On March 16, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled (judgment not available in English) that the Dublin III Regulation allows a member state to send an applicant for international protection to a safe third country, regardless of which member state is responsible for processing the application. According to the press release, Shiraz Baig Mirza is a Pakistani citizen who entered Hungary illegally in 2015 and filed his first application for international protection there. While his claim was being evaluated, he left the place of residence he had been assigned, and the...
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 March 11, 2016 representatives of the European Union and the government of Cuba signed a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement to normalize relations. According to a joint declaration by the EU and Cuba, the agreement “includes fundamental components such as political dialogue, cooperation, and dialogue on sectorial policies, as well as trade and cooperation in trade matters.” The accord establishes a framework by which the parties will set parameters for aid and commerce. Attending the signing ceremony, EU High Secretary for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini stated, “The deal...
On March 11, 2016 the United Nations Human Rights Council published a report on human rights abuses related to the conflict in South Sudan. The report was produced by an assessment team sent to South Sudan by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from October 2015 to January 2016 and focused on violations that occurred in 2015. According to the press release, the report describes human rights violations, including the deliberate targeting of civilians and large-scale commission of rape and sexual assault. The report states that since the conflict in South Sudan began in 2013, all...
On March 11, 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution addressing sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers. The Security Council “express[ed] deep concern about the serious and continuous allegations and under-reporting of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeepers and non-United Nations forces, including military, civilian and police personnel” and “stress[ed] that sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeepers undermines the implementation of peacekeeping mandates, as well as the credibility of United Nations peacekeeping.” It further...
On March 8, 2016, the Appeals Panel for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued a judgment reversing the conviction of Ms. Karma Al Khayat and affirming TV station Al Jadeed’s acquittal on charges of contempt of court. According to the press release, the “case concerned the broadcast of five episodes, regarding purported confidential Tribunal witnesses, by Al Jadeed TV in Lebanon in August 2012, and their online availability in violation of an Order issued by the Pre-trial Judge on 10 August 2012.” Al Jadeed and Al Khayat, who was the station’s Deputy Head of News and Political Programs at...
On March 4, 2016, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released a new report recommending special measures for protection from sexual exploitation by peacekeepers. The report lists ninety-nine allegations of sexual misconduct for 2015, sixty-nine of which occurred in countries with peacekeeping missions, while the largest numbers of incidents were reported for the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti. According to a news article, the report includes measures such as improving assistance to victims, enhanced transparency, as well as stronger...
On March 2, 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution strongly condemning the nuclear tests it conducted in January and imposing new sanctions on North Korea. Acting under Chapter VII, the Council decided “that all States shall inspect the cargo within or transiting through their territory, including in their airports, seaports and free trade zones, that has originated in the DPRK, or that is destined for the DPRK” and “that Member States shall prohibit their nationals and those in their territories from leasing or chartering their flagged vessels or aircraft or...
International Criminal Court Begins First Trial for Destruction of Cultural Property (March 2, 2016)
On March 2, 2016, the International Criminal Court opened its first war crimes trial for the destruction of cultural property. According to a news report, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is charged with having destroyed “medieval shrines, tombs of Sufi saints and a mosque dating back to the 15th century” during a conflict that displaced over 280,000 people. Al-Mahdi was a leader in the Ansar Dine jihadist organization and is the first member of an Islamic terrorist group to appear before the Court. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated, “The charges we have brought against Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi involve...
On March 1, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided that place-of-residence conditions may be imposed on beneficiaries of subsidiary protection in a member state in order to address integration difficulties. According to the press release, Ibrahim Alo and Amira Osso are Syrian citizens who travelled to Germany in 1998 and 2001, respectively, where they were granted subsidiary protection status and residence permits subject to place-of-residence conditions. The Court found that an EU Directive requires member states “to allow persons to whom they have granted subsidiary...
On February 12, 2016, the German Constitutional Court (Court) published a decision confirming that the German legislature is not prohibited from adopting laws that contravene international treaties. According to the press release, the case arose from a question posed by the Federal Court of Finance, which sought clarification on whether a newly adopted law may infringe rights conferred on tax payers under a double taxation treaty between Germany and Turkey. The law at issue in the case provides that “the exemption ‘will only be granted, irrespective of the applicable [double taxation]...