The aggression and the 'special military operation' against Ukraine by the Russian Federation have, since their outset, implied not only the violation of fundamental customary and treaty norms of international law, but, at the same time also undermine the foundations of the contemporary international legal order. The 'special military operation' violates several universal international conventions in the elaboration of which the predecessor state of contemporary Russia, the Soviet Union had a definitive role; furthermore, it expressly breaches Russian undertakings concerning respect for the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. Since in this case the aggressor state is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, thus, instead of the Council, the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly proceeds on the basis of the Uniting for Peace resolution and makes recommendations for collective measures to the Member States. The present study discusses the most important international norms breached with the aggression and during the war, the resolutions of the emergency special sessions of the UN General Assembly, the post-war situation, as well as the issue of remedy and reparation due to Ukraine.

This analysis discusses the advisory opinion requested by the UN General Assembly from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in April 2023 on the obligations of states in respect of climate change. Although the ICJ’s decision cannot be expected before the autumn of 2024, important procedural anomalies have arisen, which require due regard to ensure that the ICJ can provide its advisory opinion in possession of sufficient information. In particular, firstly, not all Small Island Developing States have been notified by the ICJ and invited to submit written statements and, secondly, the amicus curiae provided by NGOs will be not accessible to the public. This analysis argues that all Small Island Developing States should have the opportunity to take part in the proceedings and the amicus curiae submitted by NGOs to the ICJ should receive proper publicity.