FID Recht - Menschenrechte / Humanitäres Recht

Closing the Rights Gap for Human Trafficking Survivors: Reconciling Federal Duress Doctrine with International Human Rights Obligations

2026-06-02T01:29:48+00:00

Extraterritorial human rights obligations of states for transboundary climate harm: New developments and unanswered questions

2026-06-02T09:39:16+00:00

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Ahead of Print.
As an increasing number of climate change cases reach international and regional (quasi-)judicial bodies, they present novel legal issues that these bodies have to grapple with. One of these issues is the determination of the scope of extraterritorial ...

From Prevalence Estimates to Policy Use: Strengthening the Governance Pathway in Human Trafficking Research

2026-05-31T02:51:55+00:00

Organized Crime and Human Trafficking in the United States

2026-05-29T11:54:41+00:00

Calling Out the Court: International Human Rights Shaming of the US Supreme Court Through Amicus Curiae Briefs

2026-05-28T11:31:57+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 212-231
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‘Knowledge is the Key’- Coercive Control Influencing the Continuum Between Arranged and Forced Marriages in Multicultural Communities

2026-05-27T08:29:12+00:00

Techtonic shifts in public debate: A new battlefront for freedom of expression

2026-05-26T01:34:08+00:00

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Ahead of Print.
The progressive platformisation of society has left an oligarchical group of multinational tech companies in a dominant market position with unprecedented influence over public debate online. This Big Tech broligarchy is presided over by CEOs who ...

‘We Need to Be on the Same Page’: Survivor-Informed Recommendations for Interagency Collaboration for Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth in the United States

2026-05-21T10:49:40+00:00

Primary Healthcare Behind Bars: Gender-Affirming Care under the Correctional Services Act after Mokoena

2026-05-21T01:50:26+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 232-252
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Mapping Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Responsibilities in International Human Rights Law: From Existing Norms to Adaptation

2026-05-21T01:48:25+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 171-194
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Freakoffs or Trafficking: How the Sean Combs Trial Verdict Impacts Public Perceptions of Sex Trafficking

2026-05-14T12:40:54+00:00

Addressing a Global Public Health Crisis: Human Trafficking Education in Medical Training

2026-05-13T11:29:09+00:00

Situational Perspective on Vulnerability in European Human Rights Law: Beyond Essentialism and Towards Structural Justice

2026-05-13T07:16:30+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 153-170
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The Architecture of Impunity: Systemic Evasion and Institutional Design in Elite Sex Trafficking

2026-05-12T02:44:09+00:00

Communicative Entrapment in the Digital Scam Industry: Indonesian Migrant Workers in Cambodia

2026-05-12T04:45:14+00:00

More Than a Placeholder: The Two Dimensions of the Shared Concept of Human Dignity Across the Three Regional Human Rights Systems

2026-05-08T12:29:09+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 195-211
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Professional Interactions with Sex-Trafficked Migrant Women in Spain: Everyday Discretion, Practices, and Challenges

2026-05-08T01:37:32+00:00

Characteristics, Experiences, and Perceptions of Family Members of Sex Trafficking Specialty Court Participants: An Exploratory Qualitative Inquiry

2026-05-07T05:57:01+00:00

Architecture of Coercion: Conceptualizing and Measuring State-Imposed Forced Labor Based on ILO Standards

2026-05-06T12:19:50+00:00

“In the End, the Success of Other Survivor Leaders is Everyone’s Success”: Exploring Survivor Leadership Through Photovoice

2026-05-06T09:48:45+00:00

Legal Observation at Protest: Developing Human Rights Monitoring in Ireland

2026-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

Drawing on the experiences of developing the Irish Network of Legal Observers, this article explores the role of the legal observer in upholding the contemporary right of protest. It develops a categorization of different types of legal observer projects and analyses the international protections available to human rights defenders. Ultimately, the article argues that the legal observer plays an essential human rights function, particularly when police forces refuse basic levels of transparency.

Bodies that Resist: Community-based Strategies for the Rehabilitation of Anti-personnel Mine Survivors

2026-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the experiences of individuals who have fallen victim to anti-personnel mines in Colombia through a qualitative and phenomenological approach. Based on survivors’ narratives, the study identifies unequal trajectories of physical, emotional, and social rehabilitation, shaped by institutional exclusion and social displacement. It proposes a community-based rehabilitation strategy, aligned with the human rights-based approach, to address their contextual needs. The research underscores the importance of a comprehensive, dignified, and participatory rehabilitation process that acknowledges victims’ subjectivity and ensures the effective enjoyment of their rights.

