On April 27, 2022, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution (to be posted once published at: https://www.un.org/en/ga/76/resolutions.shtml) that requires the General Assembly to meet every time a veto is used by the Security Council. Speaking on the resolution at the Assembly’s meeting, Ambassador Christian Wenaweser stated, “[t]he draft resolution before the Assembly today creates a standing mandate for the Assembly to be convened automatically, within ten working days, every time a veto has been cast in the Security Council.” The resolution is said to be an expression of...
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 18, 2022, the UN published a joint letter written written on February 16, 2022, by several UN Special Rapporteurs and addressed to the Australian Government asking it to take action in relation to the rescue of 46 Australian citizens who were currently being held in different camps in North-Eastern Syria. The letter expressed deep concern for the citizens who are said to have been “held and […] deprived of their liberty without any judicial process.” The letter listed the names of the Australian citizens being held, including the names of the minor children who are being held...
On April 11, 2022, the UN announced via a press release concerns expressed by Special Rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, “about restrictions on Brazilians’ rights to full and active social and political participation.” Voule “urged the State to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment that is conducive to the exercise of the rights to peaceful assembly and association.” The announcement also voiced concern about the frequent excessive use of force by law enforcement officials and human rights violations during protests....
On April 2, 2022, after a second official visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC announced that more steps would be taken to deepen cooperation and accelerate the independent work in relation to the Situation in Venezuela following a decision from last year. This announcement came after the Government of Venezuela expressed that the conditions for an investigation had still not been met. ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC stated that he “welcome[d] the tangible steps that [had been] taken” that allowed his office “to strengthen its work with...
On April 2, 2022, India and Australia signed “The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement” (IndAus ECTA) which eliminated tariffs on over 85 percent of Australian good exports to India. The Indian and Australian Ministers also expressed their views on the growing strength of the relationship between the two countries before signing of the agreement. Calling it a “watershed moment for our bilateral relations . . . the Prime Minister said that signing of IndAus ECTA in such a short span of time reflect[ed] the depth of the mutual confidence between the two countries.”
On March 30, 2022, Britain's Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, announced Britain's withdrawal of its judges from Hong Kong’s top court. According to the announcement, the decision came as a result of the fact that “since the imposition of the National Security Law in 2020, China has continued to use this legislation to undermine the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.” Noting that “China’s actions include restrictions on freedom of expression, the stifling of opposition voices, and the criminalising of dissent,” the Foreign Secretary said, “the situation has reached a...
On March 25, 2022, The Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School and the human rights organization, Fortify Rights, released a report, titled Nowhere is Safe, that details how the Myanmar junta was responsible for crimes against humanity, murder, torture, and forced displacement of civilians and political leaders. According to the Schell Center, the report “is based on more than 120 testimonies, leaked documents and information, and in-depth legal analysis of new evidence. It focuses on the first six months after the military’s attempted coup on February 1,...
On March 23, 2022, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, issued a statement determining that "members of Russia's forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine." The statement recounts the destruction by Russian forces of "apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances" and notes that the United Nations "has officially confirmed more than 2,500 civilian casualties, including dead and wounded." This conclusion was reached "based on a careful review of available information from public intelligence sources." Blinken...
On March 21, 2022, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken gave remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in which he stated that he has "determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya." According to Blinken, this is the eighth instance of genocide committed since the Holocaust. Secretary Blinken's decision was "based on reviewing a factual assessment and legal analysis prepared by the State Department, which included detailed documentation by a range of independent, impartial sources, including . . . Amnesty International...
On March 16, 2022, the International Court of Justice delivered its Order on Ukraine's request for the indication of provisional measures in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russia). Ukraine made a number of requests, including that the Court declare that no acts of genocide have been committed in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine, contrary to the claims made by the Russian Federation.
With regard to the question whether the Court had jurisdiction to indicate...