International Law in Brief

On October 3, 2025, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child released an inquiry report finding that France committed grave and systemic violations of the rights of unaccompanied migrant children. Conducted under Article 13 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the inquiry revealed serious flaws in France’s age-assessment procedures. The Committee found that the presumption of minority, which ensures children are treated as such until proven otherwise, is applied only until an initial decision is made. Once classified as adults, many are excluded from...

Photo by Voice of America

The UN Security Council adopted resolution S/RES/2794 (2025) to extend Haiti’s sanctions regime for an additional year in response to the rising threat of gang violence. The renewed measures aim to combat the country’s high levels of homicide, kidnapping, trafficking, and sexual violence, all of which continue to undermine stability. The illegal trade and distribution of weapons to armed gangs further threaten Haiti’s rule of law.

The original 2022 resolution established a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo, targeting both...

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...