On March 2, 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution strongly condemning the nuclear tests it conducted in January and imposing new sanctions on North Korea. Acting under Chapter VII, the Council decided “that all States shall inspect the cargo within or transiting through their territory, including in their airports, seaports and free trade zones, that has originated in the DPRK, or that is destined for the DPRK” and “that Member States shall prohibit their nationals and those in their territories from leasing or chartering their flagged vessels or aircraft or...
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.
International Criminal Court Begins First Trial for Destruction of Cultural Property (March 2, 2016)
On March 2, 2016, the International Criminal Court opened its first war crimes trial for the destruction of cultural property. According to a news report, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is charged with having destroyed “medieval shrines, tombs of Sufi saints and a mosque dating back to the 15th century” during a conflict that displaced over 280,000 people. Al-Mahdi was a leader in the Ansar Dine jihadist organization and is the first member of an Islamic terrorist group to appear before the Court. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated, “The charges we have brought against Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi involve...
On March 1, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided that place-of-residence conditions may be imposed on beneficiaries of subsidiary protection in a member state in order to address integration difficulties. According to the press release, Ibrahim Alo and Amira Osso are Syrian citizens who travelled to Germany in 1998 and 2001, respectively, where they were granted subsidiary protection status and residence permits subject to place-of-residence conditions. The Court found that an EU Directive requires member states “to allow persons to whom they have granted subsidiary...
On February 12, 2016, the German Constitutional Court (Court) published a decision confirming that the German legislature is not prohibited from adopting laws that contravene international treaties. According to the press release, the case arose from a question posed by the Federal Court of Finance, which sought clarification on whether a newly adopted law may infringe rights conferred on tax payers under a double taxation treaty between Germany and Turkey. The law at issue in the case provides that “the exemption ‘will only be granted, irrespective of the applicable [double taxation]...
On February 24, 2016, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued the panel’s report on India’s domestic content requirements for solar products, finding they violated India’s national treatment obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs). According to a news report, the U.S. initiated the proceedings at the WTO in 2013, arguing that an Indian law from 2011 which requires certain cells be produced domestically violated WTO rules by discriminating against imports. The Panel agreed with the U.S. argument...
On February 29, 2016, Argentina reached an agreement with several U.S. hedge funds, settling a fifteen year legal struggle arising from the country’s financial collapse in 2001 when it defaulted on $100 billion in bonds. According to a news report, the deal will now be reviewed by Argentina’s Congress, which will have to adapt domestic laws before it can be implemented. One such change will affect a 2014 law, which allows the country to pay creditors with renegotiated debt despite a New York court order expressly prohibiting such arrangements. While many creditors agreed to renegotiate...
On February 26, 2016, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution endorsing the Joint Statement of the United States and the Russian Federation on Cessation of Hostilities in Syria. According to a news report, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the agreement as “our best chance to end the brutal violence.” The resolution “demands that all parties to whom the cessation of hostilities applies . . . fulfil their commitments . . . and urges all Member States . . . to use their influence . . . to ensure fulfilment of those commitments and to support efforts to create conditions for a...
On February 24, 2016, a federal judge approved a $940 million settlement between the U.S. government and Indian tribes, resolving a claim that the government had underfunded contract costs for the management of federal services such as law enforcement and education. According to a news report, some of the underfunded contracts date back to the 1970s, when a change in policy gave tribes the opportunity to take more control over the administration of the programs. The case was first filed in 1990, and in 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the “Government must pay each Tribe’s contract...
On February 25, 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled (judgment only available in French) that ordering the blacking out of a photograph depicting a torture victim had not violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the press release, the case involved the lawsuit initiated by family members of I.H. against a publishing company for printing a picture of their relative showing him “wearing shackles and showing visible signs of ill-treatment,” taken when he was held captive and tortured for three weeks. The domestic litigation culminated in an order...
On February 25, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that citizens of other member states may be denied certain social benefits during their first three months of residence outside their home state. According to the press release, the case involved a Spanish family, who had moved to Germany in 2012. While the mother had been able to find work soon thereafter, and had been compulsorily affiliated to German social security, the father who arrived a few weeks later was denied subsistence benefits for him and the son traveling with him. Authorities cited the German Social...