Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Dispute Resolution

Rarely has a move by the U.S. government to impose its political views on other countries' economies aroused as much anger as has the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996, widely known as the Helms-Burton Act. President Clinton originally opposed the Act, but signed it into law in March 1996, following the downing by the Cuban Air Force of two light planes flown by members of an anti-Castro organization based in the United States. 

 

I. Introduction: 

 

On November 8, 2000, the heads of the delegations of Belize and Guatemala signed an agreement to adopt a comprehensive set of "confidence-building measures to avoid incidents between the two countries", according to the press release E-195/00 issued by the Permanent Council of the Organization of the American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. This agreement was described by the Secretary-General of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria, as a milestone. 

 

I. Introduction: 

 

On November 8, 2000, the heads of the delegations of Belize and Guatemala signed an agreement to adopt a comprehensive set of "confidence-building measures to avoid incidents between the two countries", according to the press release E-195/00 issued by the Permanent Council of the Organization of the American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. This agreement was described by the Secretary-General of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria, as a milestone. 

 

On June 21, 2000, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled (14-2) that it lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute brought by Pakistan against India in September 1999. The Court, which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations entrusted with settling legal disputes between sovereign States, consists of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, together with two judges ad hoc appointed especially for the case by Pakistan and India. The ICJ has its seat at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands.