On August 14, 2015, a tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) rendered its award on the merits in Arctic Sunrise Arbitration (Netherlands v. Russia), ordering Russia to pay compensation for seizing and arresting the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise and its thirty crewmembers during a protest against offshore drilling in Arctic waters in 2013. The Court decided that “by boarding, investigating, inspecting, arresting, detaining, and seizing the Arctic Sunrise without the prior consent of the Netherlands, and by arresting,...
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.
Arbitral Tribunal Orders Russia to Pay Compensation for Seizure of Greenpeace Ship (August 14, 2015)
On August 26, 2015, a Guatemalan court held that that former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt may stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity but that he may not be sentenced as he suffers from dementia. The charges relate to Ríos Montt’s actions during Guatemala’s civil war under his dictatorship in 1982 and 1983. According to a news article, the court found that “the law allows for a special trial where all evidence and witnesses will be presented behind closed doors with a representative of Ríos Montt. He can be found guilty or not guilty, but will not receive a sentence because of...
On August 24, 2015, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, condemned the destruction of the ancient temple of Baalshamin in the Syrian site of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site. According to a news article, Syrian’s head of antiquities stated that Islamic State militants used explosives in the temple on August 23 and that “[t]he cella (inner area of the temple) was destroyed and the columns around collapsed.” The Director-General stated that “[s]uch acts are war crimes and their perpetrators must be...
On August 24, 2015, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued provisional measures in The “Enrica Lexie” Incident (Italy v. India) that ordered Italy and India to “both suspend all court proceedings and . . . refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute.” The case, which Italy brought to the Tribunal in July 2015, concerns an incident in which two Italian marines allegedly killed two Indian fishermen in 2012. According to the press release, the provisional measures were instituted by Italy to request that India “refrain from...
On August 21, 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for one year, until August 31, 2016. According to the press release, the Security Council determined “the situation in Lebanon continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security” and “urged further international support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, in areas where they are most critically in need of support, including counter-terrorism and border protection.” In the resolution, the Security Council also...
On August 19, 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged the U.S. to stay the execution of Bernardo Abán Tercero, a Nicaraguan citizen who was sentenced to be executed on August 26. According to the press release, the IACHR issued a report that concluded, among other findings, that the U.S.’s failure “to inform Bernardo Abán Tercero of his right to consular notification and assistance deprived him of a criminal process that satisfied the minimum standards of due process and a fair trial required under the American Declaration” and that “his court-appointed counsel...
On August 19, 2015, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (Appeals Chamber) reversed the Trial Chamber’s decision to reject the Prosecutor’s “application for a finding of non-cooperation against the Kenyan Government, alleging that the Government had failed to comply with a request to produce records relating to Mr Kenyatta.” According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber found that the Trial Chamber “erred by failing to address whether judicial measures had been exhausted to obtain the Kenyan Government's cooperation, as well as by assessing in an inconsistent...
On August 19, 2015, the European Commission and Greece signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relating to financial assistance for Greece from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) in exchange for fiscal reforms. According to a press release, the ESM “will be able to disburse up to EUR 86 billion in loans over the next three years, provided that Greek authorities implement reforms to address fundamental economic and social challenges, as specified in the MoU.” Greece also signed a Financial Assistance Facility Agreement with the ESM to detail the terms of the loan. Within the MoU,...
On August 7, 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department released new guidance on sanctions for Iran in the wake of the July 14, 2015 announcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. According to the Treasury Department, “the JCPOA will provide Iran with phased sanctions relief upon verification that Iran has implemented key nuclear commitments” and the U.S. Government will release detailed guidance on sanctions relief after receiving such verification from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The information released, which includes...
On August 7, 2015, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that will allow for the creation of a Joint Investigative Mechanism of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to identify those using chemical weapons in Syria. The resolution reiterated the Security Council’s “condemnation in the strongest terms of any use of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in the Syrian Arab Republic” and stressed that “that those individuals, entities, groups, or governments responsible for any use of chemicals as weapons, including chlorine or any...