On November 13, 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) decided on an appeal coming from Guyana in the case McEwan and Others v. Attorney General of Guyana. With this decision, the CCJ declared unconstitutional Section 153(1)(xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act of the Laws of Guyana, which made it a crime for a man to dress in female attire or for a woman to dress in male attire, in a public place, for an improper purpose. In the case, the CCJ also limited the extent to which the colonial “savings clause” present in the constitutions of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries limits the Court's judicial review powers.

President Guido Raimondi, the president of the European Court of Human Rights (European Court), in his address on January 25, 2019, at the opening of the Court's judicial year, singled out the case of Molla Sali v. Greece, concerning the application of Sharia law by the Greek courts, as one of the leading judgments of 2018. The judgment, he noted, gave rise to erroneous interpretations, with some commentators suggesting that the Court wanted to pave the way for the application of Sharia law in Europe, when in his view, the judgment leads to precisely the opposite conclusion.

On November 15, 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its judgment in Navalnyy v. Russia. The applicant in the case argued that the Russian authorities had targeted him for arrest and administrative sanctions because of his political activism. In its judgment, the Grand Chamber confirmed its recent change in approach to Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including the normalization of the provision's scope and burden of proof. However, it displayed continued uncertainty about how to deal with measures based on a mixture of legitimate and illegitimate purposes.

In the spring of 2018, the White House and executive agencies issued a series of orders aimed at more aggressive enforcement against irregular entry of migrants at the southwest border. In analyzing the legal validity of the new U.S. immigration policy decisions, the Inter-American System questioned and strongly condemned the U.S. policy and practice of separating migrant families. On June 29, 2018, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a resolution that rejected any migration policy that resulted in the separation of families. Specifically, it urged the U.S. government to implement measures to avoid the separation of families, to seek unification of children and parents already separated, and to promote the identification of migrants and refugee seekers in accordance with international law. After the issuance of the resolution, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted Precautionary Measure No. 731–18, Regarding Migrant Children Affected by the “Zero Tolerance” Policy Regarding the United States of America (the children's measure), and Precautionary Measure No. 505–18, Concerning Vilma Aracely López Juc de Coc and Others Regarding the United States of America (the parents’ measure), both of which recognized that the rights to family life and personal integrity were at risk.

After twenty-two years of negotiations, in Aktau on August 12, 2018, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. The preamble of the Convention stipulates, among other things, that the Convention, made up of twenty-four articles, was agreed on by the five states based on principles and norms of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law. The enclosed Caspian Sea is bordered by Iran, Russia, and three states that were established following dissolution of the Soviet Union, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.

On August 24, 2018, the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) released its report and recommendations on its review of the introduction from the sea of sei whales (Balaenoptera Borealis) by Japan. The report was prepared by the secretariat under CITES Article XIII for consideration at the 70th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, which met in Sochi, Russian Federation, from October 1 to 5, 2018.

On January 15, 2019, the Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of all charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the context of post-electoral violence in Côte d'Ivoire in 2010 and 2011. The two were accused of four charges of crimes against humanity: murder, rape, other inhumane acts, and persecution. The majority found that the Prosecutor had not proven several elements of the crimes charged, namely a “common plan” meant to keep Gbagbo in power, including crimes against civilians “pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organisational policy,” and patterns of violence that would have demonstrated a “policy to attack a civilian population.” The majority also found that the Prosecutor had not provided evidence proving that the defendants “knowingly or intentionally contributed to the commission of the alleged crimes or that their speeches constituted ordering, soliciting or inducing such crimes.” In dissent, Judge Herrera Carbuccia stated that she believed the majority used the wrong standard of review, that it should have been the beyond reasonable doubt standard, and “that there is evidence upon which a reasonable Trial Chamber could convict the accused.”