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The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe today handed down a decision in which it approved the Lisbon Treaty but delayed its ratification. According to the Court, there are no decisive constitutional objections to the Act Approving the Treaty of Lisbon. The Lisbon treaty is as such compatible with the German basic law (Grundgesetz). Moreover, in [...]
Filed under: EC-Law, EU Reform, EU-Law, EU/EC Law | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday the government of Chile deposited its instrument of ratification to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Statute will enter into force for Chile on 1 September 2009, bringing the total number of States Parties to the Rome Statute to 109. The government of Chile had proposed constitutional reforms as a prerequisite to [...]
Filed under: ICC, International Courts, International Criminal Law | Leave a Comment »
One hundred thirty thousand persons, mostly civilians, are estimated to have been summarily executed in the Slovenian territory in the months following the end of the Second World War on 9 May 1945. It is estimated that around fifteen thousands of those executed were of Slovenia nationality, whereas the others were Croats, Serbs and Germans. [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, International Criminal Law, Public International Law | 6 Comments »
On 9 June 2009, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rendered its judgment in the case of Opuz v. Turkey (application no. 33401/02) concerning the Turkish authorities’ failure to protect the applicant and her mother from domestic violence. Interights, the international centre for the legal protection of human rights, was a third party intervener [...]
Filed under: ECtHR, Human Rights, Public International Law | Leave a Comment »
Today’s Independent has a list of what it considers the most ridiculous lawsuits. While some are rather amusing, like the man suing Budweiser when no scantily dressed ladies appear before him as was otherwise “promised” in one of the brewing company’s adverts, and the prison inmate who sues himself in the hope that the authorities [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Last week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published their Human Rights Inquiry examining people’s perceptions to human rights in the UK. Some findings are encouraging; some unsurprising while others give cause for concern. For instance, the survey finds that British people tend to value traditional civil and political rights like freedom of expression and [...]
Filed under: Human Rights | Leave a Comment »
On 10 June 2009, the Israeli Supreme Court (HCJ) rendered another stultifying judgment with regards to the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), this time on the evacuation of what the Court refers to as ‘unauthorised settlements’ or squats in the occupied West Bank. It should be noted as a point of clarification that the state and [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, International and national law, International Humanitarian Law, Middle East Crisis, Non Governmental Organizations, Public International Law | Leave a Comment »
I just today stumbled across this month-old article reporting on the Dutch foreign minister’s demand for a UN backed tribunal for the trial of pirates in the East African countries. We have reported earlier on the apparent desire among certain (European) States to establish such an international court (inter alia to avoid any pirates being [...]
Filed under: International Courts, Law of the sea | 3 Comments »
The margin of appreciation doctrine of European Court of Human Rights gives states leeway in their interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights. States also have the freedom to decide how they implement judgments finding violations against them. This has meant that individuals in each Council of Europe (CoE) member state experience rights protection [...]
Filed under: Council of Europe, ECtHR, Europeam Court of Human Rights, Guest Blogging, Human Rights, Regional Human Rights | 1 Comment »
We are glad to host a guest post by Gabriel Swain, research associate at the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent. In his post he will present an interesting EU-funded research project looking at the interactions between the European Court of Human Rights and domestic human rights actors, [...]
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By Sharon Weill and Valentina Azarov Currently, the fate of one of the only remaining venues that offers a redress mechanism for Palestinians is at stake. It is one that can bring accountability of Israeli officials and decision-makers who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The amendment of universal jurisdiction laws, often incommensurably restricting [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, International and national law, International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, international justice, Middle East Crisis, Public International Law, Responsibility to protect | 4 Comments »
Today, 8 June 2009, is World Oceans Day. Are cetaceans and crustaceans around the world whooping with joy? It is more likely that they are protesting against the abominable state of the seas and oceans. In a statement issued to mark the occasion, the United Nations Secretary-General said that World Oceans Day offered “an opportunity [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | Leave a Comment »
From 3 June to 19 June, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) hosts this year’s International Labour Conference (ILC). The ILC, also referred to as the “international parliament of labour” is the main legislative body of the ILO which has the competence to adopt Conventions and Recommendations on international labour standards. The ILC can also adopt [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, International and national law, Public International Law, United Nations | 1 Comment »
The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) has released a study conducted by a high-profile group of legal experts, indicating that Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)(See the Executive Summary of the Study). The interim report, will form part of a discussion at an upcoming HSRC [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, Middle East Crisis, Public International Law, Publications, Responsibility to protect | 2 Comments »
Last week, Amnesty International published its 2009 Report on the state of human rights across the globe. Perhaps not surprisingly, the report, inter alia, focuses on some of the effects that the current economic situation has on the respect for human rights. Thus, the foreword by Secretary General Irene Kahn notes that “it is not [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, human rights and business | 1 Comment »
On 3 April 2009, the President of the Human Rights Council established an international independent Fact Finding Mission with the mandate “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, international justice, Middle East Crisis, Public International Law, United Nations | Leave a Comment »
