On October 29, 2015, the European Parliament voted to approve a resolution calling on member states to “drop any criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him protection and consequently prevent extradition or rendition by third parties, in recognition of his status as whistle-blower and international human rights defender.” According to the press release, the Parliament also welcomed the European Court of Justice’s decision in Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner, calling on the Commission to recognize the “impact of the judgment” and to “take the necessary measures to...
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 October 29, 2015, a tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convention) decided that it has jurisdiction to hear the dispute between the Philippines and China regarding some areas of the South China Sea. The Philippines initiated the proceedings, asking the tribunal to rule on China’s “historical rights” claims to the area; the status of several maritime features; as well as the compatibility of Chinese activities, such as construction and fishing, with the Convention. China has contended that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction and has refused to...
On October 23, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Court) upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a suit brought by a U.S. citizen against the FBI for alleged torture incidents in Africa. Mr. Meshal had sued under the Bivens doctrine, which allows a private action for damages against the federal officers alleged to have violated the citizen’s constitutional rights. His complaint alleged that he had been arrested and detained in secret, without access to counsel, moved around several African countries, and had been threatened with torture and death. The Court...
On October 26, 2015, Italy’s highest administrative court (Court) ruled (judgment only available in Italian) that same-sex marriages entered into abroad cannot be registered in Italy. According to a news report, the case invalidates a lower court’s ruling finding in favor of various Italian cities that had been registering same sex marriages conducted abroad and granting the couples the same rights as heterosexual couples marrying outside Italy. The Court annulled that decision, noting that there was no legal framework for same-sex unions. Italy’s Interior Minister stated, “Let us be clear...
On October 27, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) ruled in R.E. v. United Kingdom that the covert surveillance of legal consultations between detainees and their lawyers violated Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention). According to the press release, in the course of his detention in May 2010, authorities failed to provide R.E.’s attorneys assurances that their consultations would be confidential. R.E. brought suit alleging the domestic regime governing surveillance of...
On October 22, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court) ruled that the exchange of traditional currencies for units of the “bitcoin” virtual currency is exempt from value added tax (VAT). The Court held that this type of transaction did not fall under the VAT directive, because “virtual currency has no purpose other than to be a means of payment” and thus “cannot be characterised as ‘tangible property’ within the meaning of Article 14 of the VAT Directive.” It also clarified that “the exchange of traditional currency for units of the ‘bitcoin’ virtual currency and vice...
On October 20, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) ruled in Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania that the conviction of a state security officer for genocide was a violation of Article 7 (no punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention). The conviction had been based on Lithuania’s new criminal code, which had been adopted in 2003 and included social and political groups in the definition of genocide. The Court found that “it [is] clear that the applicant’s conviction was based upon legal provisions that were not in force in 1953 and that such...
On October 1, 2015, Somalia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, depositing its ratification instrument at the United Nations headquarters during the annual treaty event. According to a news report, Somalia became “the 196th State party to the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.” The Convention was adopted in 1989 and protects the human rights of children, including “the right to life, to health, to education and to play, as well as the right to family life, to be protected from violence and from any form of discrimination, and to have their views heard.”...
On October 15, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) decided in L.M. and Others V. Russia that the deportation of three refugees to Syria was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerns one stateless Palestinian and two Syrian nationals who had entered Russia in 2013 and petitioned for refugee status, stating that “they feared for their lives if returned to Syria and referred to information about the ongoing and widespread conflict there.” After the Russian Court denied their claims, finding them too general in nature and their motives to...
On October 15, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Perinçek v. Switzerland that the conviction of a Turkish politician for statements made in Switzerland about the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire was a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention). Mr. Perinçek had stated, “[T]his is the truth, there was no genocide of the Armenians in 1915” and had characterized the actions by Turkish forces as “a battle between peoples and we suffered many casualties.” The Court acknowledged that the Armenian...