On October 17, 2014, a World Trade Organization (WTO) Working Party agreed on the terms of Seychelles’ admission as a member to the WTO after eighteen years of negotiation. According to a press release, as part of their accession negotiations, “Seychelles concluded eight bilateral agreements on market access for goods and nine bilateral agreements on market access for services,” among other commitments. Seychelles’ official accession “still requires the formal approval of all 160 WTO members in the General Council in December” as well as “the ratification of the Accession Package by...
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 October 16, 2014, the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) annulled, on procedural grounds, measures maintaining the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the EU list relating to frozen funds of terrorist organizations. According to the press release, the Court found “that the contested measures are based not on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities, as required by Common Position 2001/931 and case-law, but on factual imputations derived from the press and the internet.” The Court found that while decisions by Indian...
On October 14, 2014, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2179, extending the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until February 28, 2015. Acting under Chapter VII, and “[r]ecognizing that the current situation in Abyei and along the border between the Sudan and South Sudan continues to constitute a serious threat to international peace and security,” the Security Council decided that troops authorized by Resolution 2104 would be maintained “and that the remaining authorized forces continue to be deployed consistent with the progressive reactivation of the [Joint...
On October 13, 2014, President Theodor Meron of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) presented the mechanism’s second Annual Report to the UN General Assembly. According to a press release, President Meron “reported on the MICT’s progress and noted that it faced two pre-eminent challenges: apprehension of individuals indicted by the ICTR but not yet arrested, and relocation of individuals who were acquitted or finished serving sentences.” In his speech, he stated “that the Mechanism continues to make excellent progress at assuming relevant functions, and that it has...
On 14 October 2014, a World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel issued a report in response to a U.S. claim against India, ruling that India had violated WTO rules in implementing import prohibitions concerning poultry and other agricultural products from countries reporting Notifiable Avian Influenza (AI). According to the summary of key findings, the U.S. “complained that India's AI measures amounted to an import prohibition that was not based on the relevant international standard (the [World Organisation for Animal Health] Terrestrial Code) or on a scientific risk assessment.” The panel...
On October 9, 2014, the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber (the Court) dismissed William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang’s appeals against the Trial Chamber’s decision requiring witnesses to appear before it and obligating the government of Kenya to facilitate the witnesses’ appearance. According to the press release, “in the view of the Appeals Chamber, article 64(6)(b) of the Rome Statute expressly gives Trial Chambers the power to compel witnesses to appear before it, thereby creating a legal obligation for the individuals concerned.” In their decision, the Trial Chamber “...
On October 3, 2014, the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) celebrated the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Relationship Agreement, recommitting to the relationship between the two organizations. According to a news article, under the agreement, which entered into force on October 4, 2004, “the ICC and the UN recognize each other’s mandates and status, and agree to cooperate and consult each other on matters of mutual interest.” According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song, the agreement was founded “on the...
On October 2, 2014, an Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) decided in an appeal related to Case STL-14-05 that the STL has jurisdiction to hear cases of obstruction of justice against legal persons. In its decision, the Appeals Panel found “that the ordinary meaning of the word ‘person’ in a legal context can include both natural human beings and legal entities.” In their reasoning, the Appeals Panel determined that “[i]n light of the Tribunal's inherent power to protect the integrity of its proceedings, the need to uphold the rule of law, execute and maintain the...
On September 30, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) declared inadmissible the case of Gross v. Switzerland, which concerned the inability of an elderly woman, who was not suffering from a clinical illness, to obtain the Swiss authorities’ permission to be given a lethal dose of a drug in order to commit suicide. According to the press release, the Court found that because the applicant had committed suicide in 2011, but taken steps to keep this information from her attorney so that her case might still move forward, “her conduct had...
On September 30, 2014, American and Afghan officials signed a bilateral security agreement, which will allow about 12,000 foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan after the end of the year. According to a news article, the agreement “will allow 9,800 American and at least 2,000 NATO troops to remain in Afghanistan after the international combat mission formally ends on Dec. 31. Most of them will help train and assist the struggling Afghan security forces, although some American Special Operations forces will remain to conduct counterterrorism missions.” Under the agreement, “both...