On September 15, 2015, the European Court of Justice (Court) ruled that member states of the European Union may exclude Union citizens who go to that state in search of a job from certain non-contributory social security benefits without violating the principle of equal treatment. The Alimanovic family, Swedish citizens originally from Bosnia, moved to Germany in 2010. After their arrival, two family members had held several temporary jobs lasting less than one year and had received unemployment and subsistence benefits from 2011 to 2012 when German authorities stopped the payments,...
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 September 10, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) ruled in R.H. v. Sweden, that the deportation of R.H. from Sweden to Somalia does not violate Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. R.H., a woman from Somalia who had unsuccessfully petitioned the Swedish authorities for asylum, sought to stop enforcement of her deportation order claiming that upon her return to Somalia she would face marginalization as a single woman and be sentenced to death if she did not go back to the man she had been forced to...
On September 8, 2015, the European Union and the U.S. finalized negotiations on a data protection “Umbrella Agreement” dealing with high data protection standards for transatlantic law enforcement cooperation. In a statement, EU Commissioner Věra Jourová described the Umbrella Agreement as an “important step to strengthen the fundamental right to privacy effectively and to rebuild trust in EU-US data flows,” highlighting that the Agreement will “guarantee a high level of protection of all personal data when transferred between law enforcement authorities across the Atlantic. It will in...
On September 8, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in Ministry of Energy of Iran v. Council to dismiss the application of the Ministry of Energy of Iran (the Ministry) to be removed from the EU sanctions list. The Ministry was initially included in Iranian anti-nuclear proliferation sanctions as it is “[r]esponsible for policy in the energy sector, which provides a substantial source of revenue for the Iranian Government.” The Court found that the Ministry’s “right of defense” had been infringed when the Council took fifteen months, “an unreasonable...
On September 8, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (the Court) upheld an award by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) granting ConocoPhillips ownership of Venezuela state oil company PDVSA’s 50% share of the Sweeney, Texas refinery. After PDVSA failed to supply its partner with crude oil according to the joint venture agreement, ConocoPhillips announced it would exercise its contractual right to buy out Venezuela. In response, PDVSA commenced arbitration under the ICC Rules on Arbitration. The arbitral panel ruled that ConocoPhillips was indeed...
On September 8, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) issued its decision in Ivo Taricco and Others, finding that by preventing the imposition of effective and dissuasive penalties in cases of serious VAT fraud, Italian law is liable to affect the financial interests of the European Union. The case concerned the criminal proceedings in Italy against Mr. Taricco and others that arose from a criminal conspiracy to acquire goods VAT free and below market price, thus distorting the market. According to the press release, the Court stated that member states must...
On September 7, 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court) made public its decision (only available in Spanish and originally decided on June 22, 2015) in Granier and Others v. Venezuela, ordering Venezuela to reinstate the broadcasting license of news outlet Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). According to a news report, Venezuela’s former government under Hugo Chavez had refused to reissue the license, “on grounds it backed a brief 2002 coup and its frequency was needed for a public service channel.” In 2013, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)...
On September 4, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada (the Court) decided that villagers from Ecuador can enforce a $9.5 billion judgment against the Chevron Corporation through its Canadian subsidiary, Chevron Canada. In 2003, the villagers instituted legal proceedings against Texaco, which has since merged with Chevron, alleging that their commercial activities had caused “extensive environmental pollution that has, in turn, disrupted the lives and jeopardized the futures of its residents.” An Ecuadorian court found for the villagers in 2011, awarding $17.2 billion; a judgement which was...
On September 4, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District (the Court) held that the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT) protected a transgender immigrant from deportation to Mexico. Edin Avendano-Hernandez, a transgender woman from Mexico, had petitioned the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to withhold her removal to Mexico based on the physical and sexual abuse by police and military officers she experienced there. The Court agreed with the BIA’s finding that Avendano-Hernandez’s felony conviction for driving under the influence and causing bodily harm to...
On September 2, 2015, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and MasterCard announced a new partnership designed to utilize global technology in development assistance. According to the press release, the “collaborative effort [that] will develop inclusive payment systems to support small-scale farmers and poor families” by providing “credit or money to households for purchases of basic needs and farming inputs on local markets, thereby supporting local economies and putting financial tools in the hands of economically marginalized communities.” The Kakuma refugee camp...