On June 30, 2014, India became the first to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published works for Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled. According to a press release, more than seventy-five World Intellectual Property Organization member states have signed the Treaty. The treaty, adopted on June 27, 2013, “require[s] its contracting parties to adopt national law provisions that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats—such as Braille—through limitations and exceptions to the rights...
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 2, 2014, the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal (the Tribunal) issued Award No. 602 in Cases A15 (IV) and A24. The Tribunal awarded $842,468.14 to Iran to compensate for legal expenses that Iran incurred when it was “reasonably compelled in the prudent defense of its interests to make appearances or file documents in United States courts.” The Tribunal held that the United States had not complied with its obligations under General Principle B of the General Declaration to “terminate all litigation as between the government of [Iran and the United States] and to bring about the...
On July 3, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered its judgment in Georgia v. Russia (I), finding that the arrest, detention and expulsion from Russia of large numbers of Georgian nationals from September 2006 until January 2007 violated Russia’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). According to the press release, the Court found, upon examining the evidence, that “a coordinated policy of arresting, detaining and expelling Georgian nationals, amounting to an administrative practice, had been implemented in...
On June 30, 2014, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (the Court) delivered its judgment on the appeals lodged by Augustin Bizimungu, a former Chief of Staff of the Rwandan army, and the Prosecution against Trial Chamber II’s judgment in The Prosecutor v. Augustin Bizimungu. According to the press release, the Court “affirmed, in part, Bizimungu’s convictions for genocide, extermination, murder, and rape,” in relation to certain incidents but reversed in relation to others where “the Trial Chamber erred in its assessment of evidence.” The...
On June 11, 2014, the International Labour Organization (ILO) approved amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention. According to a press release, the amendments were adopted at the 103rd International Labour Conference, with the “aim to further protect seafarers from abandonment and ensure rapid compensation in case of death or disability.” As such, “ships will be required to carry certificates or other documents to establish that financial security exists to protect seafarers working on board.”
On July 1, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) issued its judgment in S.A.S. v. France, holding that France’s 2010 law “prohibiting the concealment of
one’s face in public places” did not breach Article 8 (private and family life), Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), or Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). According to the press release, the applicant complained that the law prevented her from wearing a full-face veil in public “in accordance with her...
On June 27, 2014, the U.S. ambassador to Mozambique made a statement regarding a shift in U.S. antipersonnel land mine policy and the prospect of U.S. accession to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Convention). According to a news article, on the last day of the Third Review Conference of the Convention, the ambassador stated that the U.S. was “diligently pursuing solutions that would be compliant with the convention and that would ultimately allow [the U.S.] to accede to the convention.” The...
On June 27, 2014, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published a report on freedom of expression and the internet. According to a press release, “[t]he report lays out the general principles that must serve as a guide for the protection of the right to freedom of thought and expression in the digital environment, systematizes standards on this issue, and analyzes relevant best practices and international doctrine and jurisprudence.” The report was published “[i]n light of the great challenges to full protection of...
On June 25, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights launched an update to its Handbook on European Law Relating to Asylum, Borders and Immigration. According to the press release, the Handbook is “the first comprehensive guide to European law in the areas of asylum, borders and immigration, taking into account both the case-law of the [European Convention on Human Rights] and that of the Court of Justice of the European Union.” It also contains the relevant EU Regulations and Directives, as well as references to the European Social Charter...
On June 25, 2014, both the Defense and the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) in the Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga case gave notice of the discontinuance of their appeal before the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (the Court) against the judgment (French language only) rendered by Trial Chamber II on March 7, 2014 (see this previous ILIB post). According to the press release, Germain Katanga “accepted the judgment of the Court and its conclusions on its role as well as his conduct,” and also indicated that he did not intend to appeal against the sentence imposed on...