On October 13, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly appointed António Guterres of Portugal as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. According to the press release, these were “[t]he first-ever public hearings on the selection of a Secretary-General opened the process to the world.” Various officials, including current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, lauded the process and the credentials of Guterres, who most recently served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Prime Minster of Portugal before that. The United Nations Security Council had previously...
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 October 13, 2016, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution expanding the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Haiti. According to the press release, the resolution “maintain[s] the current authorized troop strength of up to 2,370 military personnel and 2,601 police, as recommended by the Secretary-General in his latest report.” The renewal of the mandate comes “without major changes in its configuration or objectives for six months, until 15 April 2017.” Haiti was ravaged by Hurricane Matthew in early October, and the state suffered over 800 casualties...
On October 6, 2016, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2312 in response to “the continuing maritime tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea that have resulted in thousands of casualties.” According to the press release, “the Council extended the authorization, first established by resolution 2240 (2015), for Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations, to inspect vessels they had reasonable grounds to suspect were being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya and to seize those confirmed to be engaging in those activities.” The...
On October 11, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in European Commission v. Italian Republic that Italy violated EU law “by failing to adopt all the measures necessary to guarantee the existence of a compensation scheme for victims of all violent intentional crimes committed on its territory.” According to the press release, Italy is obligated under Council Directive 2004/80/EC to provide a general compensation scheme for the victims of violent, cross-border crimes. Italy contended that it was in compliance with the directive because member states were “merely...
On October 5, 2016, the International Court of Justice ruled that it did not have jurisdiction over three separate but substantively similar cases between the Marshall Islands and India, Pakistan, and the U.K. According to the press releases for the rulings for India, Pakistan, and the U.K., the Court found that no dispute existed between the parties and that it subsequently could not proceed to the merits of the case. The cases were based on the alleged failure of the latter three countries to fulfil obligations concerning negotiations relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race...
On October 2, 2016, the people of Colombia narrowly rejected a peace deal negotiated between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a national referendum by a vote of 50.2 to 49.8. In the wake of the vote, both the government and the FARC expressed that they were “not interested in more war.” The agreement would have ended a war that has led to “220,000 people . . . killed in the fighting, and six million . . . displaced” by providing amnesty for rank and file FARC militants and reduced sentences for those suspected of war crimes. The deal was...
On September 29, 2016, the Singapore Court of Appeal ruled in Sanum Investments Limited v. Lao People’s Democratic Republic that the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between the People’s Republic of China and Laos applied to Macau, finding that Macao-based company Sanum Investments could seek redress through the BIT against the Laos government for its claim of capital investment benefit losses through unfair taxes. The BIT did “not expressly state whether it would or would not in due course apply to Macau” when it was signed in 1993, and Macao became a territory of China in 1999. A main...
On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that “Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has agreed to pay nearly $200 million to the SEC to settle civil charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).” In a parallel proceeding, Och-Ziff settled with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and “agreed to pay a criminal penalty of more than $213 million in connection with a widespread scheme involving the bribery of officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Libya.” Between the two proceedings, Och-Ziff will pay approximately $412...
On September 29, 2016, the European Court of Human Rights dismissed an appeal in McKevitt and Campbell v. the United Kingdom, which was based on the infamous 1998 Omagh Bombing that killed 29 people in Omagh, Northern Ireland, in what has been called the single worst atrocity of the Troubles. According to the press release, the defendants argued that the first instance court should have applied a criminal, rather than civil, standard of proof against them due to the severity of the claims. Additionally, they claimed that the admission of testimony by a U.S. FBI agent was unfair as...
On September 28, 2016, the U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly to overturn President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). Catalyzed by the families of those killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Senate voted 97–1 and the House voted 348–77 for the override. Issuing a statement on the matter, Obama expressed “deep sympathy for the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks,” but argued that “[e]nacting JASTA into law, however, would neither protect Americans from terrorist attacks nor improve the effectiveness of our...