Legal Journals

Book Review: The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law.

Posted on November 17, 2009
By Daniel Bodansky, Harvard University Press, 2009. Pp. 330. $39.95 (cloth). The reviewed work is a collection of interrelated essays, all written by Professor Bodansky, presenting a general overview of most areas of international environmental law. It is not a casebook, nor does it contain excerpts of leading cases...

North and South Korean Vessels Clash in Disputed Waters

Posted on November 16, 2009
On Tuesday, November 10, the navies of North and South Korea exchanged fire in disputed waters off the western coast of the peninsula, damaging ships from both sides and reportedly killing a North Korean sailor. The incident began when a 215-ton North Korean vessel entered South Korean-controlled waters...

Columbia & Venezuela: Commerce Cures

Posted on November 15, 2009
The lesson of the last century is clear: Free movement of goods, capital, labor, and services builds peace through prosperity and interdependence. In the wake of the Second World War, a whole host of institutions were established to prevent another global economic crash risking another global war: The UN, GATT/WTO, EU, the IMF, and the [...

ECtHR Finds Pre-Trial Detention Justified in International Drug-Trafficking Case

Posted on November 15, 2009
In Shabani v. Switzerland (application no. 29044/06), a 4-3 decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled last Thursday (11/5) that a lengthy pre-trial detention did not violate the right to liberty of a suspected leader of a drug trafficking organization...

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ICTR Sentences Tea Executive for Role in 1994 Genocide

Posted on November 15, 2009
On November 5th, a three-judge panel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) sentenced Michel Bagaragaza, the former head executive of the Rwandan tea industry, to eight years in prison for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The ICTR, which presides in Tanzania, found Bagaragaza guilty on one count of complicity for his role in having substantially [...

Kimberley Process meets to combat conflict-diamond trade

Posted on November 14, 2009
The Kimberley Process (KP) held a Plenary meeting in Swakopmund, Namibia last week, where it adopted a work plan for the Marange diamond mining fields in Zimbabwe, agreed to monitor ?conflict diamonds? from the Côte d?Ivoire following UNSC Resolution 1893 (2009), and made decisions on the general enforcement mechanism of the KP rules...

ICTY Appeals Chamber Reduces Dragomir Milosevic?s Sentence to 29 Years

Posted on November 13, 2009
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) reduced the sentence for former Bosnian Serb army general Dragomir Milosevic from 33 to 29 years on Thursday. The tribunal found that the trial court had erred in its 1997 ruling and that there was insufficient evidence that Milosevic had ordered [...

WTO Chief Urges International Climate Change Consensus and Action

Posted on November 12, 2009
World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy last Monday called on the international community to reach a robust climate change agreement during Copenhagen Climate Conference next month.  Director-General Lamy carefully expressed preference for an international accord coming out of Copenhagen, one which the WTO would seek to help implement...

ICC: Darfur rebel chief?s hearing on confirmation of charges ends

Posted on November 08, 2009
The hearing on the confirmation of charges against suspected Darfur war criminal Bahr Idriss Abu Garda at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ended on October 30th.Abu Garda, 46, is a leader of the United Resistance Front (URF), a rebel group fighting against the Sudanese government...

ECJ: Wrongful Dismissal of Pregnant Worker

Posted on November 07, 2009
In Case C-63/08, Virginie Pontin v T-Comalux SA (29 October 2009) the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that a 15 day time bar on claims for wrongful dismissal due to pregnancy was to brief to meet the standard of the principle of effective judicial protection of an individual?s rights under Community law...

ECtHR Bans Crucifixes in Italian Classrooms

Posted on November 07, 2009
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled Tuesday (11/3) that Italy?s display of crucifixes in public schools was in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights? protection of the rights to education and freedom of religion. The applicant, Ms...

WTO?s Doha negotiations continue in Geneva

Posted on November 06, 2009
Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, recently released a statement describing the progress of the Doha Round and outlining plans for the continued negotiations in Geneva. Overall, Lamy reports that while the negotiations remain committed to their ambitions, there has been little tangible progress in the past week...

Honduras Institutes ICJ Proceedings against Brazil

Posted on November 06, 2009
The interim government of Honduras has filed a complaint against Brazil in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Court announced on October 29. The complaint arises from events surrounding the surprise return to Honduras of Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, who entered the country on September 21 and took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy [...

U.N. Rapporteur Questions Legal Basis of U.S. Predator Program

Posted on November 01, 2009
The legality of the U.S. Government?s use of unmanned Predator drones to target militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan has recently come under increasing scrutiny, as a prominent U.N. representative called the American refusal to discuss the program ?untenable?...

ECtHR Holds Russia Liable for Disappearances in Chechnya

Posted on November 01, 2009
On Thursday (10/29), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) released its ruling on three cases concerning disappearances in Chechnya. In one of the cases, the victim, Mayrudin Khantiyev, had been abducted from his home by a group of masked men. In the other two cases, the victims, Yusup Satabayev and Kazbek Vakhayev, disappeared while [...

EU-Israel Free Trade & the Occupied Territories

Posted on November 01, 2009
by Dr. Jur. Eric Engle LLM In Case C-386/08, (1) Advocate General(2) Bot delivered his advisory opinion to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Bot argues that the ECJ should not extend full faith and credit (3) to the Israeli customs authorities as to the authenticity of documents of origin of goods from the occupied territories...

Turkey Liable before ECtHR

Posted on November 01, 2009
Turkey is having a bad day at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The Court ruled in one decision that Turkey was liable for wrongful death of a Cypriot who in uniform but unarmed crossed the U.N. Buffer zone. Likewise, the Court ruled that Turkish censorship of Turkish newspapers was too restrictive...

Obama publishes ?torture? memos, immunizes CIA staff

Posted on April 27, 2009
The Obama Justice Department has released four memos detailing the harsh techniques used on some detainees during the Bush administration.  The memos - three written in 2005 and another in 2002 - give legal support for various coercive techniques and conclude that the CIA’s methods were not “cruel, inhuman or degrading” under international law...

Americas? Leaders Vow to Fight Cartels

Posted on April 20, 2009
President Obama recently met as many as 34 leaders of democratically elected nations of the Western Hemisphere to consider and discuss an array of issues that directly affect them.  These issues include the current economic crisis, energy issues, climate change, and personal security...

Spanish AG: No Torture Investigation of US Officials

Posted on April 20, 2009
Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido has declined to open an investigation in Spain’s National Court into whether six top Bush Administration officials sanctioned torture at Guantanamo Bay. While Spain’s courts do have jurisdiction in the case of war crimes and torture under the doctrine of “universal justice...

