On August 1, 2014, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, entered into force. Adopting legally-binding standards, the Convention, “appl[ies] to all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence, which affects women disproportionately.” According to a news article, “[t]his is the first time that gender-related persecution is explicitly mentioned in an international convention.” As such, the Convention “requires state parties to ensure that gender-based violence against...
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 July 31, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled on the question of the application of Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the European Convention on Human Rights in Oao Neftyanaya Kompaniya Yukos v. Russia, ordering the Russian Federation to pay 1,866,104,634 euros in pecuniary damages to the shareholders of Yukos and another 300,000 euros for costs and expenses to the Yukos International Foundation. According to the press release, “the case concerned the tax and enforcement proceedings brought in 2004 against the Russian oil company, OAO Neftyanaya Kompaniya...
On July 24, 2014, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed in The Case of the Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I declaring inadmissible the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi. According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber determined “that there were no errors in the findings of the Pre-Trial Chamber that Libya is not unwilling or unable to genuinely prosecute Mr Al-Senussi, or in the exercise of its discretion in the conduct of the proceedings and in the evaluation of the evidence.” ...
From June 26–27, 2014, the Assembly of the African Union at its 23rd Ordinary Session adopted the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights. According to a news story, the proposed amendments include a provision that “[n]o charges shall be commenced or continued before the Court against any serving African Union Head of State or Government, or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity, or other senior state officials based on their functions, during their tenure of office.” The Assembly also adopted, inter alia...
On July 24, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Čalovskis v. Latvia that a suspect indicted for cybercrime-related offenses would not be exposed to a real risk of ill-treatment if he was extradited to the U.S. The Court held the applicant’s argument that “if extradited to the United States he would be subjected to torture and a disproportionate prison sentence” did not reach the threshold required to show a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). According to the...
European Court of Human Rights Rules on CIA Secret Rendition and Detention in Poland (July 24, 2014)
On July 24, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Chamber judgments on Al Nashiri v. Poland and Husayn (Abu Zubaydah) v. Poland that Poland had violated provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) in regard to the two applicants’ allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and secret detention at a CIA “black site” in Poland after they were suspected of terrorist acts. According to the press release, the Court found in both cases that Poland had failed to comply with Article 38 of the Convention (obligation to furnish all...
On July 24, 2014, the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) made $1.19 billion available to the Government of Kuwait as part of the $14.7 billion it previously awarded the Kuwaiti Government for a claim it submitted on behalf of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. According to the press release, the Commission “awarded $14.7 billion in 2000 for oil production and sales losses as a result of damages to Kuwait’s oil field assets.” The Security Council, acting under Chapter VII, established the UNCC in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation for losses stemming from Iraq’s 1990...
On July 21, 2014, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2166 in response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine on July 17, 2014. Condemning “in the strongest terms the downing of” the flight, the resolution “[r]eaffirm[s] the rules of international law that prohibit acts of violence that pose a threat to the safety of international civil aviation,” and “[d]emands that those responsible for this incident be held to account and that all States cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability.” As such, the Security Council “demands that the armed groups in...
On July 21, 2014, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published a report, entitled “Violence Against Journalists and Media Workers: Inter-American Standards and National Practices on Prevention, Protection and Prosecution of Perpetrators.” According to a press release, the report was created “[i]n response to the grave acts of violence committed against journalists and media workers in the region,” and “reviews international standards and domestic best practices on the prevention of crimes against journalists, the...
On July 18, 2014, arbitral tribunals established under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ruled in three arbitrations that the Russian Federation must pay $50 billion for expropriating the assets of OAO Yukos Oil Company (Yukos). According to the press release, “the arbitral tribunals unanimously held that the Russian Federation had taken measures with the effect equivalent to an expropriation of Claimants’ investments in Yukos and thus had breached Article 13(1) of the Energy Charter Treaty.” A news article stated that the decision was in relation to “decisions...