Human Trafficking Victims in Europe: Trends and Policy Implications

2026-05-03T05:50:38+00:00

Illegalization of migrants as inhuman and degrading treatment: envisioning non-returnability under Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights

2026-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This paper asks whether the illegalization of individuals can amount to inhuman and degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). While the power to regulate residence is a core prerogative of European states, human rights scrutiny of the effects of indefinite irregularity remains limited. The paper focuses on migrants in ‘non-returnability’: those who cannot be deported for human rights reasons yet are denied lawful residence. Such individuals endure prolonged exclusion, destitution, and profound powerlessness. The paper proceeds in two parts. First, it situates non-returnability within existing human rights law and scholarship, exposing the legal and protection gaps. Second, it explores its fit within Strasbourg’s interpretation of inhuman and degrading treatment, drawing on the Court’s benchmarks, overlooked jurisprudence, and analogies to rehabilitation and irreducible sentences. The argument concludes that the European Court of Human Rights presently has doctrinal tools to scrutinize illegalization as a form of state-sanctioned inhuman and degrading treatment.

Internet rights and the European Court of Human Rights: a systematic analysis of the role of the internet in the case law of the Strasbourg Court

2026-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article provides the first systematic analysis of the ECtHR's case law on access to and use of the Internet based on Articles 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, and 2 of Protocol 1 ECHR. It highlights that the case law embeds requirements to accommodate competing rights; shows a heightened concern for the victim's vulnerability; and extends to the conduct of certain non-state actors, such as telecommunications providers. There are also instances of broader recognition within the case law of some of the Internet's specific challenges, such as its amplifying effects on violations of privacy and the necessity of tackling cyberviolence and addressing the digital divide. Overall, however, the case law lacks a coherent, overarching approach towards the Internet as a novel site for the exercise of human rights and presents significant gaps in the fields of personal data protection and freedom of thought, especially in the context of private conduct.

Trapped within state normative and institutional limits? Internal conventionality control in the Inter-American Human Rights System

2026-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article critically examines the domestic implementation of the doctrine of conventionality control within the Inter-American Human Rights System. It analyses the jurisprudential construction of this doctrine by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the significant normative and institutional tensions that arise from its internal application. While conventionality control has become a central mechanism for strengthening the effectiveness of the American Convention on Human Rights and for promoting the internalization of international human rights standards, its operationalization has revealed profound structural difficulties. The article explores the diversity of constitutional frameworks, the fragmentation of competences among domestic authorities, the absence of clearly defined procedures, and the challenges posed to constitutional autonomy, subsidiarity, and the margin of appreciation of States. It argues that the core difficulty lies not in the legitimacy of conventionality control as such, but in its practical implementation at the domestic level, and concludes that a sustainable model requires institutional reforms, clearer internal mechanisms, and a more balanced judicial dialogue between national courts and the Inter-American Court.

Child-Centric Populations? A study of Nordic populations’ justifications for children’s participation

2026-04-29T07:01:17+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 111-130
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Entangled Asylum in the Nordic Region: by Sarah Scott Ford

2026-04-22T08:15:05+00:00

Facial Recognition Surveillance: Policing and Human Rights in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

2026-04-22T03:06:57+00:00

Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2026, Page 253-255
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Survivor Accounts of the Use and Impacts of Oath-Taking Within Human Trafficking in the UK

2026-04-19T09:57:16+00:00

Correction to: ‘In Any Manner Whatsoever’: Deconstructing Indirect Violations Beyond ‘Constructive Refoulement’

2026-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

This is a correction to: Dalia Malek, ‘In Any Manner Whatsoever’: Deconstructing Indirect Violations Beyond ‘Constructive Refoulement’, International Journal of Refugee Law, 2025; eeaf030, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeaf030

Jane Freedman & Glenda Santana de Andrade (eds), Research Handbook on Asylum and Refugee Policy

2026-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

FreedmanJane & de AndradeGlenda Santana (eds), Research Handbook on Asylum and Refugee Policy (Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham UK & Northampton USA 2024) xvi + 374 pp, ISBN 978-1-80220-458-2 (hbk), ISBN 978-1-80220-459-9 (ebk)

