Posted on October 16, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Council of Europe has recently published a report on human rights and business. It was prepared by rapporteur Mr Holger Haibach. Here is the summary: With globalisation, large multinational companies have faced charges that they are violating human rights, especially in developing countries: child labour in the textile industry, environmental disasters caused by the oil industry, [...]
Filed under: Corporations in International Law, Council of Europe, Human Rights, human rights and business | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 25, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Patrícia Pinto Soares (European University Institute) has just published her study on ‘The ICC at Eight: Assessing US policy and international criminal law: reciprocal influences’. Her study is the result of the study undertaken during the Calouste Gulbenkian Fellowship carried out at the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR), SAIS Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D. [...]
Filed under: ICC, ICC Review Conference, International Criminal Law, United Nations | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 4, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The Committee on legal affairs and human rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (COE) has published a briefing note on the Council of Europe’s investigation into illegal transfers and secret detentions in Europe: a chronology. It should be reminded that the COE Parliamentary Assembly has so far adopted two resolutions and [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 4, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has earlier this week adopted a provisional version of resolution on ‘Legal remedies for human rights violations in the North-Caucasus Region’. The Draft Resolution calls upon the Russian central and regional executive and judicial authorities to: ‘bring to [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 6, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Piracy at sea has in recent years reappeared as a growing conundrum for the stability and safety of international trade. The Council of Europe attempts to address this endemic problem in two recently adopted documents. First, its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has on 28 April 2010 adopted Resolution 1722 entitled piracy – a crime and a [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 30, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has just published a new report on the Effective implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights: the Interlaken process (drafted by Mrs Marie-Louise Bemelmans-Videc, The Netherlands, Group of the European People’s Party). The report’s summary reads as [...]
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Posted on April 13, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Our friend Kevin Jon Heller is co-organising a two-day symposium on hidden histories of domestic and international war crimes trials. Details are available below: UNTOLD STORIES: HIDDEN HISTORIES OF WAR CRIMES TRIALS A two-day international symposium to uncover and explore some of the less well-known war crimes trials, both international and domestic. Melbourne Law School [...]
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Posted on March 31, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
International Law Observer is glad to welcome a guest contribution by Richard Reibstein. Richard Reibstein is an environmental attorney, analyst and trainer with expertise in pollution prevention and regulatory policy innovation. He also teaches environmental law and policy at Boston University. The focus on voluntary reporting, norms, guidance, and the concept that companies can do [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 30, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The Joint Committee on Human Rights of House of Lords and House of Commons has just published a Report on Enhancing Parliament’s role in relation to human rights judgments. Here is the summary: This is our fourth report of the Parliament dealing with adverse judgments by the European Court of Human Rights and declarations of [...]
Filed under: Human Rights | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 25, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
European Parliament ‘s Committee on Constitutional Affairs held last week a hearing on the institutional aspects of the European Union’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. A topical intervention was made by Mr Holovaty, of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Sub-Committee on Human [...]
Filed under: Human Rights | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 27, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has just published conclusions on the future of the Strasbourg Court and enforcement of ECHR standards: reflections on the Interlaken process. Conclusions are available in French and in English. The Interlaken Conference on the future of the European [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 12, 2010 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Book review: Gentian Zyberi, The Humanitarian Face of the International Court of Justice: Its Contribution to Interpreting and Developing International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Rules and Principles, School of Human Rights Research Series, Volume 26, Antwerp: Intersentia, 2008. – xiii, 523 pp. This monograph is one of the first on the contribution of the [...]
Filed under: Book review, Public International Law, Publications | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 21, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
New York University Students for Human Rights have prepared a report on Transnational Corporations on the Right to Food. The Report was requested by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food ‘to inform a multi-stakeholder consultation convening on June 19-20, 2009 in Berlin, Germany on the role of the agribusiness sector in the [...]
Filed under: Corporations in International Law, human rights and business | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 9, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
We have reported earlier about legal action of 31,000 Ivorians before the High Court in London against international trade company, Trafigura, deriving from toxic waste spill in Ivory Coast, which caused the death of a number of people and the illness of thousands. This case now appears to be settled, even tough Greenpeace informs that [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 21, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
In Saadi v Italy, the European Court of Human Rights held in 2008 that article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits expulsion of individuals to states where they would face a “real risk” of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. In other words, the Court held that serious threats to the community presented [...]
Filed under: Europeam Court of Human Rights, Human Rights, Regional Human Rights, Regional Human Rights Protection | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 24, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Professor Larry Catá Backer has recently published in Melbourne Journal of International Law an excellent case note on two recent cases decided by UK National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Here is the title and abstract: Rights and Accountability in Development (‘Raid’) v Das Air and Global Witness v. Afrimex – [...]
Filed under: human rights and business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 28, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The rights and obligations of Internet users have been hotly debated in recent months in a number of European countries. Particularly, challenges arising from illegal file sharing and downloading have caused for a great concern among internet users, politicians and the entertainment industry. Several European countries have so far taken action against internet sites that [...]
Filed under: Human Rights | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 22, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
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 »
Posted on May 28, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Professor John Ruggie, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (hereinafter J. Ruggie), and his team, have recently published 2009 report on ‘Business and human rights: Towards operationalizing the »the protect, respect and remedy« framework« (U.N. Doc. A/HRC/11/13/, 22 April 2009). In his [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, human rights and business, international justice | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 16, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The US government published in February 2009 its decision that it will not renew its contract with the private security corporation formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide. Such a decision comes as no surprise given the allegations of killing 17 civilians by Blackwater guards, coupled with the Iraqi government’s refusal to extend Blackwater’s operating license. This [...]
Filed under: Corporations in International Law, human rights and business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 8, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
We are very glad to welcome Fozia Nazir Lone as a new author on International Law Observer. Fozia was recently appointed as an Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong. She successfully completed her PhD without any corrections on ‘Restoration of Historical Title and the Kashmir Question: An International Legal Appraisal’ from the University of [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 27, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
European movie theatres are currently screening the film Resolution 819 reconstructing the atrocities perpetrated in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. A French-Polish co-production represents the first attempt to portray the events surrounding genocide of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in and around Srebrenica in July 1995 on the big screen. The film has [...]
Filed under: Human Rights, International Criminal Law, international justice, Public International Law, Responsibility to protect | 4 Comments »
Posted on April 20, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
Sir Professor Neil MacCormick, the leading and kindest contemporary legal philosopher, former Scottish MEP and advocate for Scottish independence recently passed away. You can read obituaries here and here. He will be greatly missed.
Filed under: In Memoriam, Public International Law | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 13, 2009 by Jernej Letnar Černič
The enforcement mechanisms under the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) are probably the most prominent mechanisms on various aspects of corporate responsibility ranging from human rights to environment. In a recent development, a hard-working U.S. non-governmental organisation Earthrights International brought, together with a number of other non-governmental organisations, the [...]
Filed under: Corporations in International Law, human rights and business, Public International Law | 3 Comments »
