On January 31, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in Commissaire général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides v. Mostafa Lounani that an application for asylum could be rejected if the asylum seeker has participated in the activities of a terrorist network, even though the individual did not commit an act of terror. According to the press release, Mostafa Lounani applied to the Belgian authorities for refugee status in 2010 after his arrest in 2006 for participating in the activities of a terrorist organization by providing logistical support to the group. He alleged...
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 27, 2017, the President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning entry into the U.S. for nationals from seven countries with Muslim-majority populations for ninety days. According to reports, multiple courts throughout the U.S. issued provisional orders halting implementation of the travel ban for those on their way to the U.S. or already on U.S. soil. Cases will proceed in the courts that issued that injunctions in the coming weeks, and the government can appeal the orders. ASIL President Lucinda Lowe made a public statement regarding the executive order,...
On January 27, 2017, the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, issued a resolution requiring all member states to continue to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply of arms and related material into the Central African Republic (CAR) until January 31, 2018. The resolution exempts arms intended for some groups, including, the African Union-Regional Task Force, European Union Missions, and French Forces deployed in the CAR. The resolution also authorizes member states to seize, register, and dispose of any...
On January 27, 2017, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a panel report in Russia — Anti-Dumping Duties on Light Commercial Vehicles from Germany and Italy. The panel concluded that Russian duties applied to light commercial vehicles imported from Italy and Germany were in violation of WTO law. According to a press release by the European Union, “Russia failed to observe a number of WTO rules when introducing the anti-dumping duties in 2013” including “excluding certain domestic producers from their calculations” and disregarding “the overcapacity in the Russian LCV sector,...
On January 24, 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Paradiso and Campanelli v. Italy that the removal of a child born via gestational surrogacy from the intended parents, who had no biological relation to the child, was not in contradiction to Article 8 (right to private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case dealt with the placement of a child born in Russia following a gestational surrogacy contract between a Russian woman and an Italian couple into foster care due to the couple’s “suspected . . . misrepresentation of civil status, use...
On January 26, 2017, the U.K. High Court of Justice ruled in Okpabi v. Royal Dutch Shell that Nigerian nationals cannot use U.K. courts to sue Shell or its Nigerian subsidiary for damage resulting from oil spills affecting the Niger Delta and the surrounding area. In the judgment, Justice Fraser reasoned that there was no jurisdictional nexus from the facts to the U.K., stating that “there is simply no connection whatsoever between this jurisdiction and the claims brought by the claimants, who are Nigerian citizens, for breaches of statutory duty and/or in common law for acts and...
On January 26, 2017, the Daejeon District Court ruled that a South Korean temple could retain possession of a Buddhist statute that was stolen from a Japanese shrine in 2012 on the grounds that Japanese pirates had previously stolen it from South Korea centuries earlier. According to a news report, the thieves that stole that statue were caught trying to sell the statue in South Korean. It was slated to return to Japan, but a court granted an injunction requested by a South Korean temple in 2013 that kept the statute in South Korea until its historical ownership could be determined. Both...
On January 26, 2017, the United Nations Security Council issued a resolution regarding the efforts to reunify Cyprus. The resolution welcomed “the progress of the leaders-led negotiations so far and the ongoing efforts of the leaders and their negotiators to reach a comprehensive and durable settlement, and encourage[d] the sides to grasp the current opportunity with determination to secure a comprehensive settlement.” According to the press release, the Council also extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until July 31, 2017, and “called upon both...
On January 25, 2017, the General Court of the European Union ruled in Joint-Stock Company “Almaz-Antey” Air and Space Defence Corp. v. Council to uphold the freezing of assets of the Russian state-owned company, Almaz-Antey. The sanctions were introduced in response to the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. According to the press release, “the Council did not act disproportionately in deciding to freeze the funds of entities supporting, materially or financially, actions of the Russian Government which undermine or threaten the territorial...
On January 24, 2017, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union that the government must put to a vote of Parliament the triggering of Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union, which would notify the European Union of the U.K.’s intent to leave the EU. According the press release, the Court reasoned that since the European Communities Act (ECA) that brought the U.K. into the EU and granted rights to British residents was implemented by Parliament, any withdrawal from the EU must also be enacted by Parliament, rather than relying on...