Outline Chambers Briefings | International Legal News

28 April 2026

Each week, Outline Chambers provides a concise overview of key developments across international law, arbitration and global governance.

This week’s briefing covers developments relating to shipping law, sanctions, inter-state arbitration and human rights litigation.

Top Story

Recent reports concerning the seizure of commercial vessels and proposed tolling measures in the Strait of Hormuz raise significant questions regarding the limits of state conduct under international law and the protection of global shipping routes.

24 April 2026

Shipping: International Chamber of Shipping accuses US and Iran of violating international law

The International Chamber of Shipping (“ICS”) has reportedly condemned the United States and Iran for their capture of commercial ships and called for the immediate release of crews.

John Stawpert, marine director of the ICS, told Al Jazeera that seafarers must be allowed to conduct their affairs “freely and without persecution”.

“All these people are doing is transporting trade. And really, we can’t have a situation where ships are being seized, ultimately for political ends, to prove a political point,”

Further, the decision by Iran to institute a charge toll has been said to have no basis in international law and would set a dangerous precedent. [for which - see Blog Corner below.]

For more on this story, see here.

23 April 2026

Sanctions: EU adopts 20^th package of sanctions against Russia

The European Commission has welcomed the adoption of the 20^th package of sanctions implemented by EU member states in respect to the Russian Federation, because of the war in Ukraine.

The new package introduces a swathe of new measures in respect to energy, finance, trade as well as new tools to prevent circumvention.

In respect to energy, the package introduces inter alia a future maritime services ban on Russian crude oil and petroleum products, as well as a prohibition on maintenance services for Russian LNG tankers and icebreakers.

Likewise, for the financial sector, the new policies will extend the ban on EU operators that do any business with twenty additional Russian banks, with narrow exceptions for humanitarian transactions.

For more on this story, see here.

22 April 2026

Inter-State Arbitration: Award issued by PCA in Ukraine v Russian Federation

On the 22 April 2026, the Arbitral Tribunal constituted in the matter concerning coastal state rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait issued an award.

The dispute was instituted back in 2016, at the request of Ukraine against Russia, under Annex VII of UNCLOS.

The Award itself will be published by the PCA Case Repository after the parties have had the opportunity to consider whether any part of the Award should be designated as confidential.

For more on this story, see here.

21 April 2026

ECtHR: Strasbourg Court announces special administrative measures for processing expected influx of applications against Türkiye

An announcement of relevance to European Convention Human Rights practitioners, comes in the form of a press statement from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (“ECtHR”) noting that as of the 1 January 2026, there is a special procedure for claims against Türkiye.

An influx of claims is expected associated with a large bloc of dismissals against civil servants, members of the judiciary, military, and other public officials following the 2016 attempted coup d’état.

To read the press release, see here.

20 April 2026

Blog Corner: “The Legal Novelty of the Proposal”

In a recent post on EJIL: Talk! Safia K. Southey provides a legal analysis on the effects and legal basis for Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee’s “Strait of Hormuz Management Plan” which in effect codifies a tolling station that Iran has begun to implement on the Strait, and whether there is any prior legal precedent upon which Iran is able to rely upon in enacting this policy.

To read this article, see here.