February 2026
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
AJC STATEMENT ON THE ICJ MERITS PROCEEDINGS IN THE GAMBIA v. MYANMAR
On 10 February, the Asia Justice Coalition released a statement welcoming the merits proceedings in The Gambia v. Myanmar at the International Court of Justice. This marks the first time a non-injured State has brought a case under the Genocide Convention, seeking to establish state responsibility of Myanmar under international law under the Genocide Convention. The statement also welcomed the participation of the Rohingya community members from Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh, and the Court's closed-door examination of the Rohingya witnesses, which rendered the proceedings more inclusive and representative.
AJC PRIMER ON ‘MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE, EXTRADITION, AND DOUBLE CRIMINALITY’
On 14 February, in recognition of the second anniversary of the Ljubljana–The Hague Convention on International Cooperation for Atrocity Crimes, the Asia Justice Coalition published a primer addressing mutual legal assistance (MLA), extradition, and the principle of double criminality. This primer offers a concise explanation of the following: 1) what is meant by 'mutual legal assistance' and 'extradition' regarding criminal cases; 2) what is meant by the 'principle of double criminality'; 3) whether it matters for double criminality and cooperation if States have not specifically criminalised core international crimes; 4) what this may mean for accountability in Asia, and 5) any relevance of the Ljubljana-The Hague Convention.
AJC UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION UPDATES
On 26 February, the Asia Justice Coalition released its Universal Jurisdiction Updates (2023 - 2026). AJC gathers, curates, and consolidates publicly available information and resources on cases and proceedings filed under the principle of universal jurisdiction for atrocity crimes to advance international justice and accountability across the globe, including Asia. This project is in partnership with Associate Professor Dr Emma Palmer and Prasadi Wijesinghe of Griffith University, whose work is supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award project, ‘Universal Jurisdiction for International Crimes in the Asia-Pacific’.