As readers are no doubt aware, the OTP has once again declined -- now for a third time -- to open an investigation into Israel's violent attack on the MV Mavi Marmara. That decision was wholly expected; the only question was how the OTP would deal with the Appeals Chamber's recent decision in the Comoros situation, in which the Chamber...
I have posted the first draft on SSRN. The article is entitled, intending to be provocative, "Genuine" Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention -- Another Ticking Time-Bomb Scenario. Here is the abstract: The activation of the crime of aggression at the ICC has renewed interest in one of the oldest and most fraught questions of the jus ad bellum: whether a state is entitled...
[Mattia Pinto is a PhD Candidate and teaching assistant in the Law Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His PhD research analyses the role that human rights play in fostering and legitimising penal expansion. Diletta Marchesi is a PhD Fellow for fundamental research of the Research Foundation – Flanders at the KU Leuven Institute of...
The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) continue to attract attention, sometimes for all the wrong reasons. Their suit before the International Labour Organisation for a salary increase as reported by the New York Times, and questionable legal judgements such as Pre-Trial Chamber II’s decision to deny the Prosecutor’s request to open a much needed, and clearly warranted investigation...
[Dimitrios A. Kourtis is a Research Associate and Adjunct at the School of Law of the University of Nicosia. He is completing his PhD at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki studying remedies for victims of genocide in international law.] In a possibly historical movement, The Gambia has launched an application instituting proceedings against Myanmar for acts and omissions targeting the Rohingya allegedly constituent...
An investigation by BBC Panorama and the Sunday Times has revealed what 11 detectives have called “credible evidence” of war crimes committed by British soldiers in Iraq. This will not come as news to those who are aware of the European Centre for Constitutional Human Rights (ECCHR)’s file that was submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the...
The past week has been a momentous one for the Rohingya, in their quest for justice and accountability. On Monday 11 November, The Gambia filed an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging violations of the genocide convention against Myanmar. On 13 November, a case was filed in Argentine domestic courts on the basis of what is termed ‘universal jurisdiction’ against members...
On 11 November 2019, The Gambia filed an application at the International Court of Justice against Myanmar, alleging violation of obligations under the Genocide Convention. This legal step has been in the works for some time now, with the announcement by the Gambian Minister of Justice that instructions had been given to counsel in October to file the application. As a result, the application has been...
On October 22, Jay Sekulow -- best known as one of Trump's lawyers -- filed a request to submit observations concerning the Afghanistan appeal on behalf of the European Centre for Law & Justice (ECLJ), the European branch of the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), an ultra-right NGO. The Appeals Chamber granted the request on October 24, despite...
At the International Conclave on Justice and Accountability for the Rohingya organized by the Centre for Peace and Justice (BRAC University), the Asia Justice Coalition and the International Institute of Social Studies on 18 October 2019, the Minister of Justice for The Gambia announced that he had instructed counsel on 4 October to proceed to file an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)...
[Jeremie Bracka is a Post-Doctoral Transitional Justice Fellow at the Hebrew University Minerva Center for Human Rights Law (Jerusalem) and currently works at the International Legal Forum (Tel Aviv).] Background On 2 September 2019, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected the Prosecutor’s appeal against the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) I on the “Application for Judicial Review by the Government...
[Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli is a Colombian lawyer. He works as a researcher and lecturer of Public International Law at the La Sabana University, Colombia.] The morning of the 20th of October, Colombian media informed that the State of Colombia submitted an advisory opinion request to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – which is not available in the webpage of the Court yet....