On February 27, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Jam v. International Finance Corp. that under the International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945 (IOIA), international organizations are afforded the same immunity from suit given to foreign governments under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA). The question before the Court was whether the IOIA, “which affords international organizations the ‘same immunity’ from suit that foreign governments have,” grants international organizations immunity equivalent to that which foreign states were entitled in 1945, or...
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 February 26, 2019, the Security Council passed Resolution 2456 (2019) in which it expressed its increased concern regarding the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen and “all instances of hindrances to the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance, including limitations on the delivery of vital goods to the civilian population of Yemen.” Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council extended the travel ban, arms embargo, and economic sanctions against individuals or entities threatening the peace and stability of Yemen until February 26, 2020. The Council...
On February 20, 2019, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan released its third report on the situation in South Sudan, providing updates on incidents that occurred in 2018 and concluding “that despite the signing of the peace agreement, violations including rape and sexual violence continue to occur which may amount to international crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.” The Commission determined there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Sudan People's Liberation Army and affiliated armed groups have committed serious violations of human rights and...
On February 13, 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled in Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America) that it has jurisdiction to hear part of Iran’s case against the United States and that the application is admissible. The case was initiated after the U.S. Supreme Court decision Bank Markazi v. Peterson, which led to the seizure of around $1.75 billion in assets from the Iranian national bank under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s terrorism exception in order to compensate victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, that...
On February 6, 2019, the Central African Republic (CAR) and fourteen non-state armed groups within the state signed a peace agreement. Peace talks began on January 24, 2019, in Khartoum, Sudan, and were led by the African Union, with UN support, through the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR. In a report on the situation in CAR, the UN Secretary-General noted that the parties reached consensus on “all major issues on the agenda, including on justice and reconciliation, a more transparent and inclusive governance system and transitional security arrangements,” and the...
On February 14, 2019, the U.K. House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee released a report entitled, “Disinformation and ‘Fake News’: Final Report,” in which it stated that Facebook “intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws.” The report was an “inquiry on disinformation that has spanned over 18 months, covering individuals’ rights over their privacy, how their political choices might be affected and influenced by online information, and interference in political elections both in this country and across the world.” The Committee...
On February 8, 2019, a World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitration panel issued a decision to authorize South Korea to impose annual retaliatory duties worth $84.8 million on the United States after challenging U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on washing machines. The arbitration panel stated that South Korea “shall be entitled to impose suspension of concessions or other obligations” in the amount of $74.4 million for U.S. anti-dumping duty measures and $10.41 million for countervailing duty measures in the year following the decision. South Korea initiated proceedings on the...
On February 6, 2019, the twenty-nine member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) signed the Accession Protocol to allow the state that will be known as the Republic of North Macedonia to join NATO. The Accession Protocol will allow North Macedonia to take part in NATO activities as an invitee, and each NATO member will now have to ratify the protocol according to domestic procedures to finalize the process. This follows an agreement last month with Greece through which the two states agreed to change the name of the territory to the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a...
On February 4, 2019, the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors states parties’ adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), found in two decisions that Finland violated the rights of the Sami, an indigenous group that lives in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The Committee found that Finland had violated the Sami’s rights to political participation as an indigenous people when its Supreme Administrative Court improperly expanded the pool of eligible voters for the Sami Parliament by giving the right to vote to ninety-three individuals who...
On February 4, 2019, Russia announced that it would suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty following the U.S. announced withdrawal from the treaty on February 1, 2019. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the United States has been in breach of the treaty “since 1999, when it started testing combat unmanned aerial vehicles that have the same characteristics as land-based cruise missiles banned by the Treaty,” and called the U.S. accusations that Russia is in breach of the treaty “unfounded accusations.” President Putin stated, “Our US...