On June 24, 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in H. T. v. Land Baden-Württemberg that a state may revoke the residence permit of an individual who has refugee status if that individual has provided support to a terrorist organization. The Court found that support for a terrorist organization “may constitute one of the ‘compelling reasons of national security or public order’” that would allow for the revocation of a residence permit, but went on to state that a competent authority must determine whether the actions of the refugee justify the...
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 June 24, 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released a manual titled “The Case Law of the European Regional Courts: the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.” The report presents a “thematic guide to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that is of relevance to refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons.” It also “summarizes and analyses the key case law on each issue covered, with the aim of providing a quick reference for legal...
On June 24, 2015, the Gauteng High Court of South Africa (the Court) ruled in Southern Africa Litigation Centre v. Minister of Justice and Others that South African law required the government to arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity—and that the government could not contravene a prior decision ordering his arrest. In the previous decision from June 14, 2015, the Court had ruled that the government must take steps to arrest Al-Bashir “and detain him, pending a formal...
On June 23, 2015, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution on “Improving the Protection of Whistle-Blowers.” In the resolution, the Council “stresses the importance of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, upholding the right to privacy, freedom of speech and the protection of whistle-blowers, including in the fields of national security and intelligence.” Specifically, the resolution calls on member states to “enact whistle-blower protection laws also covering employees of national security or intelligence services and of private firms...
On June 5, 2015 (with a rectified version released on June 25, 2015), the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Lambert and Others v. France that there was no violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights in the implementation of a previous judgment that authorized the withdrawal of the artificial nutrition and hydration of an individual named Vincent Lambert. According to the press release, the Court stated that “that there was no consensus among the Council of Europe member States in favour of permitting the withdrawal of life-...
On June 22, 2015, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (the Commission) released a report on its findings from the conflict. The report states that the mandate of the Commission was to “examine alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law occurring between 13 June and 26 August 2014 across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular in Gaza, and in Israel, and to determine whether such violations had been committed.” According to the press release, the Commission “gathered substantial information pointing to...
On June 16, 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) held in Chiragov and Others v. Armenia that the rights of Azerbaijani refugees had been violated by their inability to return to property in an area under Armenia’s control. According to the press release, the case concerned Azerbaijani refugees who were unable to return to their property in Lachin, Azerbaijan after they were displaced by the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992 due to Armenian occupation of the territory. In their decision, the Court “confirmed that Armenia exercised...
On June 16, 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Delphi AS v. Estonia that an Estonian ruling that held a commercial internet news site liable for offensive comments posted by its readers was not a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the press release, “[t]he Grand Chamber found that the Estonian courts’ finding of liability against Delfi had been a justified and proportionate restriction on the portal’s freedom of expression,” finding in particular: “the comments in...
On June 15, 2015, the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons (the Convention). The Convention was created “to promote, protect and ensure the recognition and the full enjoyment and exercise, on an equal basis, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of older persons, in order to contribute to their full inclusion, integration, and participation in society.” According to the press release, the Convention “urges States to adopt ‘legislative or other measures’ that are necessary...
On June 12, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (the Court) vacated Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman Al Bahlul’s conviction for inchoate conspiracy to commit war crimes in Al Bahul v. United States. The Court found that Congress lacked the authority to include conspiracy on the list of internationally-recognized war crimes that a military commission could try, holding “that Bahlul’s conviction for inchoate conspiracy by a law of war military commission violated the separation of powers enshrined in Article III § 1 and must be vacated.” The Court further noted...