Lawyering Justice Blog - Public International Law & Policy Group

Why Russia’s Aggression Against Ukraine Cannot Be Cured by a Vote A Legal and Historical Reality Check By Greta Ramelli, Kateryna Kyrychenko, David Griffiths, Clyde Freeman, Anastasia Zaluckyj, Dmytro Panchenko and Rahul Ramesh Introduction A persistent assumption in some policy debates is that concessions of territories under Russia’s occupation will offer a pathway to ending Russia’s war agains…

PILPG Roundtable Blog Part II: Ukraine’s (Extraordinary) EU Accession: Security, Politics, and Strategic Necessity Editor’s Note Ukraine’s accession to the European Union has increasingly moved beyond the realm of technical enlargement policy and into the center of Europe’s geopolitical and security debate. As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to reshape the European security order, question…

PILPG Roundtable Blog Part I: Ukraine’s EU Accession: Perspectives of Enlargement During the War Editor’s Note This roundtable explores one of the most consequential strategic questions facing Europe today: Ukraine’s accession to the European Union amid an ongoing war of aggression. Building on discussions within the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) Ukraine Peace Negotiations Worki…

Extraordinary Accession: Why Europe Must Bring Ukraine into the European Union Now by David M. Crane* Executive Summary Europe stands at a geopolitical crossroads. Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine has shattered the illusion that the post-Cold War order could be preserved through incrementalism, dialogue, or strategic ambiguity. Moscow is betting quite openly that Europe will hesitat…

The Global South and the Russian War on Ukraine: Structural Constraints on Diplomatic Alignment An assessment of the political, economic, and institutional factors shaping multilateral engagement with Russia's war against Ukraine By Dr. Paul R. Williams* Three years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a striking diplomatic gap persists between the breadth of international condemnation a…

Roundtable Blog:  Four Years Since Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion Into Ukraine:  What Have We Learned? Editor’s Note: This blogpost is part of the PILPG Lawyering Peace roundtable series.  Rather than a traditional co-authored article, it presents a curated set of expert reflections from members of PILPG’s Peace Fellows and Ambassador Circle networks.  Marking four years since Russia launched its f…

Roundtable Blog: Voting Under Duress — Referenda, Aggression, and the Limits of Democratic Consent Editor’s Note: This post is part of the PILPG Lawyering Justice roundtable series.  Rather than a traditional co-authored article, it presents a curated set of expert reflections from members of PILPG’s Ukraine Peace Negotiations Working Group.  Drawing on a closed-door discussion held on 6 February…

Defending before the International Criminal Court An Interview with Mylène Dimitri Edited by Cailan Cumming, Kate Gibson & Paul Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of  voices within the field of international criminal law. As part of our broader e…

Defending before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda An Interview with Philippe Larochelle Edited by Cailan Cumming, Kate Gibson & Paul R. Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of  voices within the field of international criminal law. As…

Forget the Debate on Peace Versus Justice. Ukraine Has Set the Stage for Peace With Justice! By: Dr. Paul R. Williams,* Dr. Beth Van Schaack,** Professor David Crane,*** and Sindija Beta.**** Recent efforts to reach a ceasefire and potential peace arrangement to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have again brought to the fore the tension between achieving peace and delivering justice…

Stolen Childhoods: Russia’s Abduction of Ukrainian Children and the Case for Genocide By: Dr. Gregory P. Noone and Kateryna Kyrychenko, PILPG, and Henry T. Scott, Dr. Andrea Eggenstein, Connor W. Reese, and Rafael Mozo Sierra, Milbank LLP Imagine being a child torn from your home, your family, your language, and your identity — sent hundreds of miles away to a foreign country determined to erase …

Defining the Practice of International Criminal Defense An Interview with Peter Haynes KC Edited by Emma Bakkum & Paul Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of voices within the field of international criminal law. As part of our broader efforts to st…

Elections in Ukraine: Between Peace Demands and Democratic Integrity By: Dr. Paul R. Williams* and Sindija Beta** As Ukraine navigates the most consequential peace negotiations in its modern history, the question of elections has again resurfaced during the most recent peace agreement drafts. The recently publicized 28-point plan , allegedly drafted by US and Russian officials, places elections s…

Roundtable Blog: Peace Without Possession—Preserving Ukraine’s Territorial Integrity in Negotiations Editor’s Note: This post is part of the PILPG Lawyering Justice blog’s roundtable series. Rather than a traditional co-authored piece, it presents a curated set of expert reflections from members of PILPG’s Ukraine Peace Negotiations Working Group. Drawing on the diverse expertise of our Peace Fel…

Nuclear Testing: An Inflection Point or Another Step Toward Confrontation? By Ambassador (Ret.) Zorica Maric Djordjevic, Senior Peace Fellow, Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) A New Round Begins in Moscow By late October 2025, two troubling signals came from the world’s most powerful military nations — Russia and the United States. The first move came from Moscow. President Vladimir…

The Inception of International Defense An Interview with Dr. Mark S. Ellis Edited by Emma Bakkum & Paul Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of voices within the field of international criminal law. As part of our broader efforts to strengthen instit…

Defending Before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia An Interview with Colleen Rohan Edited by Cailan Cumming, Kate Gibson & Paul R. R. Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of voices within the field of international crimina…

The Essential Contributions of Support Staff in International Defense An Interview with Cécile Lecolle Edited by Cailan Cumming, Kate Gibson & Paul R. Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of voices within the field of international criminal law. As…

The Dangers of Selective State Support for International Tribunals An Interview with Kate Gibson Edited by Cailan Cumming & Paul R. Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of voices within the field of international criminal law. As part of our broader …

Defending before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia An Interview with Anta Guissé Edited by Cailan Cumming, Kate Gibson & Paul Williams A Note on Defending Justice This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of  voices within the field of international criminal law. As part…