French Parliament Rejects Internet Piracy Bill

Posted on April 16, 2009
On Thursday April 9, the French National Assembly rejected an Internet piracy bill that punished repeat illegal downloaders. The bill won preliminary parliamentary approval but was eventually defeated by a vote of 21-15. Under the bill, a first time offense of downloading illegal material would be punished by a warning and a second time offense [...

U.N. Tribunal to Receive Hariri Murder Files

Posted on April 15, 2009
On Wednesdsay, current Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s government agreed to hand over relevant case files to the U.N.’s Special Tribunal for Lebanon.  The tribunal convened last month to investigate the 2005 murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri...

Iran Announces Increased Nuclear Capabilities

Posted on April 14, 2009
On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced advances in Iran?s nuclear power productions capabilities including two new types of centrifuges and a nuclear fuel production plant. Ahmadinejad stated that Iranian nuclear authorities ?have announced that the various cycles of nuclear fuel management are in our grasp in a comprehensive and domestically produced way...

Russian Authorities Order Foreign Company to Pay Damages

Posted on April 13, 2009
A court in Russia ruled in February against Telenor, a Norwegian telecom company, in favor of a Russian mobile-phone company, Vimpelcom. The court held that Telenor had caused Vimpelcom a loss of $1.7 billion when it delayed the company?s move into the Ukranian market...

Apartheid Claims to Proceed

Posted on April 12, 2009
On Wednesday a Manhattan federal district court ruled that several claims brought under the Alien Tort Statute against multinational companies for aiding and abetting the South African apartheid regime may go forward. The claims allege that the defendants, a group that includes dozens of companies such as General Motors, Ford, and IBM, conducted business [...

Peru: Fujimori Convicted

Posted on April 12, 2009
Last Tuesday, the Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was convicted of “crimes against humanity” for his role in the 1990s killings and kidnappings by security forces when his government fought against leftist guerrillas. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison...

International Community Condemns North Korea Missile Launch

Posted on April 09, 2009
The international community roundly condemned North Korea following the test launch of a missile capable of striking targets throughout East Asia as well as in Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands.  President Obama and other international leaders issued strong rebukes following news of the launch...

President Obama Courts Turkey

Posted on April 09, 2009
After spending time in London, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, and Prague for G20, NATO, and bilateral US-EU summits, President Obama extended his recent European tour by traveling to Ankara and Istanbul, his first venture into the predominantly Muslim world as US president...

Obama Calls for Talks on Nuclear Security

Posted on April 07, 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama committed to taking substantive steps toward nuclear nonproliferation during a recent 8-day diplomatic trip to Europe.  The president said he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had taken the first steps towards reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles during the G20 Financial Summit in London early this April and would negotiate a new Strategic [...

Conference Tracks Progress of European Landscape Convention

Posted on April 06, 2009
Last Wednesday, treaty participants, NGO representatives and landscape experts attended a conference on the European Landscape Convention in Strasbourg. The Convention, which came into force on March 1, 2004, is the first international treaty focused on promoting protection, management, and planning in all aspects of the European landscape...

Spanish Prosecutors Try to Shelve Israel Case

Posted on April 06, 2009
In January, a Spanish judge agreed to pursue a complaint against military officials in Israel, including former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. The complaint arose from a 2002 air attack on Gaza City that killed 15 Palestinians, mainly children, and wounded 150...

Peru?s Fujimori Claims Innocence

Posted on April 05, 2009
On Wednesday, former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori defended his innocence with regards to human rights abuse claims in a Rio De Janeiro court.  Taking the stand in his own defense, Fujimori vehemently denied responsibility for the murders of 25 people and the kidnappings of 2 others...

Joseph Mpambara Convicted in the Hague

Posted on April 03, 2009
Last week, the Hague District Court ruled on the case of Joseph Mpambara, a  Rwandan Hutu allegedly associated with the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The court found Mpambara guilty for the deaths of two Tutsi mothers and their children as well as for the torture of a German doctor, his Tutsi wife and their 2 month-old [...

UN Rules Myanmar?s Continued Detention of Suu Kyi Illegal

Posted on April 01, 2009
A United Nations Human Rights Council working group on arbitrary detentions has issued a legal opinion criticizing Myanmar’s continued detention of local pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  The ruling military junta, which has been in power since 1962, has confined Suu Kyi to her compound in Yangon for 13 of the past 19 years [...

Brazilian Supreme Court Backs Amazonian Reservation

Posted on March 31, 2009
Brazil?s Supreme Court has found in favor of Amazonian Indians in a land dispute with farmers in the remote state of Roraima. The dispute concerned the 4.2 million acre Raposa Serra do Sol reservation and has been closely followed due to its potential importance to other cases involving Indian land rights and the future [...

Spanish Court Considers Torture Inquiry for Bush Officials

Posted on March 31, 2009
The National Court in Madrid took steps toward a criminal investigation of six high-level former Bush administration officials pursuant to a complaint filed by a Spanish human rights group. The 98-page complaint alleged that the officials–including the former Attorney General Alberto R...

Scholar: Wartime Environmental Protection Must Go Beyond Law

Posted on March 30, 2009
Although it can play an important role, the vital task of protecting the environment during warfare cannot rely solely or primarily on international legal tools to succeed.  So argues Dan Bodansky, a leading international law scholar, who sees the problem of wartime environmental degradation as one solved not by more legal rules or stricter enforcement [...

African Ministers of Trade Seek Common Ground

Posted on March 30, 2009
On Friday, March 20, the African Ministers of Trade concluded a two-day meeting. The Ministers discussed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations, Aid for Trade, and other trade initiatives and issues at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...

UN Releases Piracy Report

Posted on March 25, 2009
The United Nations released a new report last week on pirate activity in Somalia. The report identifies two main groups of pirates, but is especially concerned that the piracy network based in the northern Puntland region of the country, known as the Eyle Group, is collaborating with regional government officials...

Improved International Tax Cooperation on the Horizon

Posted on March 23, 2009
As the current global financial crisis continues, the European financial hubs of Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria along with smaller European nations, and the Asian powerhouses of Hong Kong and Singapore have moved this month to improve international cooperation on tax matters by adopting the exchange of information standards developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation [...

Sudanese President Defies ICC Arrest Order

Posted on March 21, 2009
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir rallied Arab supporters in Darfur by stating no war crimes court or the U.N. Security Council can touch “even an eyelash” on him in response the the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest order for him...

Naval Incident Between China and U.S.

