On December 15, 2017, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) published its judgment in Decision on the Communication Submitted by Minority Rights Group International and SOS-Enclaves on Behalf of Said Ould Salem and Yarg Ould Salem against the Government of the Republic of Mauritania. The case concerned two brothers who were forced into slavery by a local household as children, abused, and deprived of an education for eleven years. The Committee found that under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Mauritania had...
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 December 14, 2017, the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties passed a resolution that adopted three amendments to Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which added to the list of war crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court and relate to the use of prohibited weapons in armed conflict. The amendments prohibit “Employing weapons, which use microbial or other biological agents, or toxins, whatever their origin or method of production”; “Employing weapons the primary effect of which is to injure by fragments which in the human body escape detection by X-rays”; and “Employing...
International Criminal Court Activates Jurisdiction over the Crime of Aggression (December 14, 2017)
On December 14, 2017, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted a resolution that activates the Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression as of July 17, 2018. The ASP also released a report on facilitating the activation of ICC jurisdiction over the crime of aggression that discussed the history of the crime of aggression at the ICC, states parties’ positions on the matter, and procedural aspects of an activation decision. The resolution notes that jurisdiction for the crime of aggression will “enter into force for...
On December 12, 2017, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued two similar decisions in Chiragov and Others v. Armenia and Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan, holding that due to a lack of political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the applicants should be awarded compensation as just satisfaction in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. The cases both concern applicants who were forced to flee their homes in 1992 due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Chiragov concerned the complaints by six Azerbaijani refugees that they could not...
On December 11, 2017, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) referred Jordan to the Assembly of States Parties of the Rome Statute (ASP) and the UN Security Council for not executing the Court’s request for the arrest of Omar Al-Bashir when he was in Jordan for the League of Arab States' Summit on March 29, 2017. The Chamber noted that it had already given its opinion in an analogous case when South Africa failed to arrest Al-Bashir while he was in the state. The Chamber had not referred South Africa because it was the first to approach the ICC with a request for an...
On December 11, 2017, members and observers at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference issued the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, calling for increased participation of women in trade. Through the Declaration, members and observers have agreed to “to collaborate on making our trade and development policies more gender-responsive,” through methods including exchanging information on policies and programs to encourage women’s participation in trade, sharing best practices on gender-based analyses of trade policies as well as procedures for...
On December 8, 2017, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2389, welcoming the renewed commitment of signatories to the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Region and calling on states to abide by commitments made in the PSC. The Security Council reiterated “that the PSC Framework remains an essential mechanism to achieve durable peace and stability in the DRC and the Region.” The Council also noted its concern regarding the illicit flow of weapons throughout the DRC and their use among armed groups, strongly condemned...
On December 6, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in Coty Germany GmbH v. Parfümerie Akzente GmbH. that luxury brands may prohibit authorized distributors from selling their products on third-party internet platforms like Amazon. As noted in the press release, the Higher Regional Court, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, requested the Court of Justice to determine whether a contract clause between luxury brand Coty Germany and one of its authorized distributors prohibiting the distribution of Coty good on “amazon.de” was lawful under EU competition law. The Court of...
On December 5, 2017, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a resolution to institute infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan due to the government’s failure to abide by the European Court of Human Rights’ May 2014 judgment in Mammadov v. Azerbaijan. In Mammadov, the Court held that Azerbaijan had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining opposition blogger Ilgar Mammadov in order to punish him for his criticism of the government and ordered his unconditional release. The press release notes that through the resolution the Committee...
On December 5, 2017, the UN Human Rights Council concluded a special session on the human rights situation of the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in the Rakhine state of Myanmar and passed a resolution condemning the alleged human rights abuses taking place there. The Human Rights Council expressed its concern over reports of human rights abuses by security forces and non-state actors, including extrajudicial and summary killing, sexual violence, destruction of property, torture, and large-scale displacement, which very likely amount to the commission of crimes against humanity. The...