Case Law Summaries

2026-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

Prepared by the Case Law Editorial Team: Aidan Hammerschmid (Coordinating Editor), Brian Barbour, and Regina Jefferies from the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney, Australia; Cleo Hansen-Lohrey from the Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania, Australia; and Felix Peerboom from the Law Faculty, Maastricht University, Netherlands

The good faith requirement in New Zealand refugee law

2026-02-17T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

The good faith requirement in New Zealand refugee law has evolved significantly in the past 30 years. First adopted by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in Re HB in 1994, it was written into the Immigration Act 2009, which imposes it on both refugee status and protected person status claimants. In three subsequent cases, the Immigration and Protection Tribunal and the Court of Appeal found the good faith requirement inconsistent with the Refugee Convention and interpreted the good faith provisions in the Immigration Act 2009 restrictively. This article submits that, following those cases, the good faith provisions hardly serve the policy goals of safeguarding the integrity or preventing abuse of the New Zealand asylum system and that those policy goals are better served through measures consistent with the Refugee Convention. It concludes that the good faith provisions in the Immigration Act 2009 should be repealed.

The twice displaced: UNHCR’s role in evacuations

2026-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article explores when, why, and how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) engages in evacuations. Despite being a longstanding practice of the organization and its predecessors, evacuations remain underexamined both as a concept and a protection tool. While evacuations can be life-saving, they can also create further risks. They can provide people with temporary protection but also leave them in limbo. They can enable some refugees to be moved to safety while others never get that opportunity. In some cases, they can result in multiple displacements rather than a durable solution. Through a detailed examination of UNHCR records and other publications, as well as select interviews with current and former UNHCR officials, this article documents the range of circumstances in which UNHCR engages in evacuations and why. Developing a clearer understanding of how UNHCR conceptualizes evacuations in different contexts enables a more holistic and nuanced understanding of their function within the international protection regime and their relationship to other protection tools. In doing so, the article underscores that evacuations are not simply a neutral, technical process but are impacted by a range of political concerns, which necessarily affect protection outcomes.

Bridging the gap between principle and practice: the ‘right to asylum’ under Article 18 EU Charter and its implications for the EU Resettlement Regulation

2026-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article examines the ‘right to asylum’ guaranteed under Article 18 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU Charter) and its corresponding legal implications for the processing of people seeking asylum under the EU’s new Resettlement and Humanitarian Admissions Regulation (Resettlement Regulation). While EU Member States are at liberty to decide whether to participate in programmes implemented under the Resettlement Regulation, once they do agree to participate, they are required—as a matter of EU law—to comply with it and other obligations attached to its implementation. This is an uncontroversial proposition. What stands out, however, is the Regulation’s purported attempt to limit its legally binding nature and key fundamental rights that attach to its implementation. The Regulation’s Preamble, for instance, states that ‘there is no right to request admission or to be admitted by a Member State’ and ‘no obligation on Member States to admit a person pursuant to this Regulation’. The implication appears to be that EU Member States (should) have unfettered discretion over the grant of international protection and that the Regulation does not create a subjective ‘right to asylum’ or admission to territory at the insistence of potential beneficiaries located outside the EU. This article problematises this position in light of the ‘right to asylum’ guaranteed under Article 18 and examines the legal parameters within which the Resettlement Regulation must be implemented by EU Member States. This article argues that rights arising under the EU Charter, specifically Article 18’s ‘right to asylum’ will apply to actions taken under the Regulation. Through an analysis of its scope and content, this article concludes that the ‘right to asylum’ under Article 18 EU Charter is not limited to the State’s ‘right to grant asylum’ (as it is under international law) and encompasses not only a substantive right for individuals to seek asylum in the EU, but also a right to be granted asylum where relevant criteria are met. Applied to the EU’s Resettlement Framework, this article examines the extent to which Article 18 might also impose procedural guarantees, including obligations to grant access to territory when such guarantees are denied.

