On December 5, 2013, a Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled by majority in Vilnes and Others v. Norway that, according to the press release, “Norwegian authorities failed to provide deep sea divers with essential information about risks associated with their employers’ use of rapid decompression tables” and thus violated Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) but not Article 2 (right to life) or Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr. Vilnes and other divers argued that they...
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.
According to a Permanent Court of Arbitration press release, the hearing on the merits in the matter of the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of India commenced on December 9, 2013 at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The hearing will end on December 18, 2013.
Bangladesh instituted arbitral proceedings concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and India in October 2009 pursuant to Article 287 and Annex VII, Article 1, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
In Metal-Tech Ltd. v. Republic of Uzbekistan—a dispute arising under the Israel-Uzbekistan bilateral investment treaty (BIT) relating to a joint venture to process minerals—an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal found that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the claim as the initial investment failed to fulfill the requirements of Article 1(1) of the BIT, which provides that the investment be “implemented in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment is made.” The tribunal concluded that “...
On November 24, 2013, the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair in International Environmental Law, Jawaharlal University, and the Centre for Advanced Study on Courts and Tribunals in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank adopted the Amritsar Dialogue Statement on Green Courts and Tribunals. The statement was adopted as a sequel to the New Delhi Dialogue on the Role of Courts & Tribunals in the Changing Global Order, which took place on March 15, 2013. The six themes of the dialogue are: International Environmental Dispute Settlement; Judiciary & the Environment; Effectuating Access to...
At the Twelfth Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ASP), which concluded on November 28, 2013, the ASP adopted several new rules and amendments to its Rules of Procedure and Evidence. According to the press release, new rules 134 bis, ter and quater pertain to “the use of video technology, excusal from presence at trial and excusal from presence at trial due to extraordinary public duties.” Notably, rule 134 quater provides that “[a]n accused subject to a summons to appear who is mandated...
On November 26, 2013, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled, by nine votes to eight, in X v. Latvia that Latvia had violated Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (European Convention) because its courts had not considered an arguable allegation of “serious risk” to a child when ordering the child’s return to Australia, her country of origin. According to the press release, the Grand Chamber ruled that, in ordering the return of the child pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of...
On November 26, 2013, Trial Chamber V(b) of the International Criminal Court reconsidered its previous decision excusing the accused from continuous presence at trial in the Prosecutor v. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta case in light of an October 2013 Judgment of the Appeals Chamber on the same issue in the Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang case. According to the press release, the majority, Judge Eboe-Osuji dissenting, held that “as a general rule, Mr Kenyatta must be present at trial,” and that “any future requests to be excused from attending parts of the...
On November 27, 2013, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal held in National Commissioner of the South African Police Service v. Southern African Human Rights Litigation Centre that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is empowered to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed in Zimbabwe against Zimbabwean nationals “whether or not the alleged perpetrators are present in South Africa.” In so doing, the Court of Appeals reversed the North Gauteng High Court’s May 2012 ruling in favor of the SAPS’s decision not to investigate torture as a crime against humanity...
On November 20, 2013, Afghanistan released a draft of the Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Agreement). If approved by Afghanistan, the agreement will govern the role of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from January 1, 2015 to 2024 and beyond, unless terminated by the parties. . As outlined in Article 2 which addresses the purpose and scope of the agreement, “the Parties shall continue to foster close cooperation to strengthen security and stability in Afghanistan,” but “[u]nless otherwise mutually agreed,...
On November 24, 2013, Iran signed a Joint Plan of Action with six nations in Geneva’s Palace of Nations that brings a freeze to Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for temporary relief on various economic sanctions. The six nations, known as PS5+1 (or E3+3), are: China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Preamble of the Joint Plan of Action states: “the goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.” The deal is subject to...