Jus cogens: Recent Developments in International Law

International Courts & Tribunals at a Glance (No. 20)

International Courts & Tribunals at a Glance, a juscogens.net feature, aims to provide timely notice of recent happenings and trial developments in an organized, central location and an unbiased, objective manner. For comments or suggestions, please contact editor@juscogens.net.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Ahmadou Sadio Diallo (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of the Congo):

Preliminary objections: Schedule of public hearings to be held from 27 November to 1 December 2006 (9 November 2006)--From the ICJ, "The hearings will be concerned solely with the preliminary objections raised by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) regarding the admissibility of the Application" made by the Republic of Guinea.

• Schedule of hearings
• Case resources

Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia):

Preliminary Objections: Public hearings to open on Monday 4 June 2007 (15 November 2006)--From the ICJ: "The public hearings in the case concerning the Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) will open on Monday 4 June 2007 before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The detailed schedule for the hearings, which will be concerned solely with the preliminary objections raised by Colombia regarding the jurisdiction of the Court, will be published at a later date."

Cases currently being heard/under deliberation:

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro)

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Overview of Court Proceedings

Overview of Court Documents

Court Schedule

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing (15 November 2006)

Court Of Bosnia And Herzegovina Renders First Judgement In A Case Transferred By The Tribunal (14 November 2006):

From the ICTY, "The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina today sentenced Radovan Stankovic to 16 years' imprisonment for rapes and other crimes against humanity committed in the Bosnian town of Foca in 1992. Stankovic was the first ICTY indictee whose case was transferred to a national court as part of Tribunal's completion strategy, under the Rule 11 bis. According to the indictment, Stankovic was in charge of Karaman's house, a house in Foca where Bosnian Muslim women and girls, some as young as 12 and 14 years of age, were detained so that Serb soldiers and other Serb men could sexually assault them. Stankovic and others treated the women and girls as their personal property. During the entire period of their detention the girls and women were subjected to repeated rapes and sexual assaults. Stankovic repeatedly raped, assaulted and threatened two victims and threatened to rape others....The Tribunal is dedicated to assisting local courts in conducting war crimes trials in accordance with international standards of fair trial and remains committed to supporting fair trials for the perpetrators of atrocities committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The ICTY hopes the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina can complement the work of the Tribunal in providing justice and trying perpetrators that will not be tried in The Hague. To date the ICTY has transferred eleven indictees to local courts pursuant to a Rule11bis ruling. The number of cases referred under Rule 11bis is comparatively small in comparison to the number of cases tried before the Tribunal. Out of 161 persons indicted by the Tribunal, proceedings against 97 of them have been completed."

• ICTY, Rules of Procedure and Evidence (as of 13 June 2006)

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Daily Journal

Daily Case Minutes

Judicial Calendar

ICTR Newsletter (October 2006)

Latest Decisions:

THE PROSECUTOR v. Protais ZIGIRANYIRAZO, Case No. ICTR-2001-73-T, DECISION ON THE PROSECUTION JOINT MOTION FOR RE-OPENING ITS CASE AND FOR RECONSIDERATION OF THE 31 JANUARY 2006 DECISION ON THE HEARING OF WITNESS MICHEL BAGARAGAZA VIA VIDEO-LINK: Rules 54, 73, 73 Bis(E), and 85 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (16 November 2006) (granting the motion for the reopening of the Prosecution case, denying the motion for reconsideration of the Decision of 31 January 2006 for Mr. Bagaragaza to be heard by video-link, directing that Mr. Bagaragaza be heard in Arusha, and ordering "the transfer of Mr. Bagaragaza from the Detention Centre in The Hague to the Detention Facility in Arusha for hearings at the Tribunal the week beginning 27 November 2006")

The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)

Court Schedule

Court Summary, Week Ended 3 November 2006

Case Developments & Resources:

The Civil Defence Forces (CDF) Accused

• Decision on the impermissibility of eliciting evidence involving the Second Accused through cross-examination of witnesses called by the Third Accused (10 November 2006)

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Accused

• Decision on Defence application for leave to appeal the decision on motion for clarification and for a ruling that the Defence has been denied cross-examination opportunities (10 November 2006)
• Decision on Defence application for review of the Registrar's decision on the Sesay Defence "exceptional circumstances" motion (15 November 2006)
  

The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (ARFC) Accused

• Decision on confidential motion to call evidence in rebuttal (14 November 2006)

Prosecutor v. Charles Taylor

• Decision on confidential Prosecution motion to vary protective measures (15 November 2006)

International Criminal Court (ICC)

Hearing Schedule

ICC Newsletter (November 2006)

Prosecutor presents evidence that could lead to first ICC trial (9 November 2006)

Communiqué from the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims of the International Criminal Court (9 November 2006)

Situations & Cases [All documents ]:

Situation in Dafur, Sudan

• Demande pour répliquer à la réponse du Bureau du Procureur concernant la requête déposée par la défense sollicitant l'autorisation d'interjeter appel à l'encontre de la décision du 02/11/2006 sur les conclusions "in limine Litis Sursis à Statuer" (8 November 2006)
• Prosecutor's Reply to Ad Hoc Counsel's "Conclusions Aux Fins D'Exception D'Incompétence et D'Irrecevabilité" (10 November 2006)
• Demande pour répliquer à la réponse de M. le Procureur en date du 10/11/2006 relative aux "Conclusions Aux Fins d'Exception d'Incompétence et d'Irrecevabilité soulevées par la Défense en date du 13/10/2006 (13 November 2006)

