A new swine influenza virus is causing outbreaks in humans in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and the virus has possibly spread to other countries. This outbreak has alarmed public health officials because of its epidemiological characteristics, which indicate that the virus may be able to cause a pandemic.
The Bali Roadmap marks a milestone in the process of international consensus building, setting forth a multilateral legal framework to address climate change. Delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali (Dec. 3-15 2007) launched a two-year process with a comprehensive agenda and 2009 deadline to complete negotiations for a post-2012 agreement.
In time for Earth Day, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the well-publicized case, Massachusetts v.
In February 2007, international media reported that Indonesia had decided not to continue to share with the World Health Organization (WHO) samples of avian influenza A (H5N1) strains appearing in Indonesia. Instead, Indonesia decided to pursue a commercial arrangement with a pharmaceutical company, which would use the samples to develop an avian influenza vaccine for Indonesia.
On January 23, 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected Uruguay's request for "provisional measures" against Argentina "a form of injunctive relief"aimed at putting an immediate end to blockades of bridges and roads connecting Argentina and Uruguay by Argentine citizens protesting the construction of a disputed pulp mill project on the Uruguayan side of the border. The project is the subject of the Pulp Mills Case (Argentina v.
On September 12, 2006, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) sanctioned the decision of the European Community (EC) and member states to bring actions for damages against certain cigarette manufacturers in United States courts. The decision grew out of the companies' unsuccessful attempt to have the European Court of First Instance preclude any such lawsuits.
Background
One year ago, a previous Insight (David Fidler, ?Indian Ocean Tsunami and International Law,? January 2005) acknowledged the existence of a rarely discussed framework of international laws, rules and principles concerning international disaster response operations, but noted that there are significant gaps in both its scope and implementation.
Introduction
On February 7, 2006, a panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) circulated its draft report on the high-profile dispute European Communities ? Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products to the parties. In May 2003, Argentina, Canada and the United States (US) had requested the establishment of a Panel because consultations with the EC on an amicable solution had failed.