International law under attack

International law is under severe attack from many sides, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the US war against Iran being just two examples. However, it is by no means obsolete, argues Kai Ambos, a professor of criminal and international law and a judge.

Algerian environmental activist Selma Bichbich is increasingly concerned that some fundamental principles of international law are hardly being respected at all these days. She is convinced the next generation will do politics differently.

The “rules-based world order” functions less like a universal legal system and more like a hierarchy in which power determines whose rights are protected, whose violations of the law are punished, and whose sovereignty is negotiable.

Authoritarian regimes persecute critics not only within their own countries’ borders but also abroad. States that harbour dissidents should take more decisive action against the various forms of transnational repression. This also applies to Germany.