On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its judgment in Nestle USA Inc. v. Doe, a case involving six individuals from Mali who alleged that they were trafficked into Ivory Coast as children to produce cocoa. They sued Nestle USA Inc. and Cargill Inc. under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) arguing that Nestle’s and Cargill’s purchase of cocoa from farms located in Ivory Coast, and their financial and technical support to those farms, amounted to aiding and abetting child slavery. The District Court dismissed the suit because the activities at issue took place overseas. 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 April 30, 2021, the New York Supreme Court issued its judgment in Shanghai Yongrun Investment Management Co. Ltd. v. Kashi Galaxy Venture Capital Co. Ltd. & Xu, denying enforcement of a judgment from a Chinese court on the basis that the Chinese judgment “was rendered under a system which does not provide impartial tribunals or procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law.” The judgment stands in contrast to U.S. and foreign court practice regarding the quality of the Chinese legal system in the context of the recognition of judgments. The original...
On June 8, 2021, the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) delivered its judgment on appeal in Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić. Mladić and the Prosecutor appealed the 2017 judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). According to a press release from the Tribunal, Mr. Mladić was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and for violating the laws of war, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Trial Chamber based its decision, inter alia, on its determination that Mladić played a “leading...
On May 25, 2021, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in Big Brother Watch and Others v. The United Kingdom. In 2013, 2014, and 2015, a number of civil liberties organizations lodged complaints with the Court after Edward Snowden revealed intelligence surveillance and sharing programs operated by the U.S. and the UK. The applicants believed that because of the nature of the programs, some of their communications and/or communications data were likely to have been intercepted by UK and/or U.S. intelligence agencies. They argued that the...
On May 24, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its judgment in Guam v. United States, holding that “a case against the US for causing toxic waste pollution in Guam may proceed.” According to JURIST, the case involves toxic waste dumping at a site known as Ordot Dump, which, Guam argued, is the responsibility of the U.S. This site was constructed in the 1940s for the purpose of military waste disposal, but it appears that over the years, harmful chemical toxins, such as Agent Orange and DDT, were dispersed and leaked into regional water channels and the Pacific. Guam argued that...
A case against some of Croatia's COVID-19 restrictions has been communicated to the European Court of Human Rights. In Magdiç v. Croatia, the Applicants question the legality of measures adopted by Croatia to inhibit the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The measures in question: (1) place restrictions on the ability to leave one's domicile and residence except under exceptional conditions and with official permission; (2) prohibit public gatherings of greater than five people; and (3) suspend religious gatherings. The Applicants challenge these measures based on Article 9 (freedom of...
On Thursday, May 6, 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its sentence in the case against Dominic Ongwen. As reported earlier by ILIB, Ongwen was convicted of 61 crimes against humanity and war crimes for acts committed in Northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005. The ICC sentenced Ongwen to 25 years of imprisonment, less the time spent in detention from January 4, 2015, to May 6, 2021. In the sentencing decision, the ICC recalled that it is required to "take into account, inter alia, 'the individual circumstances of the convicted person'," which in...
On Tuesday, April 20, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Case C-896/19, Repubblika v. Il-Prim Ministru that Malta’s system for appointing judges did not contradict EU law. As reported by JURIST, the ruling went before the national court when Repubblika, an association created to promote the rule of law in Malta, had challenged the procedure, which was provided by the Constitution of Malta. The process in the Maltese Constitution stated that judiciary members are appointed by the president acting under the advisement of the prime minister. However,...
On April 21, 2021, Italy ratified Protocol 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights. Its ratification triggers the entry into force of the Protocol in all Council of Europe member states from August 1, 2021. The three-page Protocol adds to and amends the Convention in a number of ways. For example, it adds a new recital to the Convention's Preamble, affirming the principle of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation doctrine. It also introduces a new paragraph 2 in Article 21 (Criteria for office), stating that candidates for the Court must be less than 65 years old at the time the...
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) have published a second version of their Draft Code of Conduct for Adjudicators in International Investment Disputes. This new version updates the original draft Code, published near one year ago. According to an ICSID press release, the Code of Conduct "provides applicable principles and detailed provisions addressing matters such as independence and impartiality, and the duty to conduct proceedings with integrity, fairness, efficiency and civility."
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