The International Court of Justice delivered its judgment on April 16, 2013, in Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Niger), a case submitted by special agreement or compromis and jointly notified to the Court on July 20, 2010. The judgment was unanimous on all holdings in the operative part or dispositif, but nevertheless included a declaration by Judge Bennouna and separate opinions by Judges Cancado Trindade and Yusuf as well as Judges ad hoc Mahiou and Daudet. The judgment set forth the parameters within which the border between Burkina Faso and Niger will be demarcated and, as such, should contribute to peace and stability in the region. This case is also notable for what was not decided; despite a clause in the compromis requesting the Court to “place on record” the parties’ agreement regarding the border in two sectors, the Court declined to include the agreement in the judgment’s dispositif, finding for the first time that a matter submitted to it did not constitute a dispute.

On April 26, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), without a vote, adopted resolution 76/262 entitled “Standing mandate for a General Assembly debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council.” Less than two months later, on June 8, 2022, for the first time in history, the UNGA held a debate specifically to address a veto cast by China and Russia in the Security Council (UNSC). This meeting, convened in accordance with resolution 76/262, represents a great step forward for accountability within the UN system and opens a new chapter regarding the balance of power among the principal organs of the organization. The power dynamics within the UNSC, the demands for a more efficient United Nations, the fact that a meaningful UNSC reform is not in sight, and the current polarization resulting from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine set the context in which the resolution was adopted.

The Court of Cassation's decision in Sonatrach v. Migeon follows its 1984 decision in Eurodif Corporation v. Islamic Republic of Iran [23 I.L.M. 1062 (1984)] in helping Formulate a more cogent French position on sovereign immunity. In the Eurodif case, the Court of Cassation established that a state is not entitled to sovereign immunity from execution when the activity from which the claim arises is of an economic or commercial nature and the assets subject to execution relate to that activity. The Sonatrach decision goes beyond Eurodif in distinguishing between immunity of execution granted to a sovereign state and that granted to a state enterprise.

On June 11, 2019, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2474 on missing persons in armed conflict. The resolution marks the first time the Security Council has agreed on a thematic text dedicated to this issue, lending its collective voice to call for more effective implementation of existing obligations towards missing persons—both civilian and military—and their families under international law.