On January 31, 2014, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) released a report condemning the inadequacy of the Catholic Church’s response to the sexual abuse of children by its clergy across the globe. According to the news story, the CRC was “gravely concerned that the Holy See had not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, and expressed its ‘deepest concern’ about child sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic churches who operated under the authority of the Holy See.” The report called on the Vatican to “immediately remove” all clergy who are...
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 January 30, 2014, the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) issued its judgment in Diakité v. Commissaire Général aux Réfugiés et aux Apatrides, ruling on the issue of the interpretation of “internal armed conflict” as used in Directive 2004/83. Directive 2004/83 provides “subsidiary protection” for people who do not qualify as refugees if upon being returned to their home county they would “face a real risk of suffering serious harm,” defined to include “serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of...
On January 30, 2014, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered judgments in two cases: Mikiyeva v. Russia and Z and Khatuyeva v. Russia. In both cases the applicants complained that their relatives disappeared between 2001 and 2004 in Russia’s North Caucasus region after being detained by State officials and that the Russian authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. According to the joint press release, the Court found violations of Article 2 “in respect of the applicants’ disappeared relatives” and...
On January 30, 2014, the ICTR Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) released a manual entitled Prosecution of Sexual Violence: Best Practices Manual for the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Crimes in Post-Conflict Regions. According to the press release, the manual “draws on the OTP’s nearly 20-year experience in prosecuting sexual violence crimes perpetrated during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.” The manual is “divided into the three principal stages of prosecution: investigation, pre-trial and trial, and appeal and post-appeal,” and “is intended to be a resource to help...
On January 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) decided I.A. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, unanimously dismissing the appeal against an immigration judge’s refusal to grant asylum to I.A., despite the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) having granted him refugee status. The Court held that the national decision maker is required to pay “close attention to the UNHCR decision” and give “considerable pause before arriving at a different conclusion,” such that “[a] claimant for asylum who has been accorded refugee status by UNHCR starts...
On January 27, 2014, the International Court of Justice rendered its Judgment in the case concerning the Maritime Dispute (Peru v. Chile) and defined the course of the maritime boundary between Peru and Chile. According to the press release, the Court, in reaching its conclusion, considered whether there was an agreed maritime boundary between Peru and Chile, as well as the nature, extent, and starting-point of the agreed maritime boundary. The Court also ruled on the course of the maritime boundary from “Point A,” which was the “endpoint of the existing maritime boundary.” The...
On January 27, 2014, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling on member States to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist actions. According to the press release, the resolution calls on “all Member States to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or political concessions, and further, to secure the safe release of hostages.” The resolution also calls for: cooperation on incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking by terrorists; continued expert discussions on kidnapping by terrorists within the United Nations and...
On January 24, 2014, the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled in The Attorney General of Belize v. Zuniga et al. case that most of the challenged amendments to Belize’s Supreme Court of Judicature Act were constitutional. The dispute arose out of a 2005 Accommodation Agreement between the Government and Belize Telemedia Limited. According to the press release, the Government subsequently “attempt[ed] to restrain the Respondents from enforcing an international arbitral award. These events ultimately led to the passage of the New Legislation.” This new legislation was challenged, and...
On January 23, 2014, the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) issued $1.03 billion USD in damage claims to the Government of Kuwait arising out of the 1990 Iraqi invasion. According to the press release, the government of Kuwait submitted the claim on behalf of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for oil production and sales losses as a result of damages incurred by Kuwait’s oil fields during the invasion. The UNCC was established in 1991 as a subsidiary organ of the UN Security Council. It has received nearly three million claims, which fall into six categories: “four are for...
On January 20, 2014, the England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) decided R (on the application of Khan) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, a case regarding a claimant from Waziristan whose father was allegedly killed in a drone strike operated by the CIA. The claimant’s primary case on appeal was that a UK General Communications Headquarters officer who passes locational intelligence to the United States “is not entitled to rely on the defence of combatant immunity” and thus may commit an offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007. The Court...