On December 18, 2014 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (draft version) condemning “ongoing systemic, widespread and gross violations of human rights” in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and calling for the Security Council to consider referring the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face charges of crimes against humanity. According to a press report, the General Assembly resolution, backed by a UN Commission of Inquiry report published in February, “lists examples of torture . . . describes a system of political prison camps, the forcible...
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 December 10, 2014 the UN General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (the Convention), expanding the application of the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Investor-State Arbitration (Transparency Rules) to cover all Investor-State Arbitrations initiated under investment treaties existing prior to April 1, 2014, irrespective of the applicable arbitration rules. According to a press release, “the Convention constitutes the efficient and flexible mechanism by which the Transparency Rules will apply to disputes arising...
On December 18, 2014, the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission—which was established “to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a direct result of Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91”—decided to postpone Iraq’s required payment into the Kuwaiti compensation fund. According to the press release, the Governing Council, “[n]oting the extraordinarily difficult security circumstances in Iraq and the unusual budgetary challenges associated with confronting this issue, the Governing Council adopted decision 272 (...
On December 18, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the draft agreement providing for the accession of the EU to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) is not compatible with EU law. In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty made it a treaty obligation for the EU to accede to the ECHR, and in 2013, the Council of Europe and the EU concluded the Draft Agreement on Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights, which attempted to make the adjustments to both institutions in order to allow a non-state...
On December 18, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in International Stem Cell Corporation v. Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks that under the EU Biotech Directive (the Directive)—which prohibits patenting human embryos for industrial and commercial purposes—an organism incapable of developing into a human being is not considered a human embryo and that the use of such an organism for industrial or commercial purposes may be patented. According to the press release, the Court found that under the Directive, a non-fertilized...
Court of Justice of the European Union Rules Obesity Can Constitute a Disability (December 18, 2014)
On December 18, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in Fag og Arbejde v. Kommunernes Landsforening that under certain conditions, obesity may fall within the concept of “disability” within the meaning of the European Union Employment Equality Directive (the Directive). According to the press release, the Court determined that no EU treaties or legislation explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of obesity, and consequently held that, “in the area of employment and occupation, EU law does not lay down a general principle of non-discrimination...
On December 18, 2014, the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Appeals Chamber) delivered its first appeal judgment in the case of The Prosecutor v. Augustin Ngirabatware, affirming the conviction of Ngirabatware in part. According to the press release, “[t]he Appeals Chamber unanimously affirmed Ngirabatware’s conviction for direct and public incitement to commit genocide. A majority of the Appeals Chamber also affirmed Ngirabatware’s conviction for instigating and aiding and abetting genocide.” The Appeals Chamber also “unanimously...
On December 17, 2014 the United States and Cuba agreed to begin restoring diplomatic and economic ties that have been severed since January 1961. According to a statement by President Barack Obama, going forward, the United States will take steps to ease restrictions on commerce, travel, and telecommunications and will reestablish an American embassy in Havana. The Cuban government has decided to “provide more access to the Internet for its citizens” and to increase cooperation with international organizations like the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Obama...
On December 11, 2014, the United Nations Secretary-General released a report on children and armed conflict in South Sudan, the first of its kind since South Sudan seceded from the Sudan in July 2011. The report “contains information on the six grave violations against children and, more broadly, on the situation of children affected by armed conflict during the period from 1 March 2011 to 30 September 2014.” It further “demonstrates that all parties to the conflict in South Sudan were responsible for grave violations against children during the reporting period, including killing and...
On December 16, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Ibrahim and Others v. The United Kingdom that British police did not violate Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) when they did not allow suspects in an attempted train bombing access to their lawyers while police searched for the suspects’ accomplices immediately after the attempt. According to the press release, the Court ruled that, due to the interviews being “conducted urgently for the purpose of protecting life and preventing serious damage...