International Courts and Tribunals

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recently decided Copland v. United Kingdom,[1] in which the ECHR expanded the basis and extent of protection for personal data in a variety of settings, including the workplace. The European Union's Data Protection Directive already mandated very broad protection for such data in EU member states. This decision may further widen the gulf between U.S.

On May 8, 2007, the German Constitutional Court (the "Bundesverfassungsgericht") handed down a decision on the question of whether Argentina could invoke necessity under general international law as an affirmative defense against claims brought in German courts by private individuals for the country's default on sovereign bonds in early 2002.[1] While the Court accepted that necessity was recognized as precluding the wrongfulness of a breach of internation

Introduction

On May 15, 2007, President George W. Bush "urge[d] the Senate to act favorably on U.S. accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea during this session of Congress."[1] In doing so, the President identified four benefits to U.S. interests when the U.S. joins the Convention.

As a party to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), the United States has an obligation to ensure that a detained national of another party to the treaty is informed of the right to contact his or her consulate and request consular assistance.[1] The notification requirement of Article 36 of the VCCR has been at the center of a series of U.S.

On February 26, 2007, the International Court of Justice issued its judgment in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro).[1] The case marked the first time that a country sued another country for breaches of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ("the Convention").

On January 29, 2007, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pretrial Chamber I (Chamber) issued its confirmation of charges decision in the case of Prosecutor v.

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.

In a number of recent judgements, the European Court of First Instance (CFI) has considered actions seeking annulment of two European Community measures adopted pursuant to different counter-terrorism regimes established by the United Nations Security Council. A Community Regulation transposing the sanctions regime created by Security Council Resolution 1267 (1999) into Community law and directly linked to the list maintained by the UN Sanctions Committee has only been subjected to limited review.

In September 2005, the UN Independent Inquiry Committee ('IIC' or 'Volcker Inquiry