IARMJ Judicial Well-Being and Resilience Guidelines

2026-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

Well-being and resilience guidelines have been developed to support all judges doing refugee and/or migration work with well-being and resilience, and to assist them to work in environments that promote and provide access to strategies and tools for their enhancement. The guidelines can be read with the explanatory note, relevant passages are cross-referenced below.
The legal framework for refugee and migration determination often involves exposing judges to evidence of human rights abuses and serious harm. This includes consideration of sensitive and traumatic material, both of a personal nature and background material on countries of origin. In addition, the lawful determination of refugee and migration cases may expose judges to public criticism which in some cases amounts to vilification (Section 2).
Studies of judges establish that many are affected by stress and/or other work-related mental health difficulties and do not consider judicial well-being receives sufficient attention. Refugee and migration judges may be at enhanced risk of symptoms of vicarious trauma, burnout, and moral injury (Section 3).
Judicial leaders can promote judicial well-being and resilience by implementing initiatives and promoting participation in well-being programmes (subject to resourcing constraints), including through participation and role modelling. Their own well-being also requires consideration (Section 4).
It is recommended that judicial leaders ensure that there is a workplace well-being and resilience plan in place for refugee and migration judges, that suits the circumstances and requirements of each jurisdiction (Section 5). The following suggested elements may be included in any well-being and resilience plan for refugee and migration judges:
- the provision of psychological support such as supervision and counselling;
- resilience and well-being training and education for judges;
- the provision of a private intranet page for refugee and migration judges with access and links to well-being and resilience resources, advice and support;
- peer support and mentoring programmes;
- social activities in order to create supportive collegial environments;
- measures to promote physical health;
- a pastoral care protocol or procedure for responding to critical incidents;
- measures to ensure the physical security and safety of judges;
- clearly defined well-being leadership; and
- working practices that take into account the particular challenges faced by refugee and migration judges.

IARMJ Judicial guidelines for the analysis of social media evidence in refugee, protection and migration appeals

2026-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

Judges may wish to consider taking the following factors into account (cross-reference are to the relevant passages of the explanatory note below).

Introduction to the IARMJ Judicial Guidelines

2025-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

The International Association of Refugee and Migration Law Judges (IARMJ) is an association of judges from around the world involved in one way or another with refugee and migration law. It was formally established in 1997. Its Constitution lists one of its objectives as being ‘to foster within the judiciary and quasi-judicial officers world-wide a common, consistent understanding and application of international law, practices and principles relating to refugee, complementary protection, statelessness and related migration issues’. Organised into four chapters (Europe, Asia Pacific, Americas and Africa), the association’s core function is to provide training in refugee law decision making to judges through workshops, chapter conferences, a biennial world conference, biennial Chapter conferences, working parties, newsletters and its website. However, despite numerous publications since the IARMJ’s1¹ formal establishment in 1997 (including books of the world conference papers and abundant training materials), there has not up to now been a mechanism for linking them formally with IARMJ.2² Following a resolution passed at its world conference in the Hague in 2023, the association has now established a mechanism for designating certain materials as ‘IARMJ publications’. It has set up an Editorial Board, with representation from each of the association’s chapters, with a remit to identify, on the basis of certain quality-based criteria, material that can be formally endorsed as ‘IARMJ Publications’. One of the main aims behind establishing this process was to enable production under the aegis of IARMJ of guidelines which represent the distilled thinking over several years by the association’s transnational working parties, who aim to take on board insight from judges around the world. The following two sets of guidelines, both of which also contain a longer Explanatory Note, are the first to bear this designation.

Seventy-Fifth Plenary Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme Remarks Of the Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Ruvendrini Menikdiwela

2025-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

Madam Chair,

High Commissioner’s opening statement to the seventy-fifth plenary session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme

2025-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

14 October 2024

‘In Any Manner Whatsoever’: Deconstructing Indirect Violations Beyond ‘Constructive Refoulement’

2025-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

There is a general consensus across scholarship and evolving jurisprudence that accepts that the non-refoulement rule can be violated indirectly. However, there is no established terminology to characterize the various forms of indirect violations. This contributes to existing uncertainty around the scope of what is sometimes imprecisely referred to as ‘constructive refoulement’ or interchanged with other similar terms. The use of varying terms poses serious interpretive challenges when analyzing State practices, such that rights violations can be overlooked or misattributed. This article argues that, while there is some overlap, three distinct categories of indirect refoulement can be used to classify fixed meanings behind these shifting terms. These categories are referred to as forced spontaneous repatriation, nexus refoulement, and trans-jurisdictional refoulement. Conceptualizing and classifying indirect refoulement assists legal research where accuracy and precision are vital. Doing so also clarifies the principle’s scope and its relationship to human rights provisions that are violated alongside or in aid of refoulement, particularly in uncertain and debated contexts. This serves to reveal the motives, practices, and policies of States, and provides crucial insights that can inform the accurate assigning of responsibility to a State, or multiple States, when indirect refoulement occurs.

