GPIL – German Practice in International Law

Published: 05 April  2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

Following the United States’ illegal recognition of Israel’s annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan, on 26 March 2019 Syria asked the UN Security Council presidency, then held by France, to schedule an urgent meeting in order to “discuss the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan and the recent flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council’s resolution by a permanent Member State.”

The Security Council was scheduled to meet behind closed doors on 27 March 2019 to discuss the situation in the Middle East and, in particular, the mandate of the peacekeeping force on the Golan, known as United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). In response to Syria’s request, France decided to turn that meeting into a public session and to give members an opportunity to address the action by the United States. However, unlike the other speakers, Germany’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, did not dwell long on the subject. Rather, he used the opportunity for an all-out attack on the Syrian Government, stating: (more…)

Published: 04 April  2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

At its sixty-ninth session in 2017, the International Law Commission (ILC) adopted the draft articles on crimes against humanity on first reading. In accordance with its statute, the ILC decided to transmit the draft articles through the Secretary-General to Governments, international organizations, and others for comments and observations. On 30 November 2018, Germany submitted written comments on both the ILC’s work on the crimes against humanity in general and on specific draft articles. The general comments read as follows: (more…)

Published: 01 April  2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

During the Six-Day War in June 1967 Israel captured the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria and has occupied them ever since. Some 90,000 Syrians and some 17,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA fled or were driven from the territory. Over the years some 23,000 Israelis settlers moved to the territory and now live alongside the remaining Druze Arab population of roughly the same number. On 14 December 1981, the Knesset, the Parliament of Israel, passed the Golan Heights Law which provided, inter alia, that “the law, jurisdiction and administration of the state shall apply to the Golan Heights, as described in the Appendix.” The law amounted to the annexation of the territory by Israel which was not recognized by the international community. (more…)

Published: 21 February 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

When presenting the Federal Government’s 13th Human Rights Report to Parliament on 19 February 2019, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that Germany would run again for the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva – a year earlier than planned. He stated: (more…)

Published: 20 February 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 19 February 2019, hearings in a war crimes trial before the Third Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart opened (case file no. 3 – 3 StE 5/18). 29-year old Syrian national Mohamad K. – who served in the rebel “Free Syrian Army” from January 2012 to January 2013 – was charged, together with others, with the torture of two prisoners who were involved in a pro-government militia in the Syrian province of Idlib, according to the German Code of Crimes against International Law (CCAIL). Section 8(1)(3) of the CCAIL provides: (more…)

Published: 15 February 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 13 February 2019, the Federal Government adopted its 13th Human Rights Report. In 1991, Parliament called upon the Government to produce bi-annual reports on its human rights policy in both foreign relations and other policy fields. In its resolution, Parliament had declared: (more…)

Published: 14 February 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

Germany has been a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) since 1992. Every five years, State parties must submit a report to the Committee of the Rights of the Child on the measures they have adopted giving effect to the rights recognized in the Convention, and on the progress made on the enjoyment of those rights. On 13 February 2019, the German Government adopted the report to be submitted to the Committee for the period 2014-2018. The due date for the report is 4 April 2019. (more…)

Published: 09 February 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 4 September 2007, German authorities arrested Turkish citizen Adem Yilmaz, also known as Ebu Talha, together with two other members of a terrorist cell of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU). The three had plotted bombing attacks against public places and U.S. military facilities in Germany, including Ramstein Air Base. The suspects had acquired chemical substances to make explosives equivalent to 550 kilograms of dynamite. On 4 March 2010, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf sentenced Adem Yilmaz to 11 years imprisonment for participating as a member in a terrorist organization abroad; conspiracy to commit murder, cause an explosion and coerce constitutional organs; and acts in preparation of an explosion offence. Rendering the judgment, the presiding judge said that the case had “shown with frightening clarity what acts young people who are filled with hatred, blinded and seduced by wrong-headed ideas of jihad are prepared and able to carry out.” (more…)

Published: 20 January 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

Germany is a champion of the so-called “rules-based order”. In the speeches and statements of Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and other Foreign Office officials there are frequent references to a “rules-based order”, a “rules-based international order”, a “rules-based global order”, a “rules-based multilateral order”, or a “rules-based system”. Germany considers the rules-based order to be increasingly called into question, and wants to be a defender of that order. It has attempted to build an “alliance of multilaterlists” who join forces to protect, and continue to develop, the rules-based order. In statements of the Federal Foreign Office, such references to a “rules-based order” have largely replaced references to the “international legal order” or “international law”. (more…)

Published: 05 January 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon

In 2018 Germany signed more than 115 bilateral agreements. In contrast, Germany signed just one multilateral treaty during that period. In addition, Germany signed numerous non-binding Memoranda of Understanding and Declarations of Intent. The following is an incomplete list compiled from public sources: (more…)