domestic courts Archives - Center for Global Law and Justice

March 07, 2019

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Absolute Immunity For International Organizations

On February 27, 2019, the United States Supreme Court held by a vote of seven to one that international organizations do not have absolute immunity from suit in U.S. courts. See Jam v. International Finance Corp., No. 17-1011, slip op. at 2 (U.S. Feb. 27, 2019). Rejecting the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) argument that international organizations like the IFC maintain absolute immunity from suit in U.S. courts, the Court allowed a case alleging injuries from environmental pollution caused by a power plant that was funded and supervised by the IFC to proceed in a U.S. federal court. See id. at […]

June 27, 2018

Ten Human Rights Standards Implicated by U.S. Immigration Policy Changes

Recent changes in the United States’ immigration policies have drawn fresh condemnation from human rights experts and civil society, particularly as news spread that authorities had separated approximately 2,000 children from their parents at the country’s southern border. [IACHR Press Release; OHCHR Press Release; UNHCR Press Release] These changes include automatic criminal prosecution and detention of adults – including asylum seekers – entering the United States without authorization, separation and detention of children who crossed the southern border outside a port of entry with their parents, and a directive instructing immigration officials not to recognize a State’s failure to protect […]

May 01, 2018

U.S. Supreme Court Limits Corporate Liability for Human Rights Abuses

On April 24, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Jesner v. Arab Bank that foreign citizens cannot sue foreign corporations for civil damages in U.S. federal courts for serious violations of international law, such as torture or extrajudicial killings. See Jesner et al. v. Arab Bank, PLC, No. 16–499, slip op. (April 24, 2018). The case was brought against Arab Bank by victims of several terrorist attacks occurring in Israel and the occupied territories. See id. at 1. The plaintiffs alleged that Arab Bank supported numerous terrorist attacks, including those that harmed the victims, by knowingly providing financial services […]

September 13, 2017

Supreme Court of India Declares Privacy Is a Fundamental Right

At the end of August, the Supreme Court of India unanimously held that the Constitution of India specifically protects the right to privacy, which it concluded is inherent to constitutional guarantees of life and liberty pursuant to its Article 21 and, therefore, already exists as a fundamental freedom enshrined in the Constitution. See Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd) vs. Union of India, (2017) (India) (opinion of Chandrachud, J.), at 110, 254, 257, 262. The decision arose from a case challenging the constitutionality of the country’s system of using biometrics to identify individuals. For the case to move forward, the nine judges […]

August 25, 2017

News Clips- August 25, 2017

Civil Society Protesters in Hong Kong demonstrated last weekend to call for the release of three pro-democracy activists who were imprisoned last week. [Guardian] Maina Kiai, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur and a human rights activist, was detained at the Nairobi airport for two hours before allowed to leave the country last Sunday. [Guardian] A Chinese human rights lawyer plead guilty on Tuesday to charges of inciting subversion of state power, but civil society is calling the trial a sham and believe he was forced to confess. [VOA] Activities of Human Rights Bodies & Experts and Intergovernmental Bodies The […]

May 19, 2017

News Clips- May 19, 2017

Civil Society On Friday, an estimated 11 activists were detained in Moscow while reading aloud Russia’s constitution. [Guardian] On Wednesday, the government in Venezuela announced it will deploy 2,000 soldiers in response to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that have been protesting the government since April. [Guardian] Freedom of Expression & Access to Information On Thursday, independent experts from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the killing of Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a prominent journalist in Mexico. [OHCHR Press Release] On Friday, a local court in Baku, Azerbaijan upheld the government’s decision to block access […]

May 03, 2017

Dutch Businessman Convicted of War Crimes Committed in Liberia and Guinea

On April 21, 2017, a Dutch court of appeal ruled that Dutch national Guus Kouwenhoven, acting in his capacity as president and director of two timber companies, was an accessory to war crimes including, rape, pillage, inhumane treatment, and murder committed in Liberia and Guinea between August 2000 and December 2002. See Hof ‘s-Hertogenbosch 21 april 2017, RvdW 2017, 20-001906-10 (Kouwenhoven) (Neth.) (in Dutch only). [Global Witness Press Release] The court determined that Kouwenhoven’s provision of weapons, material, personnel, and other resources to the former Liberian President Charles Taylor, in addition to his manifested intent to contribute to the commission […]

April 12, 2017

ILO: Thailand Not Meeting Obligations Under Forced Labour Convention

The International Labour Organization (ILO) recently issued recommendations to Thailand to bring it in line with anti-slavery and forced labor provisions in the ILO Forced Labour Convention in response to allegations on the use of forced labor in the fishing industry, which has also been the topic of a lawsuit in the United States and of international pressure. [Guardian: Lawsuit; Guardian: ILO] Specifically, the submission to the ILO – referred to as a representation – alleged the forced labor and trafficking in persons of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and alleged that fishers are […]

March 17, 2017

News Clips – March 17, 2017

International Criminal Law The Colombian Senate voted to approve the establishment of a court with jurisdiction over war crimes, fulfilling one part of the recent peace deal with the FARC. [VOA] A court in Poland issued an arrest warrant for a man living in the United States for war crimes committed during World War II. [Washington Post] Civil Society After reaching an agreement that doctors in public hospitals in Kenya will only work 40 hours a week, the doctors’ strike in the country ended this week after three months. [Al Jazeera] An activist in Thailand was arrested for stating online […]

March 10, 2017

News Clips- March 10, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, to mark International Women’s Day, women demonstrated around the world for equality. [Reuters] On Tuesday, in Argentina tens of thousands joined in a march protesting job cuts and other policies initiated under President Mauricio Macri. [Al Jazeera] On Monday, Israel passed a law denying entry visas to foreign nationals who support boycotts against Israel or its West bank settlements. [Washington Post] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, a human rights organization reported it is likely that a United States-led coalition is responsible for air strikes on an ISIL controlled village in Syria that resulted […]

March 03, 2017

News Clips- March 3, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, Russian security officials raided the home of well-known journalist and human rights defender Zoya Svetova. [Committee to Protect Journalists] On Tuesday, hundreds protested the evacuation of settlers from homes in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, after courts found the homes were built on Palestinian land in violation of the law. [CNN] Last Friday, United States President Trump blocked media organizations, including the New York Times, CNN, Politico, and Al Jazeera, from participating in a press briefing. [Al Jazeera] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, a Russian airstrike accidentally targeted Syrian Arab fighters that […]

February 28, 2017

UN Finds Libyan Trial Violated Rights of Gaddafi Regime Members

In a report published on February 21, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that the trial of 37 former members of the Gaddafi regime, including Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, failed to meet international due process standards. See UNSMIL & OHCHR, Report on the Trial of 37 Former Members of the Qadhafi Regime (Case 630/2012) (2017), at 1–5. Conducted by the Tripoli Court of Assize from March 2014 to July 2015, the trial resulted in the convictions of 32 officials from the Gaddafi regime for offenses […]