On May 13, 2015, the United Nations released a report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) titled “Report of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office on International Humanitarian Law Violations Committed by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) Combatants in the Territory of Beni, North Kivy Province, Between 1 October and 31 December.” According to a news article, the report “says that a Uganda-based rebel group has committed grave violations of international humanitarian law in crisis-riven north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.” It further states that “ADF combatants...
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 May 12, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Identoba and Others v. Georgia that the failure of Georgian police to protect individuals taking part in a march against homophobia violated the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the press release, approximately thirty people who were taking part in the march were threatened and attacked by counter-demonstrators and that police at the scene, “when asked for help by the marchers, replied that they were not part of the police patrol and it was not their duty to intervene.” The Court found...
On May 14, 2015, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the U.S. to reform the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk metadata collection program. The Special Rapporteur noted that “legislation on the collection of intelligence and national security information has remained inadequate to advancement in technologies, allowing for an indiscriminate and unprecedented access to information related to the communications between individuals that can have a chilling effect on free expression and the search for and...
On May 12, 2015, a Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Gogitidze and Others v. Georgia that a court-imposed confiscation of property from a government official in the autonomous republic of Ajaria in Georgia did not violate Article 1 (protection of property) of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Ajarian Supreme Court entered a judgment against the applicants after they were charged with abuse of authority and extortion, among other charges, and ordered the confiscation of property after they failed to refute the claims. ...
On May 7, 2015, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court) ruled in ACLU v. Clapper that the National Security Agency (NSA) bulk metadata telephone collection program is unlawful. The Court found that “the district court erred in ruling that § 215 [of the USA PATRIOT Act] authorizes the telephone metadata collection program, and instead hold that the telephone metadata program exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized and therefore violates § 215.” Because the Court ruled that the program exceeds the scope of what Congress authorized, the Court “dismiss[ed] the...
On April 29, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in Geoffrey Léger v. Ministre des Affaires sociales, de la Santé et des Droits des femmes and Établissement français du sang that permanently barring men who have had sex with other men from donating blood may be justified under a European Union Directive under certain conditions. According to the press release, the state must “establish[] whether those persons are at a high risk of acquiring severe infectious diseases, such as HIV, and that there are no effective detection techniques or less onerous...
On April 29, 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded its 72nd regular session, at which it adopted the final text of the “Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and Procedures on the Right of Anyone Deprived of His or Her Liberty by Arrest or Detention to Bring Proceedings Before Court.” The draft basic principles, “drawn from international standards and recognized good practice, aim to provide guidance to States on the fundamental principles on which the laws and procedures regulating this right should be based and on the elements required for its effective...
On April 23, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in Zuchtvieh-Export GmbH v Stadt Kempten that requirements relating to animal protections during transportation extend beyond the boundaries of the European Union (EU). According to the press release, in the case of animal transportation between member states and third countries, the organizer must submit a journey log to the competent authority at the place of departure that details the travel plan and “indicates that the provisions of the regulation will be complied with, including for the stages of...
On April 25, 2015, the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea delivered its order in the Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire). According to the press release, Cote D’Ivoire submitted a request for provisional measures requiring Ghana to, among other demands, “take all steps to suspend all ongoing oil exploration and exploitation operations in the disputed area; refrain from granting any new permit for oil exploration and exploitation in the disputed area”...
On April 22, 2015, the National Transition Council of the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) voted to create a special criminal tribunal to address the atrocities that have taken place in the country in recent years. According to one report, the court will “be made up of 27 judges including 14 from CAR and 13 from other countries” and “presided over by a CAR judge while the chief prosecutor will be a foreign judge.” In September 2014, the International Criminal Court opened its second investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity occurring in the CAR, and in January...