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.
European Council Amends Reasons for Tunisian Restrictive Measures (January 31, 2014)
| By: Emily MacKenzie : February 19, 2014 |

On January 31, 2014, the European Council published a Decision and Implementing Regulation   “concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Tunisia.” The Decision and Regulation extend the 2011 Decision and restrictive measures, which had been due to expire on January 31, 2014, until January 31, 2015.

The forty-five individuals named in the Annex are subject to a European Union-wide asset freeze and travel ban. The European Council amended the stated reasons for inclusion on the list to read: “Person subject to judicial...

ICTY Appeals Chamber Delivers Judgment in Prosecutor v. Vlastimir Đorđević Case (January 27, 2014)
| By: Steven Arrigg Koh : February 19, 2014 |

On January 27, 2014, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia delivered its judgment in the Prosecutor v. Vlastimir Đorđević case.  According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber confirmed Đorđević’s “guilt for crimes committed by Serbian forces during a campaign of terror and violence against Kosovo Albanians during the conflict in Kosovo.” The Appeals Chamber also “partially granted the appeals of both the Defence and the Prosecution, reducing Đorđević’s prison sentence from twenty-seven years to eighteen years.”  Đorđević served...

French Court Begins Hearing Trial of Former Rwandan Intelligence Chief (February 4, 2014)
| By: Emily MacKenzie : February 08, 2014 |

On February 4, 2014, the cour d’assises in Paris began hearing the trial of Pascal Simbikangwa, the former Chief of Intelligence in Rwanda. According to news reports, he was arrested in 2008 while living under an alias on the French Indian Ocean Island of Mayotte. He is charged with complicity in genocide and in crimes against humanity. Simbikangwa denies the charges, and “[h]is lawyers argue that he is being made a scapegoat for the killings.”

ICTY Office of the Prosecutor Files Motion for Reconsideration in Prosecutor v. Perišić Case (February 3, 2014)
| By: Steven Arrigg Koh : February 08, 2014 |

On February 3, 2014, the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor filed a motion before the Appeals Chamber requesting a reconsideration of its acquittal of Momčilo Perišić, former Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Army, of aiding and abetting crimes committed in Sarajevo and Srebrenica between 1993 and 1995.  According to a statement made by the Prosecutor, the Perišić Appeals Chamber’s finding that “specific direction” is an element of aiding and abetting was the basis upon which “the aiding and abetting convictions entered by the Trial Chamber were reversed and Mr. Perišić...

U.S. President Obama Certifies That U.S. Troops in Mali Are Free From ICC Jurisdiction (January 31, 2014)
| By: Adom Malcolm Cooper : February 08, 2014 |

On January 31, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a memorandum certifying that U.S. Armed Forces participating in the United Nations military operation in Mali “are without risk of criminal prosecution or other assertion of jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court.” According to the press release, Mali entered into an agreement pursuant to Article 98 of the Rome Statute, which prevents the ICC from proceeding with a request for surrender if it would require the state in question to “act inconsistently with its obligations under international agreements.” 

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Releases Report on the Holy See, Finding Child Abuse (January 31, 2014)
| By: Adom Malcolm Cooper : February 08, 2014 |

On January 31, 2014, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) released a report condemning the inadequacy of the Catholic Church’s response to the sexual abuse of children by its clergy across the globe. According to the news story, the CRC was “gravely concerned that the Holy See had not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, and expressed its ‘deepest concern’ about child sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic churches who operated under the authority of the Holy See.” The report called on the Vatican to “immediately remove” all clergy who are...

Court of Justice of the European Union Rules on Meaning of Internal Armed Conflict in EU law (January 30, 2014)
| By: Emily MacKenzie : February 08, 2014 |

On January 30, 2014, the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) issued its judgment in Diakité v. Commissaire Général aux Réfugiés et aux Apatrides, ruling on the issue of the interpretation of “internal armed conflict” as used in Directive 2004/83. Directive 2004/83 provides “subsidiary protection” for people who do not qualify as refugees if upon being returned to their home county they would “face a real risk of suffering serious harm,” defined to include “serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of...

European Court of Human Rights Delivers Judgment in Mikiyeva v. Russia and Z and Khatuyeva v. Russia (January 30, 2014)
| By: Emily MacKenzie : February 08, 2014 |

On January 30, 2014, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered judgments in two cases: Mikiyeva v. Russia and Z and Khatuyeva v. Russia. In both cases the applicants complained that their relatives disappeared between 2001 and 2004 in Russia’s North Caucasus region after being detained by State officials and that the Russian authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. According to the joint press release, the Court found violations of Article 2 “in respect of the applicants’ disappeared relatives” and...

ICTR Office of the Prosecutor Releases Best Practices Manual for the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Crimes in Post-Conflict Regions (January 30, 2014)
| By: Steven Arrigg Koh : February 07, 2014 |

On January 30, 2014, the ICTR Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) released a manual entitled Prosecution of Sexual Violence: Best Practices Manual for the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Crimes in Post-Conflict Regions.  According to the press release, the manual “draws on the OTP’s nearly 20-year experience in prosecuting sexual violence crimes perpetrated during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.”  The manual is “divided into the three principal stages of prosecution: investigation, pre-trial and trial, and appeal and post-appeal,” and “is intended to be a resource to help...

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Rules on Weight to be Accorded to Decisions of the UN High Commission for Refugees (January 29, 2014)
| By: Emily MacKenzie : February 07, 2014 |

On January 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) decided I.A. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, unanimously dismissing the appeal against an immigration judge’s refusal to grant asylum to I.A., despite the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) having granted him refugee status. The Court held that the national decision maker is required to pay “close attention to the UNHCR decision” and give “considerable pause before arriving at a different conclusion,” such that “[a] claimant for asylum who has been accorded refugee status by UNHCR starts...

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