On April 1, 2014, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) delivered its judgment in the Matter of the Beneficiaries of Late Norbert Zongo and others v. Burkina Faso, finding violations of Articles 7 and 9 (2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Norbert Zongo was an investigating journalist and Director of the weekly paper, l’Indépendant, who was found dead, along with his companions, in Burkina Faso in 1998. According to the press release, the Court concluded that Burkina Faso “failed in its obligation to take measures, other than legislative,...
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 31, 2014, Trial Chamber V(b) of the International Criminal Court adjourned the commencement date in the Prosecutor v. Uhuru Kenyatta trial until October 7, 2014. According to the press release, the Chamber did so in order to provide the government of Kenya “with a further, time-limited opportunity to provide certain records, which the Prosecution had previously requested on the basis that the records are relevant to a central allegation to the case.” The Chamber directed the Prosecutor to submit to the Kenyan authorities within two weeks a revised request to produce...
On March 31, 2014, the International Court of Justice rendered its Judgment in the case concerning Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening). According to the press release, the Court ruled that “Japan’s whaling programme in the Antarctic (JARPA II) is not in accordance with three provisions of the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.” The Court ordered Japan to “revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence granted in relation to JARPA II, and refrain from granting any further permits in pursuance of that...
On March 30, 2014, the Philippines submitted its Memorial to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in its dispute with China over the South China Sea. This deadline was set in accordance with the first Procedural Order of the Arbitral Tribunal in the case. According to a news story, the Memorial of the Philippines is “nearly 4,000 pages long, includes more than 40 maps and is aimed at countering Beijing’s argument that controlling mostly submerged features such as reefs or shoals provides China with sovereignty over the sea, including some 80% of the Philippines’ UN-declared exclusive...
On March 27, 2014, Charles Blé Goudé made his first appearance before a Single Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber I at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Charles Blé Goudé, a national of Côte d’Ivoire, allegedly “bears individual criminal responsibility, as indirect co-perpetrator, for four counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, and other inhuman acts, allegedly committed in the territory of Côte d’Ivoire” between December 16, 2010 and April 12, 2011. According to the press release, the Single Judge “verified the identity of...
On March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that the Crimean referendum that led to the peninsula’s annexation by Russia has “no validity” and “cannot form the basis of any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.” The resolution also called on other States “to desist and refrain from actions aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine” and urges States “not to recognize any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. . . on the basis of the above-...
On March 19, 2014, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2146. Acting under Chapter VII, the Security Council condemned the illicit export of crude oil from Libya. The Security Council authorized States to inspect vessels on the high seas, and using “all measures commensurate to the specific circumstances . . . to return the crude oil, with the consent of and in coordination with the Government to Libya, to Libya.” These inspections may only be “carried out by warships and ships owned or operated by a State and used only on government non-commercial service.” The...
On March 18, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (the Court) heard oral argument in Al Shimari v. CACI et al. The case concerns four former Iraqi detainees who claim they were tortured at Abu Ghraib prison by the U.S. military contractor, CACI International. A district court judge had previously dismissed the case, finding that the Alien Tort Statute could not apply to violations occurring outside the United States, and that the remaining common law claims were barred because Iraqi law applied.
On March 13, 2014, Ukraine filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights against the Russian Federation and requested interim measures, indicating that Russia “should refrain from measures which might threaten the life and health of the civilian population on the territory of Ukraine.” According to the press release, the Court granted the interim measures on the same day, “[calling] upon both Contracting Parties concerned to refrain from taking any measures, in particular military actions, which might entail breaches of the Convention rights of the civilian population,...
On March 10, 2014, the ICSID Arbitral Tribunal (the Tribunal) rejected Venezuela's request for reconsideration of the Tribunal’s September 2013 Decision. In the September Decision, the Tribunal found, first, that it had jurisdiction over the dispute regarding Venezuela’s taking of ConocoPhillips oil assets located in the country and, second, that Venezuela had breached its obligations under Article 6(c) of the BIT "to negotiate in good faith for compensation for its taking of the ConocoPhillips assets. . . ." (See previous ILIB post here.) Finding that it did not have the power to...