Marjoleine Zieck, Resettlement as Protection: Integrating Resettlement of Refugees in International Refugee Law

2025-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

ZieckMarjoleine, Resettlement as Protection: Integrating Resettlement of Refugees in International Refugee Law, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2024, 349, ISBN 978 1 78100 415 9 (cased), ISBN 978 1 78100 416 6 (eBook).

“Sharing Information is the Most Effective Way to Prevent…Human Trafficking”: Stakeholders’ Responses to Survivor Recommendations from a 10-Year Longitudinal Research Project, Cambodia

2026-04-17T07:04:40+00:00

Cultivated meat and the right to adequate food: Enhancing the normative framework to support a shift to sustainable food systems

2026-04-15T02:42:47+00:00

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Ahead of Print.
Global meat consumption has tripled over the past 50 years and is expected to further increase owing to rising incomes and population growth, particularly in emerging economies. Meanwhile, it is well established that meat production is a cause of, and ...

The international law of academic freedom: Grounding a human right and responsibility to science

2026-04-15T02:41:17+00:00

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Ahead of Print.
Academic freedom is under-protected in international human rights law. In order to remedy the situation, this article proposes, first, to critically assess its existing international human rights law framework; second, to interpret the newly re-discovered ...

Motherhood and Human Trafficking: A Paradox of Resilience and Vulnerability

2026-04-15T09:41:02+00:00

The Rights of Roma in European Courts: Strategic Litigation and the Boundaries of Human Rights

2026-04-14T07:42:16+00:00

The Right to Legal Personhood of Marginalised Groups: Achieving Equal Recognition Before the Law for All

2026-04-14T07:41:48+00:00

Developing methods to trace the right to housing in national eviction litigation: Combining computational methods and doctrinal analysis

2026-04-13T02:03:58+00:00

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Ahead of Print.
The right to housing is a fundamental human right, yet its role in domestic litigation remains difficult to trace. This paper examines to what extent the right to housing plays a role in Dutch eviction case law through a dataset of 6,005 cases, combining ...

PMSCs meet AI-driven swarm drones: the paradigm-shifting issues of accountability

2026-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article examines how state reliance on private military and security companies (PMSCs) affects the attribution of conduct by artificial intelligence (AI)-driven swarm drones under international law. While the outsourcing of military functions to PMSCs has long raised accountability concerns, the deployment of AI-enabled swarm technologies intensifies these challenges by introducing autonomous and adaptive decision-making that strains existing attribution frameworks. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature on AI, machine learning, and swarm intelligence, the article outlines the technological characteristics of AI-driven swarm drones and explains how their operational unpredictability contributes to a responsibility gap in international law. The analysis demonstrates that although PMSCs may complicate attribution between individuals and states, the more profound difficulty lies in attributing the conduct of autonomous systems to human actors at all. As a result, individual responsibility frameworks offer limited solutions where harm results from AI-driven swarm behaviour. The article argues that state responsibility, anchored in the obligation to conduct legal weapons reviews under Article 36 of Additional Protocol I, provides a more viable, though incomplete, mechanism for addressing accountability. It further suggests that the use of AI-enabled swarm drones by PMSCs may lower the threshold for the use of force and obscure the initiation of hostilities. The article concludes that addressing the challenges posed by AI-driven swarm drones requires a shift in emphasis towards preventive state obligations and standardized legal review practices, alongside a reassessment of how international law conceptualizes responsibility in relation to autonomous weapons systems.

