The High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) comes into force
17 January 2026
The Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, known as the BBNJ Agreement or High Seas Treaty, entered into force on 17 January 2026, 120 days after the 60th ratification. Adopted in June 2023 under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is the first binding treaty on biodiversity in the high seas and the international seabed: marine protected areas, sharing benefits from marine genetic resources, environmental impact assessments, and capacity building. India signed it in September 2024 and has been preparing domestic law before ratifying.
Background. UNCLOS (1982) sets a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea and a 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone; beyond lie the high seas, about two-thirds of the ocean. It created the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Hamburg) and the International Seabed Authority (Kingston, Jamaica).
Why CLAT asks: Maritime zones and which body sits where are standard international-law GK.
Sources: Seafood Source: India starting process to ratify and support implementation of High Seas Treaty; United Nations: Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction
ICC confirms crimes-against-humanity charges against Rodrigo Duterte
23 April 2026
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, surrendered to the International Criminal Court in March 2025, faced a confirmation of charges hearing in The Hague from 23 to 27 February 2026, which he chose not to attend. On 23 April 2026 Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously confirmed three counts of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder, over killings in his anti-drug campaign between 2013 and 2018. The trial is scheduled to open on 30 November 2026.
Background. The ICC was set up by the Rome Statute (1998), in force from 1 July 2002, and sits in The Hague. It tries individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression, and acts only when national courts are unwilling or unable (complementarity). India, the US and China are not parties. The Philippines left in 2019, but the Court keeps jurisdiction over crimes committed while it was a member.
Why CLAT asks: Complementarity, the four core crimes and India's non-membership are frequent questions.
Sources: International Criminal Court: Duterte case page; UN News: Duterte confirmation of charges hearing (February 2026)
Poland leaves the landmine ban treaty
20 February 2026
Poland's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention took effect on 20 February 2026, six months after it notified the United Nations on 20 August 2025. Poland, with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, announced in March 2025 that it would leave, citing the threat from Russia and Belarus, and Finland followed in April. Poland plans to produce anti-personnel mines again for its 'East Shield' border fortifications.
Background. The Ottawa Convention (1997, in force 1999) bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines. India, the US, Russia and China are not parties. A withdrawal takes effect six months after notice.
Why CLAT asks: Can a State leave a treaty, and when does it take effect? The withdrawal clause answers both.
Sources: Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor: Poland, mine ban policy; UN Treaty Collection: depositary notification C.N.421.2025
The NPT Review Conference ends without a final document, a third time running
22 May 2026
The 2026 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, chaired by Vietnam's UN ambassador Do Hung Viet in New York, ended on 22 May 2026 without agreeing a final document. The deadlock was over Iran: the United States wanted language faulting Iran, and Iran wanted a condemnation of US and Israeli strikes on its safeguarded nuclear sites. It was the third consecutive conference to fail; the last consensus document was in 2010.
Background. The NPT was opened for signature in 1968 and came into force in 1970. It recognises five nuclear-weapon States (US, Russia, UK, France, China), those that tested before 1 January 1967. India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan never joined; North Korea announced its withdrawal in 2003. Review conferences are held every five years.
Why CLAT asks: Why India has not signed the NPT (it calls the treaty discriminatory) is a classic question.
Sources: Arms Control Today: 2026 NPT Review Conference stymied by disputes (June 2026); Nippon.com (Jiji Press): NPT Review Conference ends without final document
India rejects another Court of Arbitration award on the Indus Waters Treaty
16 May 2026
On 15 May 2026 the Court of Arbitration set up at Pakistan's request issued an award on 'maximum pondage', the water a run-of-the-river hydro project may hold behind its dam, in the dispute over India's Kishenganga and Ratle projects. On 16 May the Ministry of External Affairs rejected it, calling the court 'illegally constituted' and saying India has never recognised it and that the treaty remains in abeyance, as India declared after the Pahalgam attack of 22 April 2025. India took no part in the hearing.
Background. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in Karachi in 1960 with the World Bank's help. India got the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) and Pakistan most of the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab), with limited Indian use. Disputes move from the Permanent Indus Commission to a Neutral Expert to a Court of Arbitration. India says Pakistan bypassed this graded order by seeking both a Neutral Expert and a court at once.
Why CLAT asks: Which rivers went to whom, and the three-step dispute mechanism, are steady questions.
Sources: All India Radio News: India rejects Court of Arbitration ruling on Indus Waters Treaty; Scroll: Indus Waters Treaty: India rejects arbitration award, calls it 'null and void'
The Chagos handover to Mauritius stalls
11 April 2026
The United Kingdom and Mauritius signed a treaty on 22 May 2025 under which the UK would transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius and lease back Diego Garcia, the site of a UK-US military base, for 99 years. After US President Trump criticised the deal in early 2026, the UK said it would not proceed without US support. By April 2026 the Bill needed for ratification had run out of time in the House of Lords and was reported not to be in the government's next legislative programme. The treaty is signed but not ratified.
Background. The UK separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius in 1965, before Mauritian independence, as the British Indian Ocean Territory. In 2019 the International Court of Justice advised that the separation was unlawful and the UK should end its administration, and the UN General Assembly agreed. India supports Mauritius's claim.
Why CLAT asks: An advisory opinion of the ICJ is not binding: a useful distinction for international-law questions.
Sources: Chatham House: UK ratification of the Chagos Archipelago treaty will not violate international law (January 2026); UK Parliament treaty record: UK-Mauritius agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago
