Search: extraterritorial sanctions

As readers no doubt know, Fatou Bensouda announced yesterday that the OTP is opening a formal investigation into the situation in Palestine. Doing so was a foregone conclusion, given the Pre-Trial Chamber’s recent decision that the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Regardless, even if the bulk of the work will fall to her successor, Karim Khan, Bensouda deserves credit for not being cowed by Israel’s ridiculous allegations of anti-semitism or by the US’s indefensible sanctions against her, which the Biden administration...

...as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s efforts to obtain full membership at the UN) is “pure diplomatic terrorism” peaceful Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) efforts are economic terrorism; legal work and engagement with international mechanisms is legal terrorism; and those who do such work are “Terrorists in Suits.” Perhaps, for Israel, even writing this article or any similar intellectual exercise is intellectual terrorism. Moreover, for Israel, any criticism of its human rights violations is antisemitism. Even calling Israel’s regime by its name and the accurate legal characterization, i.e., “apartheid,” is antisemitic. Likewise,...

...an option given Russia’s role and veto power. (For the background legal context leading up to the Lockerbie trial, see here; and for an analysis of the verdict, see here.) The International Court of Justice was also approached by Libya and ruled that it had jurisdiction to proceed with the case – before the proceedings were terminated by the agreement of all parties. And of course, it is worth also remembering the role of economic sanctions in bringing pressure to bear. What the Lockerbie trial indicates is that there were...

...document the suffering of Palestinians as well as Israel’s breaches of international law. They do so at great personal risk, with special note to Albanese who is routinely threatened in the most vile ways by allies of Israel (including the US State Department which either recklessly or deliberately smeared her this past week). Their recommendations bear repeating here: An arms embargo and economic sanctions levelled against Israel; Support for South Africa’s resort to the UNSC under art 94(2) of the UN Charter; Lobbying Karim Khan to pursue arrest warrants for...

...Ngudjolo deported from the Netherlands. Interestingly, the website for the 1533 Sanctions Committee still lists Ngudjolo as being subject to a UN travel ban, although this does not seemed to have proven a hindrance. The Ngudjolo case is another instalment in the story of the ICC’s growing pains, and in The Netherlands’ fight to minimise the impact of it hosting the Court. This story will go on as the ICC continues its operations and more judgments are rendered, and it is hoped that in future the odds become a bit...

...obligations have direct relevance (see discussion Chapter 4.3.6.1) especially in light of the double veto by China and Russia of a resolution that would have condemned the crimes being committed in Myanmar (draft resolution S/2007/14).  Chapter 5.2 additionally discusses how veto threats in the face of alleged genocide, as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes, in Darfur weakened the sanctions regime and weakened and delayed peacekeeping.  The vetoes and veto threats in both these situations appear the exact opposite of adhering to the due diligence obligation to “prevent”...

...however, these doctrines were expressions or applications of the broader concept of self-preservation, which Verdebout admits, was recognized as a fundamental right of states. To Verdebout, this confirms the core claim of the book, which is that pre-1914 international law was not indifferent towards the question of the use of force. For instance, on pages 204-205, Verdebout notes that in all the cases of intervention surveyed in her book, the use of force was “presented as sanctions of law – i.e., as the exercise of the right of self-preservation.” This,...

...regarding the elected Prosecutor. Principled thinking and safeguards, however, may not have caught the attention of the Bureau-majority. The result is that different kinds of disguised political interests might have been in the mix at the Bureau. This is no mystery since Bureau representatives are dependent on their governments. The Prosecutor might be seen by many Western politicians as being responsible for the US sanctions directed at ICC key personnel because of the Netanyahu arrest warrant and considered a political problem for Western governments. Extraneous considerations may, therefore, have tipped...

...the panels left the interpretation of the term “essential security interests” open so as to accommodate various interests of the Members. However, the reliance on Article XXI(b)(iii) GATT would require an occurrence of an extreme form of deterioration of international relations. Certainly, this degree of gravity in international relations will be rarely met. Hence, this interpretation of the security exceptions significantly curtails the policy space for the WTO Members to impose trade-restrictive measures in the form of targeted unilateral sanctions or tit-for-tat measures under the aegis of Article XXI(b)(iii) GATT....

...the request of President Assad. Although several states criticized this decision, none deemed it unlawful (160). Libya offers a similar example, where the Gaddafi government’s repressive and violent response to Arab Spring protests led the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions and refer the matter to the International Criminal Court. Like with Syria, numerous states concluded that the Gaddafi government was no longer legitimate and had lost the consent of the Libyan people. And like the SOC in Syria, several governments recognized the National Transitional Council as the true representative...

...Fourth Geneva Convention is generally understood to encompass a duty to search for persons on States’ own territory accused of having committed, or ordered the commission of, grave breaches, and to prosecute or extradite such persons. The Article’s reference to the ‘suppression’ of other violations of the Convention is understood to refer to the need to institute appropriate rules of engagement, administrative and disciplinary measures, and possibly criminal sanctions, in respect of one’s own armed forces.  Arguably it also covers the enactment of domestic criminal legislation based on the territorial,...

...December 2025) that ecological damage can be a significant factor in the various ICC crimes (war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression). The challenge is to turn this acknowledgement into effective prosecutorial actions. As Maud Sarliève and Pauline Martini noted, the OTP Policy: represents a significant development in international criminal law (ICL), clarifying that environmental destruction may lead to criminal accountability for individuals, and not to merely regulatory sanctions or civil liability. International humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law (ICL) have long struggled to account...