Posted on March 18, 2009
The U.S. and China are currently engaged in a skirmish over a confrontation which occurred in the South China Sea and involved five small Chinese vessels and an unarmed American surveillance vessel, the USNS Impeccable.  The US claims that the Chinese vessels harassed its ship in violation of the law of the seas, while China [...

Pakistani Government Reinstates Chief Justice Chaudhry

Posted on March 17, 2009
The Pakistani government announced early Monday morning amidst protests that it will reinstate former chief justice of the Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry and a group of other deposed judges.  The government also announced that it will lift an emergency ban on all public gatherings and release all political and legal activists arrested in the last week...

France to Rejoin NATO Command

Posted on March 16, 2009
President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that France will rejoin the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 43 years after then-President Charles de Gaulle withdrew from the 26-nation military alliance. Pledging to maintain the independence of France’s nuclear equipped military, Sarkozy believes that rejoining NATO will give France to have more influence in NATO’s decision-making...

LCIA Awards Remedies in SLA Dispute

Posted on March 15, 2009
On February 23, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) issued an Award on Remedies in a dispute filed by the US against Canada under the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA). In this first dispute under the SLA, the US has argued that between January and July 2007 Canada did not apply the export restrictions [...

Somali Cabinet Votes to Implement Islamic Law

Posted on March 14, 2009
Last Tuesday, the Somali Cabinet voted to introduce a bill that would make Islamic law, also known as Shariah, the basis of Somalia?s legal system. The bill is pending approval by parliament, which is expected to hear it in a matter of days. In the past two years, fights between insurgents and pro-government forces have led [...

U.S. Sends Envoy for North Korea to East Asia

Posted on March 13, 2009
Steven Bosworth, recently named by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as special envoy to North Korea, is traveling this week to east Asia. The ambassador will be making stops in Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow. He will “consult on next steps to move the Six-Party process forward,? according to Clinton...

UN: Police Deployed in Eastern Congo

Posted on March 13, 2009
On Wednesday, the UN announced that 332 Congolese police officers are being sent to Eastern Congo in order to support Congolese military operations there. Sixty of these police officers will be deployed with the goal of ensuring the safety of approximately 1,200 people who have been constructing a road between the town of Sake and [...

WTO Director-General Warns Against Protectionism

Posted on March 12, 2009
In a speech given at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy warned that protectionism is a recipe for a global economic slump.  Protectionist measures adopted by even one government, Lamy said, could lead to a domino effect of dire consequences...

Robotics Revolution Collides With Laws of War

Posted on March 12, 2009
Observers of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have hotly debated the wisdom of using unmanned drone aircraft to carry out military operations.  These debates have taken place within the traditional laws-of-war rubric for assessing tactics and strategy: did the attack accomplish a military objective and did it minimize the risk of civilian casualties?  However, [...

Russia and US Set to Cooperate on Arms Control

Posted on March 11, 2009
Landing in Europe after her recent tour of Asia, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov last Friday in Geneva. Reflecting the Obama Administration’s new policy of cooperation in international relations, the pair discussed initiating a new nuclear arms control treaty...

Reunification Efforts Move Forward for Cyprus

Posted on March 10, 2009
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders continued UN-led negotiations this week to reunify Cyprus. The small Mediterranean island gained its independence in 1960 from Great Britain, but its population is divided between ethnic Greeks and Turks.  Violence has plagued the nation since that time, and a UN peacekeeping force has been in place since 1964...

Rwandan Chaplain Found Guilty of Genocide by UN Court

Posted on March 09, 2009
Last Friday a United Nations tribunal found Emmanuel Rukundo, a former chaplain of the Rwandan Armed Forces, guilty of genocide, murder as a crime against humanity and extermination as a crime. The Tribunal, which was created to investigate the mass killings in Rwanda in 1994, sentenced Mr...

Former Bosnian Serb Leader Karadzic Refuses to Plead

Posted on March 06, 2009
The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, refused to enter a plea at the Hague. He said that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) did not have the jurisdiction to try him, because he was offered immunity by US Diplomat [...

US May Boycott UN Racism Conference

Posted on March 02, 2009

Obama to Canada in First State Visit

Posted on February 26, 2009
President Obama traveled to Canada for his first international trip and met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss clean energy initiatives and the current economic crisis. In Ottawa, Mr. Obama reaffirmed his administration’s concern for global climate change and voiced support for an international system of carbon emission caps and carbon credits trading...

Expected Arrest Warrant for Sudan President Bashir

Posted on February 25, 2009
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan on March 4th, marking the first time the ICC has taken such action against a current state leader. While a panel of judges agreed to the issuance of an arrest warrant in January, the date was [...

Belgium Initiates ICJ Proceedings against Senegal

Posted on February 23, 2009
On Thursday, Belgium initiated proceedings at the International Court of Justice against Senegal over the state?s refusal to prosecute Hissène Habré, the former president of Chad. Habré was the leader of Chad from 1982-1990 and his government was notorious for massacring various ethnic groups and ordering the torture and murder of political opponents...

Russia-Georgia Negotiations Progress

Posted on February 23, 2009
Russia and Georgia agreed this past week to improve communications between the two nations, as well as with separatists and international monitors, in an effort to prevent future conflicts from escalating.  The United States hailed it as a success but nonetheless cited the need for continued progress in other areas of the negotiations, especially humanitarian [...

Clinton Warns North Korea to Continue Nuclear Talks

Posted on February 21, 2009
During her tour in Asia, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out about North Korea?s recent threats against South Korea. She urged North Korea to continue nuclear talks and to refrain ?from any and all provocative actions that could harm the six party talks and aggravate tensions in the region...

ICTY Amends Karadzic Indictment

Posted on February 21, 2009
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) partially granted the prosecution’s motion to amend the indictment against Radovan Karad?ic on February 16. The amended indictment charges Karad?ic, former President of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska, with two counts of genocide for atrocities committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 war...

Second Circuit Rules on Customary International Law and ATS

Posted on February 19, 2009
In January 2009, the Second Circuit issued a landmark human rights decision, holding that customary international law (CIL) provides a cause of action under the Alien Tort Statute for a case alleging involuntary medical testing on humans. The court in Abdullahi v...

First Trial of Khmer Rouge Leader Begins

Posted on February 19, 2009
The first trial of a Khmer Rouge leader commenced on Tuesday. Kaing Guek Eav, 66, known as Duch, was a commandant of Security Prison 21, where he was allegedly involved in sending 14,000 Cambodians to their death. Duch is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes and faces Cambodia’s maximum of life imprisonment...

Ukranian Arms Ship released by Somalian Pirates

Posted on February 16, 2009
On February 11, 2008, the Ukrainian arms freighter ?Faina? returned to the Kenyan Port of Mombasa with twenty sailors. The ship had been captured by Somali Pirates in the Gulf of Aden region more than four months ago, and was released after a ransom of $3...

Scholar Argues For Tougher Reponse to Piracy

Posted on February 16, 2009
In the wake of steadily increasing aggression on the part of pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden, law enforcement mechanisms for preventing piracy are falling short. Eugene Kontorovich, a scholar of international law at Northwestern Law School claims that new tools are needed to combat piracy in the waterways off Somalia that carry about [...

ICC to Investigate Gaza War Crimes Pending Jurisdiction Review

Posted on February 15, 2009
This week Palestinian officials traveled to the Hague to press the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces during the recent violence in Gaza. ICC  prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, had originally rejected Palestinian requests for the investigation, on the grounds that the ICC lacked jurisdiction...

Obama Responds to Leahy?s ?Truth Commission? Proposal

Posted on February 13, 2009
In the first press conference of his presidency, U.S. President Obama seemed to reserve judgment on Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy’s calls for a “truth commission” to probe the Bush administration’s potential abuses. While Obama stressed that his “general orientation is to say let’s get it right moving forward,” he also did not rule out [...

US to ?Reset? Foreign Relations

Posted on February 12, 2009
At a major international security conference in Munich last week, Vice President Biden attempted to hit the “reset button” on American foreign relations by signaling out Russia and Iran for increased diplomatic efforts. “I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone in Washington, and in America’s relations around [...

Somali Pirates Paid Ransom

Posted on February 09, 2009
Pirates and Kenyan officials reported that the Somali pirates, who hijacked the Ukrainian arms freighter Faina over four months ago, were finally paid the ransom they demanded. The ship’s owners dropped $3.2 million (lower than the original $35 million the pirates asked for) via parachute onto the ship and the last pirate left on Thursday, [...

European Parliament Supports Closing of Guantánamo

Posted on February 09, 2009
The European Parliament recently passed a resolution supporting President Obama?s decision to close Guantánamo Bay within a year. The Member of the Parliament asked the U.S. to ensure that that rights and freedoms of the detainees are protected during the process...

ICC?s First Trial Commences

Posted on February 08, 2009
The trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a former Congolese militia leader, commenced on January 26, 2009 at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. He is charged with War crimes of enlisting, conscripting, and using child soldiers under the age of 15 in the conflict in the Ituri region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2002 [...

UN to Investigate Bhutto Killing

Posted on February 07, 2009
Following an official visit to Pakistan on Wednesday, February 4, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the creation of a special commission to investigate the killing of Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Ban made the decision after what a UN spokesperson described as ?extensive consultation? with Pakistani and UN Security Council representatives...

EC and China Sign Nine Cooperation Agreements

Posted on February 06, 2009
A Chinese delegation led by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao finalized agreements on education, policy exchange, clean energy, environment, and intellectual property during a diplomatic visit with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso last month...

ICJ Settles Black Sea Border Dispute

Posted on February 06, 2009
The International Court of Justice resolved a dispute on Tuesday regarding a border in the Black Sea between Romania and Ukraine. The boundary has been disputed for the last 40 years, and there have been 24 rounds of failed negotiations between the two nations...

WTO Panel Rules on Challenges to Chinese Copyright Law

Posted on February 04, 2009
In a January 26th Panel Report, a WTO Panel has concluded that certain aspects of Chinese Copyright Law and Customs Measures were inconsistent with Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights  (TRIPS) Agreement.  Specifically, the Panel found that Article 4 of Chinese Copyright Law, which prevented the works of foreign authors whose publication and distribution has not [...

European Court of Human Rights Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Posted on February 03, 2009
The judicial year of the European Court of Human Rights opened on January 30, officially marking the start of the Court’s 50th anniversary year. The Court, based in Strasbourg, which is comprised of of one judge for each state party to the Convention (47), ensures that states comply with their obligations under the [...

Zimbabwe?s Opposition Party Consents to Unity Government

Posted on February 01, 2009
Ten months after Zimbabwe’s presidential election, the country’s main opposition party has announced that it is ready to establish a unity government with President Robert Mugabe. The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, won a majority of votes in the presidential election in March...

Iraqis Go to Polls in Provincial Elections

Posted on January 31, 2009
Iraqis voted for provincial council members on Saturday in an election many hoped would be more inclusive of ethnic and tribal sects than the 2005 national elections widely boycotted by Sunnis and Sadrists. As the U.S. military presence in Iraq diminishes, the elections are seen by some as a test of Iraq’s ability to govern [...

Obama?s Envoy Supports Gaza Cease-Fire

Posted on January 30, 2009
George Mitchell, President Obama’s top envoy to the Middle East, is currently on an eight-day “listening tour” of the region.  Recently, he met with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss the cease-fire between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants in Gaza...

UNHCR: Permit Gazans to Flee Across Borders

Posted on January 10, 2009
The UN official responsible for refugees, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, has declared that civilians who wish to flee fighting in the Gaza Strip must be allowed to pass across borders.  Both parties should not deny access at their borders to anyone attempting to avoid the fighting...

Detainee Poses Early Challenge for Obama

Posted on January 10, 2009
If Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan?s nomination as Solicitor General is successful, one of her first tasks will be the February 20th brief in an enemy combatant case, Al-Marri v. Pucciarelli, addressing the Bush Administration?s assertion that the President may order the military to seize legal residents of the United States and hold them [...

US Strengthens Ukraine Ties

Posted on January 10, 2009
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko signed a security charter last month that establishes enhanced cooperation between the United States and Ukraine on a broad range of issues. The Charter will bring a greater American military and diplomatic presence to the Crimea and Black Sea, and indicates gradual implementation [...

UN Secretary General Calls for an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Posted on January 08, 2009
Addressing the Security Council on January 6, 2009, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, called for an immediate ceasefire. Ki-moon’s recommendations were made particularly in light of the deadly Israeli strike of a United Nations School where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge...

Secretary of State Presses for Cooperation in Mumbai Attack Investigations

Posted on December 08, 2008
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited India and Pakistan last week in the wake of the November 26 terrorist attacks on Mumbai in which gunmen killed more than 170 people. Rice pledged U.S. support to India’s investigation of the attacks and emphasized the importance of cooperation in international counterterrorism efforts between India, the U...

United States Supports Resuming NATO-Russia Relations

Posted on December 06, 2008
While attending a conference in Belgium on December 2, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed the United States’ support of a gradual, informal resumption of contacts between NATO and Russia.  She stated, ?This isn’t an issue of isolating Russia, but it is an issue of what kinds of contacts are appropriate...

Court Orders Five Guantanamo Bay Detainees to be Released

Posted on December 05, 2008
A federal judge has ruled that the United States lacks adequate evidence to justify holding five Algerians detained as terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected government claims that there was enough evidence to continue detaining the men, who have been held in Guantanamo for nearly seven years after being arrested [...

ICJ Will Hear Croatia v. Serbia Case

Posted on November 26, 2008
On November 18, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that it had jurisdiction, on the basis of Article IX of the Genocide Convention, to entertain the case concerning Croatia’s Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v...

ICC to Resume Lubanga trial in January

Posted on November 22, 2008
On Tuesday, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court lifted its stay of proceedings in the case of The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.  Lubanga, the founder and leader of the Union de patriots congolais (UPC), is accused of conscripting and enlisting child soldiers to participate in UPC hostilities in Ituri from September 2002 [...

UN Human Rights Chief Calls for Immediate Lifting of Israeli Blockade of Gaza Strip

Posted on November 20, 2008
On 18th November, 2008, Navi Pillay, the UN Human Rights Commissioner called for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Pointing out that the Israeli action was a flagrant violation of International Law and denied the residents of Gaza their most basic human rights, Ms...

Controversy on the Seas

Posted on November 20, 2008
The INS Tabar, an Indian warship, encountered three pirate vessels approximately 320 miles south-west of the Omani coast in the Gulf of Aden late Tuesday.  When the pirates fired upon the Tabar, it retaliated, sinking the “mother ship” and forcing the would-be hijackers to abandon one of their two speedboats...

Aid to Rwandan President Arrested in Germany

Posted on November 13, 2008
On Tuesday, November 11, the Rwandan President Paul Kagame declared Germany violated his country’s sovereignty when it arrested one of his aids, Rose Kabuye,  and subsequently expelled the German ambassador. Germany responded by asking the Rwandan ambassador to leave Berlin...

ASEAN Law Ministers Gather in Brunei

Posted on November 12, 2008
Ministers of Law from the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Brunei in late October for their seventh ASEAN Law Ministerial Meeting (ALAWMM).  Topics of discussion centered around the legal implications of the November 2007 adoption of the organization’s first legally binding charter, including cooperation in criminal adjudication, [...

ASEAN and Chinese Province Affirm Cooperation Agreement

Posted on November 12, 2008
On Nov. 6, 2008, the ASEAN Secretariat and the Hubei Province of the People’s Republic of China signed a Minutes of Meeting on Strengthening of Trade and Economic Cooperation. The Minutes of Meeting affirmed the two parties’ commitment to implement the Memorandum on Cooperation, which was signed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the Governor [...

Medvedev Redeploys Missiles to NATO Borders Hours After Obama?s Election

Posted on November 12, 2008
In a menacing speech broadcast live across Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev announced that he had ordered Russian missiles redeployed to the border of Poland last week.  Medvedev’s remarks provoked concerns that Russia is reemerging as a threat to the U...

ASEAN Workshop on Domestic Violence Legislation

Posted on November 12, 2008
On October 20-21, 2008 the ASEAN Workshop on Domestic Violence Legislation was held in Hanoi, Vietnam in celebration of the country’s National Women’s Day.  The workshop is one of the projects created under the Framework for Cooperation between ASEAN and the United Nations Fund For Women...

President-Elect Obama on International Law

Posted on November 12, 2008
Now that Americans have chosen the 44th President, international lawyers are beginning to scrutinize President-Elect Obama?s approach to foreign policy, and with that, how he perceives international law. During the Democratic primaries Obama was quizzed by the American Society of International Law, and he emphasized the importance of international law in the conduct of American foreign [...

New ICJ Members Elected

Posted on November 10, 2008
The General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations voted last week to elect five new members to the International Court of Justice.  The five judges haling from Jordan, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Somalia were affirmed for a nine-year term beginning in February 2009...

Ban Calls for Urgent Measures to End Congo Crisis

Posted on November 10, 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon encouraged the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring nations (namely, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and South Africa) to take ?urgent measures to contain the present crisis created by the upsurge of fighting in eastern DRC? at a UN-backed summit hosted by the African Union on November 7...

Central Asian Countries Seek to Improve Regional Business Climate

Posted on November 10, 2008
On November 4th and 5th, the Ministers of Economy and senior officials from seven Central Asian countries met for a conference hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)...

World Trade Slipped to 6% Growth in 2007

Posted on November 09, 2008
A World Trade Organization report published on November 5 has confirmed that growth in world merchandise trade slipped in 2007 to 6% from 8.5% in 2006.  One of the primary causes of the slowdown is the reduction of import demand in the United States, Europe and Japan...

ICC has Jurisdiction over Crimes in the Kivus: ICC Prosecutor

Posted on November 08, 2008
On 4th November 2008, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo expressed concern over the situation in the Kivus area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He further reiterated that his Office is closely monitoring the reports on the attacks on civilian populations in the area...

UN Secretary-General Responds to Escalating Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Posted on November 03, 2008
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the violence in the North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The intensity of the conflict between Government forces (FARDC) and a militia group known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), led by former general Laurent Nkunda, has [...

Somalia?s Pirates Thrive Amidst Dismal Economic and Political Conditions

Posted on November 03, 2008
In late September, three speedboats, manned by Somali pirates hijacked a Ukrainian cargo ship loaded with tanks, ammunition, and other military supplies off the coast of Somalia. More than a month later, negotiations for the hostages and ship have not reached a conclusion...

Imprisoned Chinese Dissident Wins Sakharov Prize

Posted on November 01, 2008
Imprisoned Chinese dissident Hu Jia was awarded the European Parliament?s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on October 23, 2008, in a move some hope will lead to his release. Hu Jia, whose work has focused on bringing awareness to issues like AIDS, the environment, and the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was arrested in late 2007 [...

Network on Exchange of Information Expanded by New OECD Pacts

Posted on November 01, 2008
The British Virgin Islands, Guernsey and Jersey signed sixteen new bilateral tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with various OECD countries. Since 2000 the OECD has been working with financial centers across the globe to sign TIEAs in order to increase the transparency and accountability of cross-border transactions...

United States Continues Support for U.N. Peacekeeping in Congo

Posted on October 31, 2008
Violence has broken out in Congo as forces loyal to former Congolese General Laurent Nkunda launch attacks on government troops. These rebel forces are believed to be preparing a strike on the city of Goma. Only ten months ago, rebel groups met in Goma to sign a peace agreement...

Albania, Croatia Move Closer to NATO Membership

Posted on October 31, 2008
On October 24 President Bush signed NATO accession protocols for Albania and Croatia, bringing the two nations one step closer to joining the organization. Senate ratification of the protocols and the presidential signature follows the extension of an official invitation to the two nations at NATO’s summit in Romania last April...

United States, Peru Announce Debt-for-Nature Agreement

Posted on October 31, 2008
A new agreement between Peru and the United States will forgive $25 million of Peru’s foreign debt in return for a commitment to pay for nature conservation.  Under the agreement, Peru can redirect its debt payments from the United States to local funds set up to administer conservation grants to protect tropical rainforests in the [...

African Union Ministers Meeting to Discuss Impact of Financial Crisis

Posted on October 31, 2008
Dr. Maxwell Mkwezalamba, the African Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs, announced on October 29 that the African Union (AU) is organizing a conference with the African Development Bank in Tunis next month. Various AU ministers of finance and central bank governors will meet to discuss the impact of the global crisis on Africa and come up [...

Attacks on UN office in Somalia

Posted on October 30, 2008
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks in Northern Somalia on October 29, 2008. These attacks included a suicide car bombing at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) compound in Hargeisa which killed two UN staff and injured six others...

Lamy: Domestic Policies-Not Trade Protectionism- Solution for Financial Crisis

Posted on October 30, 2008
On 29 October, 2008, Pascal Lamy, the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in a lecture at the University of California, Berkley, emphasized the need for enhancing international trade under the WTO, particularly during the current international financial crisis...

ASEM Leaders Seek International Cooperation On Financial Crisis

Posted on October 28, 2008
At the seventh annual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), leaders of European and Asian nations called for international participation in a global summit on the financial crisis. The summit is scheduled to take place on November 15 in Washington, DC. The 16 Asian and 27 EU leaders issued a joint statement saying that ?long-term stability of the global [...

European Court Annuls Iranian Fund Freeze Order

Posted on October 28, 2008
On October 23, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities annulled the December 2007 renewal of an order of the EU Council freezing the assets of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). The Court found that there was insufficient legal justification for the order...

Surge in Anti-Dumping Investigations (January - June 2008)

Posted on October 28, 2008
The WTO Secretariat reported a 39 percent increase in new anti-dumping investigations initiated during Janurary 1 to June 30, 2008 as compared to the 2007 corresponding period. 16 WTO Members initiated a total of 85 new investigations, 31 of which were by developed Members applying 13 of the 54 new final anti-dumping measures...

Serbia Wins Bid To Review Kosovo?s Indepedence

Posted on October 17, 2008
On Wednesday Serbia won a bid in the United Nations General Assembly to have the International Court of Justice review Kosovo’s recent declaration of independence. Serbia considers Kosovo to be a “breakaway province” which unilaterally declared independence and thus wants a ruling on the legality of the region’s actions...

Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 Awarded to International Mediator

Posted on October 16, 2008
Former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, won the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as an international mediator in conflict resolution efforts around the globe.  The Norwegian Nobel Committee particularly recognized Ahtisaari’s work in Namibia, Indonesia, Kosovo, and Iraq, praising his dedication to “peace and reconciliation” in those areas...

Former German President Criticizes ECJ

Posted on October 09, 2008
In an editorial published Wednesday by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, former German president Roman Herzog vehemently attacked the current state of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Herzog believes that the ECJ has lost the trust of the EU member states by its ?astonishing? rationales for interfering in national legal systems and member state competencies...

Congress Passes US-India Civil Nuclear Accord

Posted on October 09, 2008
The U.S. Congress passed legislation granting India access to nuclear technology on October 1. The move comes more than three decades after India tested its first nuclear weapon. On September 28, the bill passed in the House of Representatives. Shortly afterward, the Senate approved the measure by a vote of 86 to 13...

ASEAN Charter Approved in Bangkok

Posted on October 09, 2008
Thailand has joined eight other Asian countries in approving the first Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Charter, a constitution establishing ASEAN as an international legal entity.  The Thai Senate ratified the ASEAN charter in mid-September, sending the document to the King of Thailand for his signature...

More Peacekeepers Necessary in Congo

Posted on October 08, 2008
The top UN envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has asked for an increase in the number of peacekeepers in the country (in addition to the 19,000 already there), expressing alarm about the renewal of hostilities in the eastern provinces...

US Ratifies Singapore Treaty on Trademarks

Posted on October 07, 2008
The United States ratified on October 1 the Singapore Treaty on the Law on Trademarks.  The Singapore Treaty, concluded under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in March 2006, marks international efforts to update the 1994 Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) in light of changing trademark practices...

ECHR Upholds Turkey?s 10% Threshold in Elections

Posted on October 06, 2008
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on July 8 in the case of Yumak & Sadak v. Turkey. The case was brought by the plaintiffs after they lost in Turkey’s recent parliamentary elections. Although eighteen parties participated in the elections, only two were able to garner enough [...

IAEA Relies on Member States

Posted on April 23, 2008
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held its largest meeting ever during 8-11th April. Attended by member states and 2 new participants, China and Spain, the focus of the meeting was research and development needs in safeguards and verification...

WTO Says Conclusion of Doha Would Boost Global Economy

Posted on April 22, 2008
Director General of the WTO Pascal Lamy appealed to a meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee in Washington on April 12 to push for a conclusion to the Doha round as a way of ensuring global economic stablity. “This year I am completely convinced that we have it within our means, politically and [...

Deutsche Telekom Fined

Posted on April 21, 2008
European Court of Justice - Court of First Instance upholds fine imposed on Deutsche Telekom for abuse of dominant position. In 2003 the Commission of the European Communities ? the executive branch of the European Union ? found that Deutsche Telekom “had been abusing its dominant position on the markets for direct access to its fixed [...

EU Commissioner Highlights Nuclear Power

Posted on April 21, 2008
In a speech at the European Nuclear Assembly Conference, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs reiterated the importance of nuclear energy for the reduction of carbon emissions, while emphasizing the “need to strengthen the cooperation between EU Member states on the issues related to the safety and security of nuclear installations and the treatment of nuclear waste...

OECD Still Open to Sovereign Wealth Fund Investments

Posted on April 15, 2008
The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) responded to the controversy surrounding investments by government-owned Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) by releasing a report stating its commitment to remain open to such investments as long as they are commercially rather than politically motivated...

ECJ AG Proposes Extending Double Jeopardy

Posted on April 15, 2008
In a non-binding opinion released last week, Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo proposed extending the principle of double jeopardy to include cases in which the initial penalty could never be enforced. The case discussed is a reference from a lower-level German court hearing the case of Klaus Bourquain...

