Extraterritoriale Einbürgerungen als Hegemonialinstrument

Der russische Einmarsch in die Ukraine wurde seit 2019 durch eine systematische Einbürgerungspraxis Russlands im Donbas vorbereitet. Russland hat weit vor seinem Krieg gegen die Ukraine das Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht als Mittel der Außenpolitik instrumentalisiert - und bereits hierdurch die Ukraine in ihrer territorialen Souveränität verletzt.

It’s Not Propaganda If It’s True

The first casualty of war is the truth. Putin’s reasons for the invasion, like his claims of genocide in Donbas, are abstruse and lack any basis in reality. Rather than addressing the West, this national propaganda is meant to convince the Russian people of the necessity of war. Is there a possibility to correct misinformation by communicating directly to the Russian people in Russian?

Crypto-assets as a blind spot in sanctions against Russia?

On 24 February 2022, Russia illegally invaded the territory of Ukraine. The international community was quick to condemn this military aggression and to issue sanctions. Missing in today's sanctions strategy, however, is the inclusion of crypto-assets. This is worrying, as it is highly likely that crypto-assets are used to fund the Russian war machine without anyone really seeing it.

Would Ukraine Breach its own Constitution if it Dropped its NATO Bid?

Among the many issues discussed in the context of the current Russian threat of aggression against Ukraine, Ukraine’s NATO aspirations and Russian opposition to it joining this organization is prominent. Some may think that dropping these aspirations might help avoiding a disastrous war. This, however, is no longer just a matter of political will but of constitutional law.

Whistleblowing to a Latin Tune

When the anti-corruption systems whistleblowed to a Latin tune recently, the resulting sound was remarkably ugly. It was loud, as the Odebrecht, Petrobras, and J&F cases revealed a wide-spread, refined system of corruption involving prominent politicians and businesspeople in 12 countries from Latin America and Africa named as “Operation Car Wash”. But the sound was also dissonant, as it played tunes that did not represent the patterns of justice expected from the Latin legal systems. That sound had a peculiar U.S. American accent.

Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof zwischen »positiver Komplementarität« und Politik

Vor kurzem hat der neue Chefankläger beim Internationalen Gerichtshof (IStGH) Karim A. A. Khan QC  die Vorermittlungen gegen Kolumbien wegen möglicher Verbrechen in der Auseinandersetzung mit der Guerilla-Organisation Farc aus Gründen der Komplementarität  eingestellt. Dieses ist nicht das erste Mal, dass die Anklagebehörde einen derartigen Weg wählt. Sie ist dabei nicht ohne Kritik geblieben - ein Anlass, diese Praxis ein wenig genauer anzuschauen.