On April 27, 2014, the High Court of Uganda submitted a matter to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to determine whether national courts have the jurisdiction to interpret provisions of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (EAC Treaty). According to the press release, the senior state attorney representing the attorney general of Uganda argued that “Article 27 of the Treaty specifically provides initial jurisdiction to interpret and apply the provisions of the Treaty and that there is no similar provision conferring jurisdiction to interpret the Treaty on...
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 April 6, 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published a report titled Greece as a Country of Asylum- UNHCR’s Recommendations in which it set out a series of guidelines for “[Greece’s] consideration to address the challenges in the asylum system and protection environment.” The document addresses the following areas: (1) border management and access to territory, (2) first reception and administrative treatment of asylum-seekers upon arrival, (3) access to and quality of the asylum procedures, (4) second-line reception of asylum-seekers, (5)...
On April 20, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (the Court) denied certiorari in Cardona v. Chiquita Brands International, Inc., a case in which the relatives of the victims of Colombia’s paramilitary violence sued Chiquita Brands International, Inc. for funding paramilitaries. The plaintiffs petitioned the Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, quoting Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, dismissed the case in 2014 on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a “case seeking relief for violations of the law of nations occurring outside...
On April 15, 2015, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced its partnership with the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS) “to help strengthen cross-border investigations into match-fixing . . . as well as bolstering measures to prosecute offenders.” The organizations will develop training resources “aligned with the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) that will identify key themes related to prosecutions and investigations.” UNODC’s efforts arise from its finding that “[m]atch-fixing is...
On April 13, 2015, in U.S. v. Slough, a U.S. federal judge sentenced four former private security guards for the killings of fourteen unarmed Iraqi civilians at Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. One guard was sentenced to life in prison while three others were handed thirty-year sentences. In a press release, the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries “endorse[d]” the sentences calling the case a “landmark trial” and reiterated that “[p]rivate military and security companies must always be held accountable for violations committed under international human rights...
On April 1, 2015, the African Union and the Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a partnership aimed at promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Africa. According to the press release, “[u]nder the MOU the Commission and CCJA shall cooperate closely and undertake joint actions and activities to implement the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the 2002 African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and other...
On April 7, 2015, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body issued its report in United States —Anti-dumping Measures on Certain Shrimp from Viet Nam rejecting Viet Nam’s claim that the Panel had acted inconsistently with the rules governing dispute settlement and upholding the Panel’s finding that Viet Nam had failed to establish its claim that a section of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act was inconsistent with articles of the Anti-Dumping Agreement. The Panel was established in 2013 to review Viet Nam’s complaint concerning “certain anti-dumping measures imposed by the...
On April 8, 2015, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued its judgment in Prosecutor v. Tolimir upholding the convictions and sentence of Zdravko Tolimir for crimes committed in Srebrenica in 1995. According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber confirmed “the Trial Chamber’s finding that Tolimir participated in two joint criminal enterprises (JCE): one to murder the able-bodied men of Srebrenica and the other to forcibly remove the Bosnian Muslim population from Srebrenica and Žepa.” The Chamber upheld Tolimir’s “...
On April 2, 2015, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued its advisory opinion regarding illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. The opinion, which was delivered in response to a March 2013 inquiry by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission, addressed the obligations and liabilities of flag states in cases where IUU fishing activities are conducted by vessels sailing under their flags and “within the Exclusive Economic Zone of third party States;” assignment of liability in cases where a license is “issued to a vessel within the framework of an...
On April 2, 2015, Britain, Germany, Russia, China, France, and the United States (P5+1) announced the outline of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. According to the U.S. Department of State’s press release, the framework agreement addresses the following: limits on enrichment; Iran’s conversion of its nuclear facility at Fordow for use as a research center; inspections and transparency; reactors and reprocessing; sanctions; and phasing. With the goal of reaching a final agreement by June 30, the State Department indicated that the states...