APEC Adopts Declaration on Responsible Tourism

Posted on April 15, 2008
Tourism ministers from 18 APEC member states met on 9-10th April 2008 in order to further a ?commitment towards responsible tourism in the Asia Pacific region? and adopted the Pachacamac Declaration. The Declaration acknowledged tourism as an important service sector, providing income and employment to numerous people in the member states...

Cambodia Ratifies ASEAN Charter

Posted on April 13, 2008
Cambodia recently became the sixth nation to ratify the ASEAN Charter. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is an organization comprised of ten Southeast Asian nations whose aim is promote regional cooperation on economic, social and security issues...

Former Prime Minister of Kosovo Acquitted

Posted on April 11, 2008
Last week, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Haradinaj was also a commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the late 1990s...

Ukrainian Violation of ECHR Article 11

Posted on April 10, 2008
The European Court of Human Rights recently held in Koretskyy & Ors. v. Ukraine that there was a violation of Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights, where the Ukrainian authorities refused to register the applicants? association called the ?Civic Committee for the Preservation of Wild (Indigenous) Natural [...

Slovakia Agrees to Enforce Sentences

Posted on April 09, 2008
Slovakia has entered into an enforcement of sentences agreement with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), allowing for persons convicted before the Tribunal to serve their sentences in Slovak prisons.  The agreement is the second signed by the ICTY this year, and was signed by Mr...

Ecuador Files Application Against Colombia at the ICJ

Posted on April 08, 2008
On March 31, Ecuador filed an application against Colombia in the UN?s International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding the aerial spraying of toxic herbicides by Colombia along the border the two countries share. Ecuador asserts that the spraying by Colombia has ?caused serious damage to people, to crops, to animals, and to the natural [...

Flemish Insurance Violates EC Treaty

Posted on April 08, 2008
On April 1st the European Court of Justice invalidated provisions of a state-supported Flemish health care insurance program that entitles residents of the Dutch-speaking region and the bilingual capital district to reimbursement for health care assistance expenses...

Fiscal Drag Creates Uneven Tax Burden

Posted on March 21, 2008
A new OECD study investigated the interaction between income, inflation and tax obligations in OECD countries.  Notably, workers in several countries saw their nominal tax burden rise in response to high earnings growth. This phenomenon, known as fiscal drag, occurs in countries where tax rates increase as nominal taxable income rises...

Madagascar Ratifies Rome Statute

Posted on March 21, 2008
On March 14, Madagascar?s Malagasy Government ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, bringing the total number of States Parties to the Court to 106. The statute will enter into force in the island nation on June 1, 2008. The Rome Statute was adopted in July of 1998...

Limited Liability for Pollution

Posted on March 20, 2008
In Commune de Mesquer v Total France SA and Total International Ltd, the European Court of Justice opined in favor of limiting liability under the polluter pays principle where the waste is not caused intentionally or recklessly. The plaintiff brought the suit for the costs of cleaning oil waste from beaches that resulted from the [...

?Lord of War? arrested in Thailand

Posted on March 19, 2008
On March 6, infamous weapons dealer Viktor Bout was arrested in Bangkok. Bout?s role in supplying weapons to some of the world?s deadliest conflicts had earned him the nickname ?Merchant of Death,? and he is believed to have inspired Nicholas Cage?s character in the film ?Lord of War...

EU Allocates Funds to Fight World Hunger

Posted on March 18, 2008
On March 4, the European Commission announced that it would devote ?160 million to provide food aid to nations suffering from destabilizing crises around the world. Between the 17 initially-targeted nations - largely in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East - it is estimated that 18...

Ugandan Tribunals To Try Rebels

Posted on March 18, 2008
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni declared that rebel leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army will be tried by local Ugandan tribunals rather than handed over to the International Criminal Court.  The local court system emphasizes compensation and apologies, rather than punishment...

Rwanda Agrees to Enforce Sentences

Posted on March 14, 2008
Last week, Rwanda agreed to enforce a jail sentence imposed by the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to address the atrocities of the country’s 1994 genocide. Under the agreement, which has also been signed by six other countries, anyone convicted and given a prison term by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [...

ICC Members Push for Multilateral IP Agreement

Posted on March 08, 2008
Members of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) Committee have asked US Trade Representative Susan Schwab to speed the development of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). CEOs of member companies gathered on March 3 to unveil recommendations for the ACTA and a set of in-country strategies aimed at [...

ECHR Finds Violations

Posted on March 07, 2008
The European Court of Human Rights recently decided Stoica v. Romania in favor of a minority applicant, finding violations of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights...

Uneven Reforms

Posted on March 06, 2008
The OECD report, “Going for Growth 2008″, is an annual study that measures the extent to which the world’s developed countries follow the OECD’s recommended strategies for promoting growth.   The study confirms the generally held notion that Americans work longer hours than Europeans...

Prison Guards Found Guilty by Bosnian Court

Posted on March 06, 2008
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has found two Bosnian Serbs guilty of crimes against humanity for mistreatment of non-Serb detainees at a detention center in the Bosnian town of Fo?a.  Mitar Ra?evi? and Savo Todovi?, prison guards at the Fo?a correctional facility during the Balkan wars in the mid-1990s, were sentenced prison terms of [...

Trademark Filings Reach Record High in 2007

Posted on March 05, 2008
This past year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) received 39,945 international trademark applications under the Madrid System for the international registration of trademarks. That number, which is an all-time high for applications under the Madrid System, is a 9...

Iran Safeguards Report Circulated to IAEA Board

Posted on March 02, 2008
On March 2, 2007, the International Atomic Energy Agency (?IAEA?) provided a report about Iran?s nuclear safeguards to its Board of Governors, its 35-member policymaking arm.  The report, which details Iranian nuclear developments that have occurred since November 15, 2007, is entitled: Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions [...

WTO Director General Lamy Announces Aid-for-Trade Roadmap

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Director General of the WTO outlined the new roadmap for the Aid-for-Trade program at a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development on February 25.  The roadmap emphasizes three points: monitoring, implementation, and greater involvement of developing nations...

Uphold Human Rights in Anti-Terrorism Operations

Posted on February 29, 2008
The European Court of Human Rights, in Mansuroglu v. Turkey, recently ruled that Turkey had violated Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights during a 1996 anti-terrorism operation conducted against the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK)...

Parmesan Cheese Defined

Posted on February 29, 2008
In a recent decision, the European Court of Justice opined that only cheeses bearing the protected denomination of origin (PDO) ‘Parmigiano-Reggiano’ could be sold under the denomination ‘Parmesan’. The decision has set a valuable precedent in the EU for numerous other cases where European geographical indications, worth billions of Euros and having cultural and historic [...

