On December 1, 2023, the International Court of Justice indicated provisional measures in the case of Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela). Guyana requested that the Court order Veneuzela to refrain from holding a referendum planned for December 3, 2023, that Guyana argued was aimed at "abandon[ing the current proceedings before the Court], and to resort instead to unilateral measures to 'resolve' the controversy with Guyana by formally annexing and integrating into Venezuela all of the territory at issue in these proceedings, which comprises more than two-thirds...
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.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed down a unanimous decision on November 23, 2023, in a case brought by former Polish President Lech Walesa against the Polish Government. The Court concluded that a Polish Appeals Court, the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs (CERPA), had violated Walesa’s right to an independent and impartial trial, breached “the principle of legal certainty,” and violated his right to respect for private and family life. The Court found that the CERPA “was not an ‘independent and impartial tribunal established by law’” and was often used by...
On November 16, 2023, the International Court of Justice voted 13 – 2 in favor of issuing a binding Order in the case of Canada and the Netherlands v. Syrian Arab Republic. The Order adopted two provisional measures, which require Syria to prevent acts of torture and other cruel punishment, ensure that its officials and organizations do not commit torture or other cruel punishments, and preserve any evidence related to the allegations of the case. A Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures seeking such an order had been entered on June 8, 2023, by Canada and the...
The former President, Prime Minister, and Finance Minister of Sri Lanka have been found to have breached the public’s trust for their mismanagement of the country’s economy. Their mismanagement had led to an economic crisis and what the Court described on page nine of its decision as “a total breakdown of [the] economic and social life of the entire society.” JURIST has reported that the Court found the officials, Gotabaya, Mahinda, and Basil Rajapaksa (who also happen to be brothers), in violation of Article 12(1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution. Article 12(1) states that “all persons are...
The European Union has condemned the increasing violence and atrocities being committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Western Darfur region of Sudan. The EU cited “credible eyewitness reports” of major attacks on the Masalit community in recent days which resulted in over one thousand deaths. The EU statement noted that “these atrocities are seemingly part of a wider ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by the RSF,” a campaign which began with an initial wave of violence in June. The statement reminded those involved of their international legal duties owed to the people within...
The OECD and G20 recently announced the release of a new Multilateral Convention (MLC) that will implement OECD Pillar One and address tax challenges created by globalization and digitalization. According to the release, the new convention “reallocate[es] taxing rights to market jurisdictions” for the share of profits made by large enterprises operating in their markets “regardless of physical presence,” it “repeals and prevents proliferation of digital service taxes…, secures measures to avoid double taxation, and enhances stability and certainty in the international tax system.” The MLC...
On October 9, 2023, the World Health Organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a joint publication on mental health and human rights for legislators, policymakers, professionals, and advocacy groups. The three overarching goals of the guidance are “to support countries to transform their mental health systems and services, increase equality and justice in mental health care, and prevent, detect, or remedy human rights violations in mental health care settings.” In their press release, the OHCHR noted that human rights violations...
Within days of Hamas’s attack on Israel and Israel’s declaration of war, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued a statement detailing “clear evidence” of war crimes having been committed by Israel, Hamas, and other armed groups participating in the violence. A JURIST report on October 11, 2023, outlined the Commission’s statement and quoted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ reminder to all sides of the conflict to keep international humanitarian law in mind and “take constant care to spare the civilian population and...
The latest investigations undertaken by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine have found “widespread and systematic” torture conducted by Russia’s armed forces against “persons accused of being informants of the Ukrainian armed forces.” As reported by JURIST on September 26, 2023, the Commission had travelled to Ukraine ten separate times and met with survivors of Russian atrocities before reporting their findings to the Human Rights Council. The Commission noted numerous instances of torture committed throughout Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in “various detention cent[er]s controlled by...
On September 8, 2023, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed claims brought by U.S. nationals against the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (PSJVTA). As reported by Maggie Gardner in Transnational Litigation Blog, the Second Circuit’s decisions in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization and Waldman v. Palestine Liberation Organization, declared the PSJVTA unconstitutional “because it asserts personal jurisdiction based on activity that cannot be understood as...