Annexation: a threat that never fades

2026-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article examines the doctrinal stability and practical fragility of the international legal prohibition of annexation and evaluates how the UN Charter system has operated against annexation in practice. It clarifies the taxonomy of annexation—distinguishing de jure and de facto annexation from belligerent occupation—and traces the sources grounding the non-acquisition rule and the corresponding duties of non-recognition and non-assistance. Building on Brunk and Hakimi’s argument that the prohibition of annexation is an autonomous norm not reducible to Article 2(4), this article assesses how far the Charter-era jus ad bellum architecture has nevertheless treated ‘force’ as its organizing centre, and what this has meant for enforcement. It then evaluates effectiveness across selected cases using three criteria: deterrence ex ante, remedy ex post, and consistency across like cases. The study finds a mixed record: while doctrine is comparatively stable, inconsistent enforcement and selective (non-) recognition have limited deterrence, complicated reversals, and produced uneven treatment, with implications for self-determination and customary law. Rather than proposing to redefine Article 2(4), this article argues that today’s principal risks lie in post-force consolidation, pretextual justifications, and other strategies that shift contestation to the ‘force’ characterization while annexation’s autonomous consequences remain engaged. The conclusion urges more consistent application of non-recognition and non-assistance to prevent faits accomplis from hardening into tolerated title.

The principle of foreseeable harm to innocents: a doctrinal framework for the protection of ascertainable civilians in armed conflict

2026-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

Modern targeting doctrine permits the foreseeable killing of ascertainable civilians provided the harm can be characterized as ‘unintended’ and ‘not excessive’. This article argues that existing international humanitarian law, properly interpreted, already prohibits such harm where feasible alternatives exist. It articulates the Principle of Foreseeable Harm to Innocents (FHI): a doctrinal standard, grounded in Article 57 of Additional Protocol I, that interposes an ‘avoidability gate’ between the identification of a military objective and proportionality analysis. Attacks may not proceed against foreseeable civilian risk until the attacking authority has demonstrated that no feasible alternative could eliminate or substantially reduce the harm. The framework builds on Ohlin’s defence of the intent/foresight distinction, Crawford’s analysis of systemic collateral damage, Shue’s capacity-indexed account of legal obligation, and Lewis’s operational research on civilian harm detection failures. The article addresses tactical and operational targeting decisions—planned strikes where decision-makers have time to assess civilian presence and consider alternatives—not political decisions preceding armed conflict nor dynamic engagements where reaction time forecloses deliberation. The central contribution is methodological: shifting legal inquiry from reconstruction of subjective intention to verification of objective alternatives. Enforcement examines what the commander knew and what alternatives existed, not mental states. This aligns with Article 57’s capacity-indexed structure, drafted to expand precautionary obligations as technological capability increases. FHI does not supplant proportionality; it ensures proportionality addresses only genuinely unavoidable harm. By anchoring legality in verifiable facts, FHI offers a doctrinally grounded mechanism for addressing foreseeable, avoidable harm to ascertainable civilians in deliberative targeting.

From emergency relief to development holds: the developmental shift in the ICRC’s humanitarian assistance in protracted conflict

2025-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

The challenge of responding to wide-ranging and long-term humanitarian needs that arise in situations of protracted conflict in a sustainable manner has prompted a developmental shift in humanitarian assistance in the past decades. In the case of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), this developmental shift has had two facets. The nature and scope of humanitarian assistance delivered by the organization has transformed over time, expanding beyond emergency relief to the delivery of essential services, rebuilding of civilian infrastructures, livelihood support and training, and institutional capacity building. The organization has also begun to collaborate with development organizations. Most notably, the ICRC and the World Bank have entered into an Operational Framework Agreement to partner in conflict-affected situations, which requires conditions such as demonstration of a robust development rationale for an ICRC operation to be financed by the World Bank. This article offers a critical assessment of this developmental shift and the international law issues it raises, investigating in particular the extent to which expansive humanitarian assistance activities align with the assistance mandate envisaged in international humanitarian law, and what the developmental shift means for impartiality, neutrality, and independence of humanitarian assistance. The article ultimately demonstrates how the ICRC pragmatically re-interprets its assistance mandate and understanding of humanitarian principles to meet evolving humanitarian needs and to navigate the requirements of development funding.