Situation in Central African Republic

Situation in Uganda

• Decision to Registrer Document in the Record (8 November 2006)
• Submission of information on the status of the execution of the warrants of arrest in the situation in Uganda – Corrigendum 2 (dated 6 October 2006, made avaliable 15 November 2006)

Situation in Democratic Republic of Congo

• Request submitted pursuant to rule 103(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence for leave to participate as amicus curiae (10 November 2006)

1. The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (Pre-Trial Phase):

• Decision to give access to the Prosecution to the evidence included in the Defence list of evidence filed on 2 November 2006 (8 November 2006)
• Public Redacted Version of Request to exclude evidence obtained in violation of article 69(7) of the Statute (7 November 2006)
• Decision on the Defence Request to Postpone the Confirmation Hearing (8 November 2006)
• Decision on the Defence request for leave to appeal regarding the transmission of applications for victim participation (6 November 2006)
• Confirmation Hearing: 9th November 2006, Introductory Comments of Senior Trial Attorney Ekkehard Withopf (9 November 2006)
• Appeals Chamber's Decision on the "Prosecutor's Request for an Extension of the Page Limit" (16 November 2006) (dismissing the request as "superfluous" and noting that "the application of the Prosecutor for the extension of the page limit is premised on the assumption that such a limit is set at 20 pages. This is not the case. The page limit extends to 100 pages.")

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

Pending Cases and current status

This Week in Public International Law Scholarship (No. 27)

This Week in Public International Law Scholarship, a juscogens.net feature, highlights new and notable books and articles concerning public international law. For comments, suggestions, or omissions please contact editor@juscogens.net.

Books:

Seyla Benhabib, Robert Post (ed.), Another Cosmopolitanism: Hospitality, Sovereignty, and Democratic Iterations

Richard Caplan, International Governance of War-Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction

P. R. Ghandhi, Blackstone's International Human Rights Documents (5th ed.)

Jennifer A. Zerk, Multinationals and Corporate Social Responsibility: Limitations and Opportunities in International Law

Articles:

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Volume 39, Number 3, May 2006

• Michael J. Frank, U.S. Military Courts and the War in Iraq
• Michael Schoiswohl, Linking the International Legal Framework to Building the Formal Foundations of a "State at Risk": Constitution-Making and International Law in Post-Conflict Afghanistan
• Joshua Michael Goodwin, Note, Universal Jurisdiction and the Pirate: Time for an Old Couple to Part

Southern California Law Review, Volume 79, Number 6, September 2006

• Duncan B. Hollis, EXECUTIVE FEDERALISM: FORGING NEW FEDERALIST CONSTRAINTS ON THE TREATY POWER

Human Rights Quarterly, Volume 28, Number 4

• Manfred Nowak, What Practices Constitute Torture?: US and UN Standards
• Payam Akhavan, Report on the Work of the Office of the Special Adviser of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide

New York University Law Review, Volume 81, Number 5, November 2006

• Ari S. Bassin, Note, "DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES": RULE 92 BIS--HOW THE AD HOC INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS UNNECESSARILY SILENCE THE DEAD

American Review of International Arbitration, Volume 16, Number 1, 2005

• Stavros Brekoulakis, THE EFFECT OF AN ARBITRAL AWARD AND THIRD PARTIES IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION: RESJUDJCATA REVISITED

Security Council Compendium (No. 15)

Security Council Compendium, a weekly juscogens.net feature, provides a comprehensive, concise summary of the work of the United Nations Security Council in an organized, central location and an unbiased, objective manner. For comments or suggestions, please contact editor@juscogens.net.

Security Council Resolutions

None issued. But cf. UN News Centre, "US vetoes Security Council draft resolution on Israeli operations in Gaza," 11 Nov. 2006 (recognizing that the United States exercised its veto in the Security Council and "blocked a draft resolution that won the endorsement of 10 other members and would have called for a United Nations fact-finding mission in response to a recent Israeli operation in Gaza resulting in at least 18 civilian deaths").

Security Council Meetings

S/PV.5562 (7 November 2006) Democratic Republic of the Congo [S/PRST/2006/44]

S/PV.5563 (8 November 2006) Bosnia and Herzegovina [no action]

S/PV.5564 (9 November 2006) Middle East situation, including the Palestinian question [no action]

S/PV.5564 (Resumption 1) (9 November 2006) Middle East situation, including the Palestinian question [no action]

Statements By Security Council President (November 2006 - Peru)

S/PRST/2006/44 (7 November 2006) The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo (commenting on "provincial elections and the second round of the presidential election held on 29 October 2006")

Statements to Press By Security Council President

None issued.

Security Council President and Secretary-General Letters

S/2006/859 (2 November 2006) Letter dated 1 November 2006 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council (Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission: Coming activities to be performed)

S/2006/866 (6 November 2006) Letter dated 1 November 2006 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council (United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB))

S/2006/867 (6 November 2006) Letter dated 6 November 2006 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General (United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB))

S/2006/875 (9 November 2006) Letter dated 9 November 2006 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General (Security Council mission to Afghanistan, 9 to 17 November 2006)

Reports of the Secretary-General

None issued.

Security Council Monthly Programme of Work (as of 2 November 2006)

2006 Archived Webcasts of Security Council Meetings