On April 1, 2015, Palestine became a state party to the Rome Statute. According to the press release, the International Criminal Court’s vice president, Kuniko Ozaki, welcomed Palestine stating that “[a]ccession to a treaty is, of course, just the first step. As the Rome Statute today enters into force for the State of Palestine, Palestine acquires all the rights as well as responsibilities that come with being a State Party to the Statute. These are substantive commitments, which cannot be taken lightly.” Palestine submitted its application to join the Court in January 2015.
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 March 29, 2015, the England and Wales High Court ruled in Al-Saadoon v. Secretary of State for Defence that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) applies to cases where Iraqi soldiers were shot by British forces during security operations. The main proceedings brought by Al-Saadoon and others represent at least 1,000 cases alleging “ill-treatment, unlawful detention and, in some cases, unlawful killing of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers” during the British military involvement in Iraq between 2003 and 2009. The claimants sought “orders from the court to require the...
On March 27, 2015, the international co-investigating judge of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia charged Ao An, a seventy-nine-year-old former Khmer Rouge member, with crimes against humanity. According to the press release, the crimes include “murder, extermination, persecution on political and religious grounds, imprisonment, and other inhumane acts (namely inhumane conditions of detention).” According to one report, Ao An is “the third suspect charged this month in cases that many investigators and advocacy groups fear might go unheard because of the suspects’...
On March 27, 2015, an Egyptian court annulled a January decision by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters designating Hamas a terrorist organization. The organization had been designated as such in February “based on lawsuits [] alleging that Hamas is responsible for multiple attacks against Egyptian security forces, which have resulted in casualties and deaths.” According to another report, the ruling was annulled after the lawyer who filed the initial suit withdrew it citing the need to remove “obstacles which Egypt’s political leadership might face in serving its role in the Palestinian...
On March 27, 2015, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted two resolutions—2213 and 2214— on Libya. According to the press release, “the first, called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and extended the United Nations Support Mission there (UNSMIL) until 15 September, and [] the second, adjusted the arms embargo on the country in light of the terrorist threat there.” The Council also “decided that [UNSMIL’s] mandate should focus on support to the Libyan political process and security arrangements...
On March 26, 2015, the Human Rights Council created the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy. According to the press release, the Council “called on all countries to support this new mandate, including by providing all necessary information requested by the Special Rapporteur, to respond promptly to his or her urgent appeals and other communications, to consider favourably his or her requests to visit their countries, and to consider implementing the recommendations made in his or her reports.” The mandate was created pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/167, which...
On March 23, 2015, the presidents of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia signed the Declaration of Principles in an effort to resolve their long-standing dispute over the sharing of the Nile River’s waters. The ten-point agreement, which focuses on Ethiopia’s controversial construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, includes principles on dispute settlement, fair and appropriate use, regional integration and sustainability, and cooperation among others. Ethiopia reportedly pursued the project because the dam would “give it a fairer share of Nile waters” and it wanted “to...
On March 23, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a defamation case against an anti-Iran non-profit organization after the U.S. government intervened invoking the state secrets privilege in Restis v. American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran (ACNI). Mr. Restis, a Greek national and owner of a shipping business that engaged in business transactions with Iran, filed a defamation suit against the ACNI alleging the organization had attempted to destroy his company’s reputation. The U.S. government intervened, submitting a motion to dismiss on the...
On March 19, 2015, the Military District Court in Warsaw (the Court) cleared four Polish soldiers of war crimes for their role in the killing of six civilians in Afghanistan in 2007. According to one report, the soldiers participated in U.S. and NATO-led military operations in Afghanistan where their patrol attacked Nangar Khel, a village in southeastern Afghanistan, using automatic weapons and mortar shells, killing six people, including three children. The soldiers were first charged, tried, and acquitted of war crimes in 2011. At the new trial, they maintained the deaths had been...
On March 18, 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) issued its award in the matter of the Chagos Marine Protected Area Arbitration (Mauritius v. United Kingdom), unanimously finding the United Kingdom’s establishment of a marine protected area (MPA) around the Chagos Archipelago contravened its obligations under the Convention on the Law of the Sea. According to the press release, Mauritius commenced the arbitration before the PCA in 2010 after the United Kingdom declared an MPA in the waters surrounding the Chagos Archipelago. The Archipelago has been...