On September 5, 2017, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights reversed a chamber decision and ruled in Bărbulescu v. Romania that monitoring and employee’s electronic communications was a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life, the home and correspondence) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicant had been fired from a private company in Romania in 2007 after the company informed him that they had monitored the Yahoo Messenger account that he had set up to assist clients and found his personal conversations with his...
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 August 20, 2017, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a special report on attacks in Mirza Olang, Sari Pul Province, Afghanistan, from August 3–5, 2017. According to the press release, the report details UNAMA’s initial findings from its human rights fact-finding attack on Mirza Olang village. The report states that “UNAMA verified allegations that Taliban and local self-proclaimed Islamic State / Daesh fighters killed at least 36 persons, including civilians and person hors de combat, during the attack on Mirza Olang. At least half of the killings took place on...
On August 17, 2017, Trial Chamber VIII of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a Reparations Order in Prosecutor v. Al Mahdi, which follows the Court’s September 2016 judgment that “unanimously found Mr Al Mahdi guilty beyond reasonable doubt as a co-perpetrator of the war crime consisting in intentionally directing attacks against religious and historic buildings in Timbuktu, Mali, in June and July 2012.” According to the press release, the Chamber concluded that “Mr Al Mahdi is liable for 2.7 million euros in expenses for individual and collective reparations for the...
On August 5, 2017, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2371, which strengthened the sanctions regime against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and condemned the state’s recent missile launches. The Council adopted the resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and decided that the DPRK “shall not supply, sell or transfer, directly or indirectly, from its territory or by its nationals or using its flag vessels or aircraft, coal, iron, and iron ore.” According to the press release, the Council also reaffirmed “its decision that Pyongyang shall abandon all nuclear...
On August 4, 2017, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report detailing the violence that a team of human rights officers documented through interviewing refugees in Angola who had fled violent attacks in the Kasai province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The report notes that the human rights violations at issue took place between March 12 and June 19, 2017, and that DRC government armed forces and pro-government militia attacks against civilians were often conducted along ethnic lines. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human...
On July 26, 2017, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in Khadija Jafari v. Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl and A.S. v Republic of Slovenia that Croatia is responsible for examining international protection applications from individuals who crossed its border during the 2015-2016 migration crisis. The Court’s press release notes that the case concerns asylum applicants who entered Croatia without the proper visa and were transported by Croatian authorities to other EU member states in order to make their applications there. The states...
On July 20, 2017, the UN Security Council passed a resolution reaffirming its resolve to combat terrorism. According to the press release, the Council unanimously adopted the resolution, which was aimed at “reinforcing its resolve to adapt to evolving terrorist threats, encouraging Governments to update their methods for cutting off funds to terrorist groups, preventing their travel, banning them from acquiring arms and ensuring that sanctions were fully implemented.” Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Council detailed the sanctions currently imposed on ISIL, Al-Qaida, and...
On July 20, 2017, The European Court of Human Rights ruled in Belkacem v. Belgium (only available in French) that hate speech by the leader of a radical Salafist organization was not protected speech under the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the press release, the “case concerned the conviction of Mr Belkacem, the leader and spokesperson of the organisation ‘Sharia4Belgium’, which was dissolved in 2012, for incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence on account of remarks he made in YouTube videos concerning non-Muslim groups and Sharia.” The Court noted...
On July 19, 2017, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in Prosecutor v. Gbagbo and Blé Goudé to reverse the Trial Chamber I decision that Laurent Gbagbo should continue to be detained and ordered the Chamber to carry out a new review. According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber stated that “Trial Chamber I should have considered the duration of time Mr Gbagbo has spent in detention alongside the risks being reviewed and it should have determined whether, all factors being considered, Mr Gbagbo's detention continues to be reasonable.” The...
On July 10, 2017, an Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued its Award on Compensation in the matter of the Arctic Sunrise arbitration between Russia and the Netherlands, ordering Russia to pay €5.4 million in damages to the. In 2015, the Tribunal had issued its Award on the Merits, finding Russia had breached its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by boarding the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, without the Netherland’s consent and detaining the environmental activists on board (the Arctic 30). According to the...