.4 Guantanamo and military commissions

• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004) — US citizen detainee has due-process right.
• Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004) — federal habeas extends to Guantanamo.
• Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006) — military commissions as constituted violated UCMJ and Common Article 3.
• Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008) — constitutional habeas applies to Guantanamo; suspended only via Suspension Clause procedures.
• Military Commissions Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-84 Tit. XVIII) — current procedural framework.

14. The International Criminal Court (ICC)

The Rome Statute (1998) created a permanent international criminal court at The Hague, in force since 1 July 2002. 124 States Parties (as of 2025). The United States, Russia, China, India, Israel are non-parties; the US “unsigned” in 2002.

14.1 Jurisdiction

Four crimes under Art. 5 Rome Statute:

1. Genocide (Art. 6).
2. Crimes against humanity (Art. 7).
3. War crimes (Art. 8).
4. Crime of aggression (Art. 8 bis; jurisdiction activated 17 July 2018 under the Kampala Amendments).

Jurisdiction by: territoriality, nationality of accused, UN Security Council referral (Art. 13(b)), state-party acceptance (Art. 12(3)).

Complementarity (Art. 17) — ICC is court of last resort; admissible only if the state with primary jurisdiction is unwilling or genuinely unable to prosecute.

14.2 Major cases and convictions

• Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (DRC) — first conviction, March 2012; child-soldier recruitment in Ituri; 14-year sentence.
• Germain Katanga (DRC) — convicted 2014; war crimes + CAH at Bogoro.
• Jean-Pierre Bemba (CAR; former DRC vice president) — convicted 2016 as a military commander under Art. 28; acquitted on appeal 2018.
• Bosco Ntaganda (DRC) — 30-year sentence, 2019.
• Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi (Mali) — destruction of religious + historical buildings in Timbuktu; 9-year sentence 2016 — first cultural-property case.
• Dominic Ongwen (Uganda LRA) — 25-year sentence 2021.

14.3 Investigations and arrest warrants

Active situations: Afghanistan (paused), Bangladesh/Myanmar Rohingya, Burundi, CAR, Côte d’Ivoire, Darfur, DRC, Georgia, Kenya (closed), Libya, Mali, Palestine, Philippines, Ukraine, Venezuela.

• Ukraine: arrest warrants issued 17 March 2023 for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova (Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner) for deportation of Ukrainian children. Subsequent warrants for Russian commanders (March + June 2024).
• Israel/Hamas: Prosecutor Karim Khan KC announced applications 20 May 2024; Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants on 21 November 2024 for Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli PM), Yoav Gallant (former Israeli Defence Minister), and Mohammed Deif (Hamas military leader, killed). Hamas leaders Sinwar and Haniyeh applications mooted by their deaths.

14.4 US opposition

• American Service-Members’ Protection Act (ASPA) 2002 (“Hague Invasion Act”) — prohibits US cooperation; authorises force to free US/allied personnel held by ICC.
• Executive Order 13928 (June 2020, Trump 1.0) — sanctioned Fatou Bensouda (then Prosecutor) and Phakiso Mochochoko; revoked April 2021 by Biden.
• Executive Order 14203 (February 6, 2025, Trump 2.0) — sanctions framework re-imposed; Prosecutor Karim Khan KC designated; assets and visa consequences.
• HR 23 / S 212 legislation 2025 to sanction ICC officials.

15. International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Principal judicial organ of the UN, The Hague; 15 judges, 9-year terms. Jurisdiction is consensual (Art. 36(1) Statute) — by special agreement, compromissory clause in treaty, or optional declaration. Advisory opinions on request of UN organs (Art. 65).

15.1 Major contentious recent cases

• Application of the Genocide Convention (South Africa v. Israel) — filed 29 December 2023; provisional measures orders 26 January 2024, 28 March 2024, 24 May 2024; ongoing.
• Application of the Genocide Convention (The Gambia v. Myanmar) — Rohingya; provisional measures 23 January 2020; preliminary objections rejected 22 July 2022; ongoing merits.
• Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation) — filed 26 February 2022 (two days after invasion); provisional measures 16 March 2022 ordering suspension of military operations.
• Application of the Genocide Convention (Nicaragua v. Germany) — provisional measures denied 30 April 2024.

15.2 Major recent advisory opinions

• Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory — advisory opinion 19 July 2024: settlement policy + occupation unlawful; Israel must end the occupation as rapidly as possible.
• Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change — referred by UNGA Res. 77/276 (29 March 2023; Vanuatu-led). Oral hearings 2–13 December 2024 — largest in ICJ history (~98 states + 12 IOs participated). Opinion expected mid-to-late 2025.
• ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea (Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Hamburg) — 21 May 2024 — anthropogenic GHG emissions constitute marine pollution under UNCLOS; states have specific obligations.
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights — climate change advisory opinion (requested by Chile + Colombia 2023; hearings 2024; pending).
• European Court of Human Rights — Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland (Grand Chamber, 9 April 2024): Art. 8 ECHR breached by Swiss government’s inadequate climate action — first climate ruling by a major human-rights court.

16. Refugee and asylum international law

• 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees + 1967 Protocol — definition (Art. 1A(2)): well-founded fear of persecution on five grounds (race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, political opinion). Non-refoulement (Art. 33). 149 States Parties to the Convention and/or Protocol.
• OAU Convention (1969) — Africa; broader definition including aggression, foreign domination, events seriously disturbing public order.
• Cartagena Declaration (1984) — Latin America (non-binding but influential); broader definition.
• UNHCR — established by UNGA Res. 428 (V) 1950; mandate over refugees, stateless persons, internally displaced (selectively).
• Global Compact for Migration (Marrakech Compact) and Global Compact on Refugees — both adopted December 2018; non-binding cooperative frameworks.
• CAT non-refoulement (Art. 3) — absolute; no exception for serious criminal background, unlike Refugee Convention Art. 33(2).

