International Law in Brief

On October 28, 2025, the European Commission announced preliminary findings that TikTok and Meta (for both Facebook and Instagram) breached their transparency and user-protection obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The findings remain preliminary and do not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

As a key transparency obligation, the DSA requires providing researchers with data access. However, the findings of the Commission include failures to grant researchers adequate access to public data.

Further, regarding Meta, the Commission’s preliminary assessment...

On July 25, 2025, the France’s highest court delivered its judgment dismissing an appeal of a former Syrian Minister of the Economy and Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, who were indicted in France for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The appellant argued that, under customary international law, state officials enjoy functional immunity for acts committed in the exercise of sovereign functions, even when such acts are alleged to constitute serious international crimes. He claimed that the investigating chamber erred in denying him that immunity.

The Court rejected...

On October 14, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the Case of B.F. v. Greece. The case concerned an Iranian asylum seeker detained in Greece who complained about the unlawfulness of his detention, the lack of effective remedies, and the absence of substantive judicial review.

The Court unanimously found that Greece violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights due to the applicant’s degrading treatment while detained for two months and eighteen days at the Kolonos police station, a facility lacking the amenities...

On September 16, 2023, the Republic of Mali filed an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Algeria, concerning the alleged destruction of a Malian military reconnaissance drone by Algerian Defense Forces while it was conducting a surveillance mission over Malian territory. Mali characterized this as a “premeditated destruction” of its military equipment.

Mali alleges that Algeria’s actions were intended to obstruct Mali’s ongoing military operations against armed rebel groups and that the drone’s destruction constitutes a hostile act in violation of the...