On January 20, 2025, President Trump on his first day in office issued four executive orders  (E.O.s) concerning foreign terrorists, national security, and migration and a proclamation. The Trump Administration has also removed and demoted high-level officials in the Department of Justice.

On January 16, 2025, police in Thailand announced they had issued an arrest warrant for Somwang Bamrungkit, 42, a Thai-Cambodian dual national known in Cambodia as Ly Ratanakraksmey, in connection with the murder of Lim Kimya, 73.[1]

The death of Samuele Landi while seasteading off the coast of Dubai in an apparent effort to avoid criminal prosecution in Italy evokes the issue of a recent novel way to facilitate fugitivity.

As a still relatively new legal institution in Brazil, inserted by the National Constituent Assembly in Chapter IV of the 1988 Federal Constitution (On the Functions Essential to Justice), alongside the Federal Prosecutor General's Office (Procuradoria-Geral da República – PGR) and the Federal Public Defender's Office (Defensoria Pública da União - DPU), the mission of the Federal Attorney General's Office (Advocacia-Geral da União - AGU) is to represent the national government (the Union), both judicially and extrajudicially, i.e. all the bodies of the federal public administration, including those in the legislative and judicial spheres, as well as the other institutions essential to justice. It must also provide legal advice (general counseling functions), but in this latter case, this is limited to the bodies of the federal executive branch.[1]

On Thursday, January 16, 2025, Ian Cleary, an American man accused of sexual assault in 2013 was extradited to the United States from France. Cleary, who is infamous for sending a “So I Raped You Message” to his victim, Shannon Keeler, on Facebook disappeared shortly after the incident. Cleary’s whereabouts were unknown until May 14, 2023, after French authorities announced Cleary had been taken into custody the previous month in Metz, France for a stolen goods case. After detaining him, French authorities discovered that there was a warrant issued for his arrest in 2021 over sexual assault charges and agreed to extradite him to the U.S. Cleary refused his extradition to the U.S. in an attempt to avoid facing the charges against him but was unsuccessful.

On January 7, 2025, the United States Department of State declared that the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and RSF-aligned militias in Sudan have committed genocide in the armed conflict occurring in that country. In particular, the U.S. named RSF leader Mohammad Hamdam Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people. The U.S. also designated several RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates and one individual for their roles in procuring weapons for the RSF.[1]

On January 14, 2025, President Joseph Biden issued an executive order that removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and announced other steps to ease economic penalties. On the same day, Cuba’s Foreign Ministry announced that Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez would “gradually” free 553 persons after meeting with Pope Francis.[1]

The complexity of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) demands urgent attention. When a child is wrongfully removed or retained in another country without the other parent’s consent, swift resolution is unlikely without legal intervention. The primary goal is safeguarding the child’s best interests and avoiding psychological harm, which requires a robust international legal framework.

On January 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement, [1]in which the U.S. agreed to transfer approximately $52.88 million in forfeited assets to the Federal Republic of Nigeria in recognition of Nigeria’s help to the DOJ in an investigation into corruption in the Nigerian oil industry.[2]

On January 7, 2025, the United States Department of Justice announced it agreed to share $50 million in forfeited assets with the Republic of Estonia (Estonia) in recognition of Estonia’s help in the successful prosecution of Danske Bank and related forfeiture.[1]