Outline Chambers Briefings | International Legal News

20 July 2026 Each week, Outline Chambers provides a concise overview of key developments across international law, arbitration and global governance. This week's International Legal News highlights significant developments across international criminal justice, human rights and geopolitics. From renewed UN concerns over the UK's IPP sentencing regime and escalating tensions between the US and Iran, to Sudan, Gibraltar and fresh challenges facing the International Criminal Court, these stories reflect the evolving legal and political landscape shaping international affairs.

International Legal News | 20 July 2026

17 July 2026

UK Criminal Law: UN Experts warn UK IPP sentences are causing severe psychological harm

The UK Government has been urged by UN human rights experts to review and re-sentence people subjected to the Imprisonment for Public Protection (“IPP”) sentence in England and Wales.

These were a type of sentence which were previously issued that involved indefinite detention periods for offenders under SS.225-226 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, for offenders considered dangerous, but whose crimes could not justify a life sentence.

It is understood that 2,400 people remain in the criminal justice system who have sentences issued under IPPs, despite their abolition by the UK Parliament back in 2012 under S.123 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“LASPO”). Nearly three quarters of all affected remain unreleased, and have reportedly spent more than 10 years in incarceration beyond their minimum punishment.

UN experts have reportedly referred eight individual cases to the Government, which include cases where these sentencing periods have caused serious mental-health problems.

For more on this story, see here.

16 July 2026

Middle East: Iran reports fresh strikes near Qeshm Island

It has been reported by The Guardian Newspaper that there have been strikes as the conflict between the US and Iran re-escalates following the breakdown of the peace agreement between the two countries.

It is reported that the strikes have taken place near a children’s cancer hospital in Ahvaz southwest of the country.

The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said the hospital was forced to evacuate, causing “severe suffering and anxiety” for the children being treated there.

For more on this story see here.

15 July 2026

Sudan: UK legal adviser makes statement on Sudan to UN Security Council

Legal adviser Colin McIntyre has made a statement concerning justice and accountability in relation to the humanitarian situation in Sudan.

To read the statement, see here.

14 July 2026

EU external relations: UK finalises treaty with EU on Gibraltar

It has been reported that the UK and the EU have completed their negotiations over a treaty concerning the economic future of Gibraltar, that has been signed in Brussels.

The agreement will provide certainty for people and businesses operating in the zone, which is a British overseas territory that shares a border with Spain. The agreement itself is supported by the Gibraltan Chief Minister and his Government and backed by its own Parliament unanimously.

For more on this story, see here.

13 July 2026

International Criminal Law: US’s Marco Rubio launches ‘campaign’ to dismantle the International Criminal Court

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been said to have ‘launched a campaign’ to dismantle the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) on the grounds that the Court is interfering with US military law enforcement and with US sovereignty.

Posting on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Mr Rubio wrote:

“If we stand idle, all of them will be at the mercy of foreign judges, thousands of miles away – facing the constant risk of prosecution and even imprisonment for the so-called ‘crime’ of defending their own country[.]”

Plans to dismantle the Court will involve putting pressure on other member states to abandon the Rome Statute, according to one report from CNN.

Readers of Outline’s International News will recall that Hungary threatened to do just this under the Hungarian Ministry of Viktor Orbán, however those plans were abandoned following the election of Péter Magyar.

For more on this story see here.