Search: extraterritorial sanctions

...the existence of a grey zone is well-known. In practice the divide may not always be clearly visible. Yet, large parts of the debate have been devoted to the establishment of one or more criteria to decide what makes an instrument law (be it sanctions, formalities, intent, effect, substance, or belief). Thus, depending on how one distinguishes between law and non-law, informal law output may or may not be part of international law. If formalities or intent matter, a lot of the informal output would not be law. If, in...

...African Constitutional Court in a landmark universal jurisdiction case involving alleged crimes against humanity committed in Zimbabwe in 2007. Tyler Cullis, meanwhile, reviewed to what extent the US would be legally and politically able to ease sanctions against Iran as part of a nuclear deal. In the last guest post of the week, Gabor Rona commented on the recent Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defence case on detention in a non-international armed conflict. Finally, Deborah shared her views on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearings on the AUMF, and as...

...rights and freedoms under pressure in three distinct areas: (1) property protection; (2) data protection and privacy, and (3) freedom of movement in the EU. Panels will tackle a range of issues, including, for instance, the use and abuse of international investment arbitration, immunity from execution, or the use of targeted financial sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Confirmed speakers include Judge James Crawford (International Court of Justice), Judge Siofra O’Leary (European Court of Human Rights), Judge Allan Rosas (Court of Justice of the EU), Prof. Joseph Cannataci (UN Special...

...by the ICC. Ivory Coast’s former President Laurent Gbagbo seeks a delay of his trial at the ICC, claiming he is too ill. ECOWAS has urged the UN Security Council for a Chapter VII resolution authorizing intervention in Mali if talks with rebel groups fail. Jurist has a piece about Charles Taylor, Arms Dealers and Reparations. UN monitors in Syria were shot at while trying to investigate a massacre site, and Kofi Annan has said that an “all-out civil war” is imminent. Australia will lift the remaining sanctions on Myanmar...

...that ECOWAS States have surprisingly refrained from applying sanctions against the ECCJ but have instead acted to increase its independence. Weingast and Moran suggest that where control by a principal is effective, overt sanctioning is rare as the agent rationally anticipates the preferences of the principal and incorporates those preferences into their behaviour. The question then is whether the act of ignoring certain decisions of the ECOWAS Court is not a tool by which ECOWAS States control the ECCJ by forcing it to self-censor in appropriate cases such that no...

...by the fact that opposition forces are implicated in the commission of atrocities as well, or that the Security Council needs to decide who (which side) should be prosecuted in advance of referring a situation to the court. What this conflict does indicate however, is the deepening entanglement between international courts and the Council, a theme which runs broadly through the Council’s peace and security work, and through its sanctions practice as well. This entanglement can be addressed in a few ways. The First, is greater clarity and better mechanisms...

...lower mental states such as dolus eventualis or recklessness? I worry about this argument. And here’s why. If intent = recklessness, then all cases of legitimate collateral damage would count as violations of the principle of distinction, because in collateral damage cases the attacker kills the civilians with knowledge that the civilians will die. And the rule against disproportionate attacks sanctions this behavior as long as the collateral damage is not disproportionate and the attack is aimed at a legitimate military target. But if intent = recklessness, then I see...

...practice in this area: Public international law (PIL) is not only relevant to governments these days, it is increasingly the concern of multinational corporations and individuals. International law now affects many corporate and financial transactions; companies need to be aware of the impact of such issues as sanctions, export controls, anti-corruption conventions, rules for combating crime and terrorism, and regimes of environmental accountability. PIL also often overlaps with WTO and human rights issues. Investor-state arbitrations are on the rise. Some may argue that this does not constitute pure PIL work,...

...attacks. The US will move cautiously to ease some of its economic sanctions on Myanmar. The CIA reports that Iran has expanded its nuclear work in 2011. No venue has been decided yet for the Iran nuclear talks due to start on April 13, with Iran now suggesting that the talks could take place in Beijing, Beirut, Baghdad or even Damascus. Violence has erupted in Athens, after a pensioner committed suicide near the Parliament. The WTO Appellate Body held that the US ban on clove cigarettes is discriminatory because menthol...

...genocide, which is enshrined in the Genocide Convention. He stated: States Parties confirm that genocide whether committed in time of peace or war, is a crime under international law that they undertake to prevent and punish … A State Party may choose from among a range of measures – diplomatic pressure, economic sanctions, judicial initiatives, or the use of military force – to undertake to prevent or punish genocide. But the State Party’s choice is necessarily discretionary. (Quoted in William Schabas, Genocide in International Law, p. 496) Third: The Future...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East Iran and six world powers clinched a deal to curb the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for initial sanctions relief, signalling the start of a game-changing rapprochement that would reduce the risk of a wider Middle East war, though a “tough road ahead” awaits those working to turn the interim accord into a comprehensive agreement. Duncan weighed in with his thoughts here. Rebels led by al Qaeda-linked fighters have seized Syria’s largest oilfield, cutting...

...and other forms of sexual violence, and forced abortion.” Rather than coddling him, taking a tougher stance with Kim Jong Un, which could include a new sanctions regime, might help advance both First Generation rights (in terms of demanding greater respect for civil/political liberties) as well as Third Generation rights (the collective right to peace via nuclear disarmament). This would be to the advantage of the Biden administration because, per the McCain Institute, “how a regime treats its own people is often indicative of how it will behave in foreign...