Where Can We Go from Here? Dissecting Mexico’s Human Trafficking Legislation

2026-04-09T05:13:50+00:00

Ambivalent Oversight? Fundamental Rights Monitors Caught between Human Rights Witnessing and Deportations from the EU

2026-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

Deportations can threaten the fundamental rights of those being forcibly removed, especially during their execution. On this account, Article 8(6) of the EU Return Directive requires Member States to set up effective systems to monitor deportations. This provision mandates monitors to act as third-party witnesses to observe that deportation operations respect human rights, without interfering with procedures. Through interviews with monitors, this article explores their ambivalent positioning as guardians of rights and facilitators of ‘more humane’ and efficient operations in the context of air deportations. Findings show that monitors often face tensions between their human rights oversight role and their implication in a process that is inhumane. While they play a crucial role in oversight—enhancing visibility, producing authoritative knowledge, contributing to the disruption of official narratives, and documenting to enable changes—their limited powers make them part of a system that can lead, in certain circumstances, to them facilitating deportations in practice. The article interrogates such ambivalence of monitoring, finally briefly noting the need for reconsidering mandates and intervention powers of monitors, as to empower deportees and further distance monitoring from state enforcement practices.

Humanrightization of Migration Discourses: A Conceptual Framework

2026-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

This article explores the humanrightization of migration discourses, with particular attention to the concepts of legal (human rights) consciousness, ‘doing human rights’, and speech acts. We argue that over the past three decades, migration issues have increasingly been framed, discussed, and negotiated through the language of human rights. Politically and socially, this is reflected in frequent references to human rights within advocacy, justification, and the struggles of migrants and their allies. Legally, it is evident in courts and legal actors acknowledging human rights claims made by migrants, irrespective of their status. Human rights are also widely invoked in the everyday experiences of migration societies. The article conceptualizes humanrightization as a transformative process by which human rights norms become embedded in legal, political, and social discourses. This shapes the way migration-related conflicts are addressed across contexts. In contrast to earlier patterns of discretionary inclusion or exclusion, this trend marks a significant expansion of human rights frameworks. It reflects a broader development since the 1990s, where human rights have become central to justice, governance, and policymaking. The authors’ framework captures both the promise and the complexity of humanrightization. While it opens possibilities to challenge discriminatory laws, restrictive policies, and exclusionary practices, it does not assume a linear or inevitable progression. Rather, outcomes are shaped by shifting power relations and specific political conditions. By focusing on the humanrightization of migration, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of contemporary human rights practice in societies shaped by migration and transnational interconnection.

Costs of Three Cups of Tea: Will a Human Rights Court Make Justice Affordable?

2026-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

South Africa’s Constitution is restitution-oriented, yet the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) established by the Constitution must use expensive, slow High Court processes to enforce outcomes. The author argued in the Constitutional Court of South Africa with minimal costs as the proceedings were virtual. This led the author to wonder how justice could be affordable for all. More recently, the author was a litigant in the Electoral Court of South Africa, where applicants were unrepresented—and his side won, albeit with higher costs. Questions arising out of why these cases were relatively affordable led the author to propose a Rights Court of South Africa to make litigation for basic rights accessible. The proposed model draws on the strong points of the Electoral Court: nimble processes and a link to a rights-related institution. This Rights Court would replace the Equality Court with a specialist standalone court with concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court but with simpler, more nimble processes aimed at quick results on rights violations. The SAHRC would use this court for litigating violations of the Bill of Rights and the streamlined processes of this court would make for rapid restitution, while not overwhelming the SAHRC with costs. Access to the court would be through the SAHRC, with allowance for direct access if the SAHRC denies a request, to avoid inundating the court. Other countries with a justiciable Bill of Rights could adopt a similar concept.

Exiled Activists from Myanmar: Predicaments and Possibilities of Human Rights Activism from Abroad

2026-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

Abstract

In this article, we put forward the concept of the ‘exiled activist’ to highlight the predicaments and the possibilities that practicing human rights activism from abroad bring with it. Human rights activists from Myanmar struggle to continue their work after the military regime forced them to flee their home country over four and a half years ago. Since the attempted military coup on 1 February 2021, 30,074 citizens have been imprisoned and 7,517 killed (as of December 2025). Although exiled activism has a long tradition in Myanmar, the current situation is unprecedented. Not only have many activists left the country, but those who are still in Myanmar have been forced into hiding or have joined the armed resistance. This brain drain has impacted NGO work as well as different education sectors, including the formal education sector and online education formats in which many human rights activists were previously employed. This article takes account of these dramatic changes and focuses on the actual work that exiled activists from Myanmar currently carry out, as well as on the psychosocial predicaments they face.

Housing for Survivors of Human Trafficking in the United States: Service Provider Perspectives

2026-04-06T11:38:48+00:00