On September 26, 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expressed concern over the recent agreement between Australia and Cambodia on refugee relocation, entitled “Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of The Kingdom of Cambodia and The Government of Australia, Relating to The Settlement of Refugees in Cambodia.” According to a news article, under the agreement, “Australia will relocate refugees currently being held on the Pacific island of Nauru to Cambodia.” As such, “people who are recognized as refugees in Nauru will be offered permanent settlement in...
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 24, 2014, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2178 regarding foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria. Acting under Chapter VII and “[n]oting the continued threat to international peace and security posed by terrorism,” the Security Council, “[c]ondemns the violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, sectarian violence, and the commission of terrorist acts by foreign terrorist fighters, and demands that all foreign terrorist fighters disarm and cease all terrorist acts and participation in armed conflict.” In the Resolution, the Security Council also...
On September 24, 2014, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issued a report on the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) concluding “there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into the Situation in the CAR II” in regard to events that have taken place since 2012. According to the press release, in February 2014, Bensouda began a new preliminary investigation into alleged crimes in CAR, and in May 2014, the transitional government of CAR referred the situation to the Office of the Prosecutor. After a review of the information,...
On September 22, 2014, a Tribunal at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID Tribunal) upheld an award for US $42 million in favor of US-based El Paso Energy International Company against Argentina regarding the state’s actions in response to its 2001 financial crisis. The decision notes that the Tribunal in the original arbitration “concluded that Argentina had breached its obligation to accord fair and equitable treatment to El Paso’s investment, under the BIT [Treaty between the Argentine Republic and the United States of America concerning Reciprocal...
On September 18, 2014, the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) rejected claims for damages brought by Mr. Aguy Clement Georgias regarding his detention at Heathrow Airport due to restrictive measures (freezing of funds and prohibition of entry into or transit through the territory of the European Union) that the Council of the European Union had imposed against him as a member of the Zimbabwe Government. According to the press release, the Court held that any damage relating to Mr. Georgias detention at Heathrow “arose directly from a decision of the...
On September 15, 2014, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2177, “[d]etermining that the unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constitutes a threat to international peace and security” and calling on Member States to respond urgently to the emergency while also refraining from isolating the affected countries. In the Resolution, the Security Council “[e]xspresses concern about the detrimental effect of the isolation of the affected countries as a result of trade and travel restrictions imposed on and to the affected countries,” and “[c]alls on Member States, including...
On September 16, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Hassan v. The United Kingdom that the capture and detention of Tarek Hassan in Iraq by British armed forces during hostilities in 2003 did not constitute a violation of Article 5 §§ 1, 2, 3 or 4 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights and that complaints under Articles 2 (right to life) and 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) were inadmissible for lack of evidence. According to the press release, “[t]he Court found that there was no...
On September 10, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in Ben Alaya v. Bundesrepublik Deutschland that a Member State must admit a third-country national who wishes to stay in the country more than three months for study purposes if that national meets the general and specific conditions listed in an EU Directive dealing with the conditions for such admissions. According to the press release, the Court noted “that the directive is intended to promote the mobility of students from third countries to the EU in order to promote Europe as a world centre...
On September 4, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in Air Baltic Corporation AS v Valsts robežsardze that third-country nationals may enter the territory of the European Union if they present a valid visa inside an invalid passport in addition to a valid passport. According to the press release, the case concerned an individual who “presented a valid Indian passport without a visa and a cancelled Indian passport to which a valid uniform visa issued by Italy was affixed. The Indian citizen was refused entry into Latvia on the ground that he did not...
On September 11, 2014, Trial Chamber IV of the International Criminal Court (the Court) issued an arrest warrant against Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain regarding charges of war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur, Sudan. According to the press release, Trial Chamber IV had previously requested the Government of Sudan's cooperation to facilitate the accused's presence at trial, but because such assistance has not been forthcoming and there were no guarantees the accused would voluntarily appear before the Court, Trial Chamber IV “concluded that an arrest warrant is now necessary to ensure...