On June 16, 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) held in Chiragov and Others v. Armenia that the rights of Azerbaijani refugees had been violated by their inability to return to property in an area under Armenia’s control. According to the press release, the case concerned Azerbaijani refugees who were unable to return to their property in Lachin, Azerbaijan after they were displaced by the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992 due to Armenian occupation of the territory. In their decision, the Court “confirmed that Armenia exercised...
International Law in Brief
International Law in Brief (ILIB) is a forum that provides updates on current developments in international law from the editors of ASIL's International Legal Materials.
On June 16, 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Delphi AS v. Estonia that an Estonian ruling that held a commercial internet news site liable for offensive comments posted by its readers was not a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the press release, “[t]he Grand Chamber found that the Estonian courts’ finding of liability against Delfi had been a justified and proportionate restriction on the portal’s freedom of expression,” finding in particular: “the comments in...
On June 15, 2015, the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons (the Convention). The Convention was created “to promote, protect and ensure the recognition and the full enjoyment and exercise, on an equal basis, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of older persons, in order to contribute to their full inclusion, integration, and participation in society.” According to the press release, the Convention “urges States to adopt ‘legislative or other measures’ that are necessary...
On June 12, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (the Court) vacated Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman Al Bahlul’s conviction for inchoate conspiracy to commit war crimes in Al Bahul v. United States. The Court found that Congress lacked the authority to include conspiracy on the list of internationally-recognized war crimes that a military commission could try, holding “that Bahlul’s conviction for inchoate conspiracy by a law of war military commission violated the separation of powers enshrined in Article III § 1 and must be vacated.” The Court further noted...
On June 10, 2015, the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Syed Mohammed Hasan Ali, who was put on trial in absentia, to death for crimes that included murder, genocide, abduction, confinement, and torture. The crimes relate to his activities during the 1971 Liberation war in Bangladesh, where Ali was claimed to have been a member of an auxiliary force of the Pakistani troops with the purpose of “identifying and eliminating all those who were perceived to be sympathized with the liberation of Bangladesh, individuals belonging to minority religious groups especially the...
On June 8, 2015, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea released a report on the human rights situation in Eritrea. The report states that based on the evidence the commission of inquiry gathered in its investigation in to the situation in Eritrea, they “found that systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed in Eritrea under the authority of the Government. Some of these violations may constitute crimes against humanity.” According to the press release, “[t]he commission of inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights...
On June 8, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court (the Court) held in Zivotofsky v. Kerry that an Act of Congress that would allow U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to have their place of birth listed on their passports as “Israel” infringes on the President’s exclusive power to grant formal recognition to foreign states. The Court notes that the law “forces the President, through the Secretary of State, to identify, upon request, citizens born in Jerusalem as being born in Israel when, as a matter of United States policy, neither Israel nor any other country is acknowledged as having...
On June 4, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) held in P, S v. Commissie Sociale Zekerheid Breda that EU member states may require third-country nationals who have long-term resident status, as member states are required to grant under an EU directive after five years of continuous residency, to pass a civic integration examination. According to the press release, “the Court holds that the directive does not preclude the imposition of the obligation to pass a civic integration examination, provided that the means of implementing that obligation are not...
On May 26, 2015, the U.K. Supreme Court dismissed an appeal in AR v. RN, finding that when determining the habitual residence of a child for custody purposes, the intentions of the parents are only one factor to be considered. The case concerned two children born in France, whose parent agreed to temporarily move them to Scotland with their mother for the period of a year, and whether they should be returned to France or kept in Scotland after their parents’ relationship ended before the completion of that year. According to the press release, the case revolved around Article 3...
On May 20, 2015, a Swiss Court ordered an Israeli oil company, the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company, to pay Iran $1.1 billion in compensation regarding the revenues from an oil pipeline that began as a joint venture between the states before the Islamic Revolution. According to a news article, the project was begun in 1968 as a means for selling Iranian oil to Europe via Israel, but the “jointly-owned pipeline was effectively nationalized by Israel after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, after which Iran turned from being Israel’s ally to its enemy, and Iran's assets were expropriated.” Israel...