🌍✈️ Six UCLA law students have just arrived to begin their semester in The Hague. 

We are delighted to welcome Alexandra, Amber, Emily,  John, Kori  and  Pelin. They will be working at the International Court of Justice, the International Development Law Organisation, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and following a class taught by Professor Kate Mackintosh. We will be keeping you updated on their progress, including a forthcoming study trip to Geneva. 

We wish them an exciting and insightful semester in Europe! 

At UCLA, Professor Richard Steinberg’s course on Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court starts this week, at a time of almost unprecedented challenge to the Court. In Prof. Steinberg’s seminar, students explore a range of questions from jurisdiction and arrest challenges to reparations, cyber-evidence, and gender-based crimes.  

Professor Steinberg is also editor of the associated ICC Forum. On a recent visit to our offices in Amsterdam, we recorded him explaining how the Forum brings together leading scholars and practitioners to publish expert opinions on the toughest issues of concern to the ICC Prosecutor.  Watch the video above to hear all about it.

Make sure to visit the  ICC Forum  if you are interested in international criminal justice and explore hundreds of expert opinions on relevant ICC topics of today! 

 ➡️ Discover the ICC Forum:  https://iccforum.com

 ➡️ More info about Prof. Steinberg’s course here.

On July 23, the International Court of Justice delivered its historic Advisory Opinion on the obligations of States with respect to climate change. UCLA Law faculty Kate Mackintosh, ED of The Promise Institute Europe, and visiting Professor Christina Hioureas attended the reading of the Opinion in their separate capacities as counsel to vulnerable States in these proceedings.   

The Court’s Opinion was groundbreaking, clarifying binding rules of international law which oblige States to protect the climate system and setting out the legal consequences for States who fail to do so. States must employ their best efforts, using all the means at their disposal, to reduce emissions and prevent climate harm. Failure to do so violates international law, opening states up to claims for compensation from injured states and, under international human rights law, from affected individuals. 

Important elements of the opinion included the finding that historic emissions must be considered in determining appropriate emission reduction targets; that states not party to the climate change treaties are nonetheless bound by similar duties under customary international law, and that there is a human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.  

Professor Mackintosh was counsel for the State of Palestine, and Professor Hioureas, who is also partner at Foley Hoag, acted for the Gambia, Leichtenstein, Namibia and Sierra Leone. Both had the honor of pleading before the Court last December during its two week-long hearing on the case. 

➡️ Read the full Advisory Opinion here, and the Court’s summary here.

Academic director Machiko Kanetake of the Asser Institute asked four legal experts, Nataša Nedeski, Kate Mackintosh, Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, and Yusra Suedi,  what the Advisory Opinion on climate change obligations means for climate policies and litigation. Read the interview here.

🌍 International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice 
📅 31 October 2025 | 🏛 Senate House, London 

Behind the scenes, the start of the semester finds us busy organising our International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice, in partnership with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies!  This hybrid one-day conference will bring together international perspectives on ecocide, including from  Ghana and Africa more broadly, Brazil, Colombia and Latin America, Jamaica, and Small Island Developing States.  

Discussions will address critical issues such as  anthropocentrism, corporate responsibility, sentencing, and mens rea.  

Confirmed keynote from  Monica Lennon MSP, who introduced the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill  in the Scottish Parliament in May 2025. The bill is now under parliamentary consideration with strong cross-party support and positions Scotland to become one of the first jurisdictions in the world to criminalise ecocide.  

Professionals, students, activists and scholars are invited to register and contribute to this timely dialogue on advancing ecocide within national and international legal frameworks.  

🔗Register now to secure your place !

Please help us spread the word! We are seeking an Executive Director for our Los Angeles location to help lead and advance our mission to provide the premier legal education in the field of human rights, empower the next generation of human rights lawyers, scholars and leaders, and to transform the promise of human rights into a reality for more people around the world. Applications will be accepted through September 17, 2025.

Full details are available through the job posting.

The time has come to say goodbye to our University of Amsterdam research assistant, Ava Schuster, who moves on to start her critical legal training at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin. She has been a tremendous asset and contributed hugely to our work. With her sharp legal eye, her enthusiasm and her professional approach she will truly be missed. We wish Ava every success in this exciting new chapter. 

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