Mixed Reactions to Kosovo

Posted on February 25, 2008
Although Kosovars did not get the new flag that its majority seemingly so desperately wanted, the Kosovar parliament officially ended the decade long illusion that was Yugoslavia by settling for a blue flag with white stars bearing a yellow map of Kosovo...

Convictions for Sierra Leone Rebel Leaders Upheld

Posted on February 25, 2008
The Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) upheld the convictions and sentences of three rebel leaders on February 22. The defendants were former leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), a military group that supported Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone?s civil war in the 1990s...

Judges Added to ICTY

Posted on February 25, 2008
In an effort to meet its goal to try all defendants by the end of 2008, the Security Council has agreed to temporarily add four judges to the UN Tribunal set up after the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which proposed the appointment of the additional [...

Addressing Immigrant Overqualification

Posted on February 24, 2008
The OECD, a Paris-based organization that aims to facilitate economic cooperation among 30 leading industrialized nations, recently released a report elucidating general trends in immigration in OECD countries. The report found that immigrants in OECD countries are generally better educated than locally-born populations...

Disclose Religion? No.

Posted on February 22, 2008
In Alexandridis v. Greece, the European Court of Human Rights recently held that obligating a person to reveal his religion constitutes a violation of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion...

Former Rwanda Official Arrested

Posted on February 21, 2008
Callixte Nzabonimana was arrested February 18, 2008 in Kigoma, Tanzania. He is charged with six counts before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, including counts of Genocide, Conspiracy to commit genocide, Complicity in genocide, Incitements to commit genocide, Crimes against humanity and violation of the Geneva Convention...

European Commission Adopts Nanosciences Code of Conduct

Posted on February 18, 2008
As part of the 2005 Action Plan for Nanotechnology, the European Commission has adopted seven principles that will guide research in that field. The principles are: meaning; sustainability; precaution; inclusiveness; excellence; innovation and accountability...

European Union Announces Green Initiative

Posted on February 18, 2008
José Manuel Barroso announced on January 23 that the EU will be pursuing a comprehensive environmental regulation strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. His speech, entitled “20 20 by 2020: Europe’s Climate Change Opportunity” set the goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 20% and reaching 20% usage of renewable fuels...

European Union Extends Borders

Posted on February 18, 2008
The Schengen zone of countries expanded on Friday, December 21 to include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Malta. Border controls are no longer necessary between these countries and the other members of the Schengen zone...

UN Convenes First-Ever Global Forum on Human Trafficking

Posted on February 14, 2008
On February 13, some 1200 experts, legislators, law enforcement officials, business leaders, NGO representatives, celebrities, and trafficking victims convened in Vienna, Austria for the first-ever UN global forum against human trafficking.  Giving remarks ahead of the February 13-15 forum, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa explained that [...

Trial of Charles Taylor Resumes

Posted on January 29, 2008
The Special Court for Sierra Leone has resumed the trial of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia, on eleven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. This is the first time that an African head of state has been tried before an international tribunal...

Bali Hosts Weeklong UN Anti-Corruption Convention

Posted on January 28, 2008
Over 1,000 people, including government officials, business leaders, law enforcement personnel, journalists, and entertainers from over 100 nations, convened today in Bali, Indonesia at the beginning of a five-day meeting of the Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption...

Peru and Chile Go to World Court Over Maritime Dispute

Posted on January 17, 2008
On January 16, Peru asked the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) to adjudicate its ongoing maritime dispute with Chile. Peru claims that the zones in dispute have never been delimited by a treaty or other type of agreement, and thus should be determined by the ICJ in accordance with customary international law...

ICTY Terminates Provisional Release of Croatian Accused

Posted on January 03, 2008
The ICTY has terminated the provisional release of Mladen Marka?, the former Commander of the Croatian Special Police. Marka?, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, was granted provisional release on 2 December 2004. The order terminating his provisional release was made after Marka? was photographed participating in a hunting trip outside [...

UN, Netherlands Agree to Base Lebanon Tribunal in The Hague

Posted on December 27, 2007
On December 21, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Larry D. Johnson and Dutch Ambassador Frank Majoor signed the Headquarters Agreement for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.  According to the agreement, the court that will judge recent assassinations in Lebanon, including that of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005, will be based [...

Saudi King Pardons Rape Victim

Posted on December 17, 2007
The BBC reported today that Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned the female rape victim in the “Qatif girl” case.  In November, the woman and was sentenced to 200 lashes for the crime of being alone with a male who was not a relative...

UN Court Determines Disputed Caribbean Islands Belong to Colombia

Posted on December 17, 2007
On December 13 the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that three islands in the Caribbean Sea disputed between Colombia and Nicaragua in fact belong to Colombia. Nicaragua had brought action at the ICJ, arguing that it should be granted sovereignty over the islands of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina...

New Initiative by European Commission for Market Integration

Posted on December 15, 2007
EC President José Manuel Barroso announced an initiative by the Commission to enhance the opportunities for small businesses and to empower consumers by eliminating bottlenecks have limited the benefits of the single market. The package of statutory and regulatory reforms is aimed at reducing barriers to competition by small businesses, reforming markets that are not [...

Council of Europe Creates Human Trafficking Monitoring Group

Posted on December 15, 2007
An international monitoring group has been created by the Council of Europe to implement the Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) will be composed of between ten and fifteen experts in the field of human rights...

Secretary-General Commemorates Human Rights Day

Posted on December 10, 2007
December 10 was UN Human Rights Day.  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the occasion to remind the world that the freedoms upheld in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must apply universally: ?The Declaration remains as relevant today as it did on the day it was adopted,? Mr...

Cambodian war crimes court concludes first hearing

Posted on November 21, 2007
Extraordinary Chambers, Courts of Cambodia The first courtroom hearing in the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a joint United Nations/Cambodia tribunal for the prosecution of war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge, concluded today...

WIPO Contributes to International Dialogue on Avian Flu

Posted on November 18, 2007
Earlier this year, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a key resolution calling for a study on the patent issues related to influenza viruses, genes, and pandemic preparedness. Thus, at the request of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has offered its expertise and technical input on patent issues relating [...

Canada on Dell

Posted on November 18, 2007
The Supreme Court of Canada finally decided the much anticipated Dell Computer Corp. v. Union des consommateurs case. Online retailer Dell attempted to object to a class action commenced in Québec by relying on a National Arbitration Forum arbitration clause, mentioned only in the terms and conditions of its website...