On January 16, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European ruled in the joint cases of Nnamdi Onuekwere v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for the Home Department v.M.G. on the effect of periods of imprisonment upon the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, pursuant to Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004. According to the press release, the Court ruled that “[p]eriods in prison cannot be taken...
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 January 14, 2014, the Fourth Section of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) issued its judgment in Jones and Others v. United Kingdom. The Court found that the United Kingdom (UK) had not violated the right of access to court under Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights when UK courts granted immunity to Saudi Arabia and its State officials, thus dismissing the Applicants’ claims for compensation for torture they allegedly suffered at the hands of Saudi Arabian officials. The Court stated that “measures taken by a State which reflect generally...
On December 20, 2013, the Court of Arbitration constituted in the matter of Indus Waters Kishenganga Arbitration (Pakistan v. India) rendered its Final Award in the dispute between Pakistan and India regarding the Kishenganga Hydro-Electric Project (KHEP) located on the Kishenganga/Neelum River. Pakistan instituted arbitral proceedings against India in 2010, challenging, in particular, the permissibility of the planned diversion by the KHEP of the waters of the Kishenganga/Neelum and the effect that this diversion would have on Pakistan’s own hydro-electric project under...
On December 19, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted draft resolution A/C.3/68/L.45/Rev.1 as recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) on cyberspace privacy. According to the press release, the resolution “underscore[ed] that the right to privacy is a human right and affirm[ed], for the first time, that the same rights people have offline must also be protected online. It called on States to ‘respect and protect the right to privacy, including in the context of digital communication.’”
The UNGA was reportedly concerned that electronic...
On December 24, 2013, the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, issued a resolution authorizing the increase of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) of “up to 12,500 troops of all ranks and of a police component, including the appropriate Formed Police Units, of up to 1,323.” The Security Council expressed “grave alarm and concern regarding the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan resulting from the political dispute and subsequent violence caused by the country’s political...
On December 19, 2013, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the forced transfer of Djamel Ameziane on December 5, 2013, from the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay to Algeria. According to the press release, “[t]he United States carried out this transfer against Djamel Ameziane’s will and in violation of international human rights law” given that he was reportedly secretly imprisoned by Algerian authorities until December 16, 2013, and that Luxembourg and other countries had extended offers for Ameziane to settle in their respective territories. The...
On December 18, 2013, the Arbitral Tribunal constituted in the matter of the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India concluded its hearing on the merits at the Peace Palace in The Hague. According to the press release, the Parties “presented their positions on certain key issues relating to the maritime boundary between the two States, including the location of the land boundary terminus between them, the delimitation of the Territorial Sea, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and the Continental Shelf within and beyond 200 nm.” The Tribunal has since...
On December 17, 2013, Timor-Leste instituted proceedings against Australia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding Australian agents’ seizure and subsequent detention “of documents, data and other property which belongs to Timor-Leste and/or which Timor-Leste has the right to protect under international law.” According to the press release, Timor-Leste also filed a request for the indication of provisional measures in order to “protect its rights and to prevent the use of seized documents and data by Australia against the interests and rights of Timor-Leste in the pending...
On December 16, 2013, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda delivered a judgment in the Prosecutor v. Grégoire Ndahimana case. According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber “set[] aside some of the Trial Chamber’s findings and increas[ed] the sentence of 15 years of imprisonment imposed on Mr. Ndahimana by the Trial Chamber to a sentence of 25 years of imprisonment.” The Appeals Chamber affirmed Ndahimana’s convictions for genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity “for failing to punish his subordinates from the Kivumu communal...
On December 16, 2013, a new international criminal justice research tool was released online, tailored specifically to the jurisprudence produced by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). According to the press release, the ICTR/ICTY Case Law Database (CLD) includes “almost 1,800 entries, covering pronouncement on the elements of statutory crimes, modes of liability, and other issues,” and it “[...] expounds the pioneering case law produced by the two tribunals...