17. Law of the sea — UNCLOS

The “constitution for the oceans” (Tommy Koh).

17.1 Maritime zones

• Territorial sea: up to 12 nautical miles; full sovereignty subject to innocent passage (Arts. 2–32).
• Contiguous zone: up to 24 nm; limited enforcement jurisdiction (customs, fiscal, immigration, sanitary).
• Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): up to 200 nm; sovereign rights to natural resources (Art. 56); other states retain freedoms of navigation + overflight.
• Continental shelf: to the outer edge of the continental margin, up to 350 nm or 100 nm beyond the 2,500 m isobath (Art. 76); claims reviewed by Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
• High seas (Art. 87): freedoms of navigation, overflight, cable + pipeline laying, fishing (subject to RFMOs), scientific research, artificial islands.
• The Area (Art. 1(1)): seabed beyond national jurisdiction; common heritage of mankind; resources administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), Kingston, Jamaica.

17.2 Dispute settlement

Part XV: choice among ITLOS (Hamburg), ICJ, Annex VII arbitration, Annex VIII special arbitration.

Philippines v. China (PCA Case 2013-19, South China Sea Arbitration, 12 July 2016): China’s nine-dash-line claim with no basis in UNCLOS; Spratly features none generates EEZ. China rejected the tribunal’s jurisdiction and award; ongoing tensions.

17.3 Deep-sea mining

ISA Council resumed negotiations on the Mining Code through 2024–2025. The Metals Company (TMC) triggered the two-year rule (UNCLOS Annex implementation Sec. 1(15)) on 25 June 2021; the rule’s interpretation is contested. France, Germany, Chile, Costa Rica, NZ, Palau and others support a precautionary pause/moratorium. In April 2025, US Executive Order purported to authorise seabed mining in international waters under US licence — sharp opposition from ISA states.

17.4 BBNJ Agreement

The High Seas Treaty (Agreement under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction), adopted 19 June 2023. Covers marine genetic resources + benefit sharing, area-based management tools including MPAs, environmental impact assessment, capacity building. Requires 60 ratifications for entry into force; as of May 2025, 22 ratifications.

18. International trade law

18.1 WTO architecture

• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947 / 1994 — most-favoured nation (MFN, Art. I); national treatment (Art. III); tariff bindings (Art. II).
• WTO established 1 January 1995 (Marrakesh Agreement). 166 members (after Comoros + Timor-Leste accession 2024).
• Dispute Settlement Body (DSB): panels + Appellate Body; AB blocked since 11 December 2019 by US refusal to consent to appointment of new members; ad hoc MPIA (Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement) used by 53 members + EU since 2020.

18.2 Trade remedies

• Antidumping (Art. VI GATT + Antidumping Agreement) — exports below normal value.
• Countervailing duties (CVD) — subsidies.
• Safeguards — Art. XIX + Safeguards Agreement; emergency tariffs.
• Section 301 (Trade Act of 1974) and Section 232 (national-security tariffs) — US unilateral tools heavily used 2018–present.

18.3 Regional + plurilateral

• USMCA (1 July 2020) replaced NAFTA — rules of origin (especially autos), labour, IP, digital trade. Six-year review scheduled 2026.
• CPTPP — Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership; 11 parties + UK (acceded 15 December 2024).
• RCEP — Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership; in force 1 January 2022; world’s largest FTA by GDP.
• IPEF — Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (US-led 2022); supply-chain pillar concluded; Trump 2.0 status uncertain.
• AfCFTA — African Continental Free Trade Area.

19. US economic sanctions law

• International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) 1977 (50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–1708) — basis for most sanctions programmes.
• Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) 1917 — Cuba.
• CAATSA — Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (Russia, Iran, DPRK).
• Magnitsky Acts — Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act 2012; Global Magnitsky 2016 (human-rights/corruption).
• Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Treasury — administers + enforces; maintains SDN List (Specially Designated Nationals).
• Secondary sanctions — apply to non-US persons dealing with primary targets (e.g. Iranian banking, Russian Energy).
• Russia sanctions post 24 February 2022: massive expansion — sectoral, individual oligarchs, central bank reserves frozen (~$300B), oil price cap (G7 + Australia), aluminium + diamonds.

20. Other international bodies

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (Vienna; UN-related, treaty-based) — safeguards under NPT.
• International Maritime Organization (IMO) (London) — shipping safety + pollution; MARPOL.
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (Montréal).
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (Geneva).
• International Labour Organization (ILO) (Geneva) — only Versailles-vintage UN specialised agency.
• World Health Organization (WHO) (Geneva) — IHR 2005; pandemic treaty negotiations 2023–2025 (final text adopted 20 May 2025 at WHA).
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (Rome).
• African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Arusha).
• European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) — Council of Europe; 46 members (Russia expelled 16 March 2022).
• Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (Luxembourg).
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights (San José, Costa Rica).

Adjacent

• constitutional-law — Article III standing, separation of powers, executive authority over immigration + foreign affairs.
• administrative-law — APA review of immigration regulations; Loper Bright post-Chevron landscape; agency adjudication.
• civil-procedure-and-evidence — Article III standing, universal injunctions, class actions in immigration litigation.
• contracts-and-ip — trade-law interfaces with IP (TRIPS); WIPO treaties; transnational commercial law.
• _index — Law MOC.
• ai-and-machine-learning-for-climate — ICJ + ITLOS + IACtHR climate advisory opinions intersect climate science with international legal obligation.