In April 2026, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) adopted a resolution under Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (hereinafter “the Convention”) and urgently brought the matter before the UN General Assembly. Article 34 empowers the CED to bring a situation to the attention of the UN General Assembly when it receives well-founded indications that enforced disappearance is being practised on a widespread or systematic basis. A significant aspect of the Resolution is the Committee’s application of what may be described as a third scenario of enforced disappearance: disappearances committed solely by non-State actors as crimes against humanity under Article 5. Although previously recognized by the CED, the Mexico Resolution assessed this scenario in practice for the first time and within the exceptional Article 34 procedure. Mexico rejected this interpretation, arguing that Article 34 is limited to enforced disappearances involving direct or indirect State participation under Article 2.
International Criminal Law
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From Survival to Justice: A Conversation with Judge Theodor Meron
Few figures in international law have witnessed and influenced its development as much as Judge Theodor Meron. A Holocaust survivor who became a leading scholar, government legal adviser, diplomat and international judge, his unique reflections offer a first-hand account, built over decades of experience, of how international law is formed, interpreted, and applied under pressure. I…
A peace treaty for Ukraine: Mini-symposium on international legal issues
In the four years since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the prospects of a negotiated peace settlement have waxed but mostly waned. But the possibility of an agreement has been an ongoing focus for international lawyers. This is primarily because Russia has demanded territorial concessions from Ukraine that appear at odds with…
Israel’s Military Ad-hoc Court for October 7: Abdicating Truth and Justice
For decades, Israel prided itself on an ostensibly independent and professional civilian legal system, but when it came to prosecuting the accused of the October 7 attack, it chose to establish an ad-hoc military court. The Law for the Prosecution of October 7 Massacre was recently passed by an exceptional majority of the Israeli Knesset, establishing…
War Crimes without a War Crimes Statute? The Shajareh Tayyebeh Minab School Attack and the Possibility of Domestic Prosecution of Serious Violations of IHL in Iranian Courts
Introduction The initiation of criminal complaints concerning the attack by the US armed forces on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab has brought a doctrinal issue of direct practical relevance before Iranian prosecutorial authorities. The complaints filed by victims’ families transform what would otherwise remain an abstract question of international humanitarian law (IHL)…
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