GPIL – German Practice in International Law

Published: 06 April 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon and Philip Wimmer

On 26 July 2019, the Higher Regional Court in Munich sentenced Ahmad Zaheer D. to two years’ probation for, inter alia, the war crime of outrages upon human dignity. At the same time, the Court found that the beating of three enemy prisoners during interrogation did not amount to the war crime of inhuman treatment of protected persons under international humanitarian law. Handing down the relatively lenient sentence, the Court considered in favour of the accused that he had made a full confession, had cooperated with the police authorities, had no other criminal record, and had made every effort to integrate in Germany. It also took into account that the crimes occurred long ago and that the accused was just 21 years old at the time of the crimes. (more…)

Published: 25 March 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon and Tobias Weiss

On 13 January 2020, the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart sentenced Syrian national Abdul Jawad al-Khalaf to life imprisonment for several crimes committed in Syria in 2012 and 2013, including membership of a foreign terrorist organization and war crimes against persons. The Court found that in November 2012 the accused had founded the terrorist organization “Mohamed Ibn Abd Allah” which sought to overthrow the Syrian Government under President Assad and reorganize the Syrian State under Sharia law. In March 2013, the accused and his fighters had participated in the conquest of the provincial capital Raqqa. On 4 March 2013, the accused took part in the storming of the governor’s palace in Raqqa and the capture of at least 40 supporters of the Assad Government, including the provincial governor and party leader, as well as policemen and civil servants. Of those captured, at least 19 were subsequently sentenced to death by a Sharia court and executed at a garbage dump near the city of Tabqa in the presence of the accused. The Court found that the accused had killed at least two prisoners himself. (more…)

Published: 24 March 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 14 July 2015, Iran, the P5+1 countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany – and the European Union (EU) agreed on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) that sought to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme would be exclusively peaceful. Under the JCPoA, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. For the next 15 years, Iran was to enrich uranium only up to 3.67%. Iran also agreed not to build any new heavy-water facilities for the same period of time. Uranium-enrichment activities were to be limited to a single facility using first-generation centrifuges for 10 years. Other facilities were to be converted to avoid proliferation risks. To monitor and verify Iran’s compliance with the agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was to have regular access to all Iranian nuclear facilities. The JCPoA provided that, in return for Iran verifiably abiding by its commitments, the nuclear-related economic sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, the EU and the United States would be lifted. In its resolution 2231 (2015) the UN Security Council endorsed the JCPoA and lifted all nuclear-related sanctions. As a result of the JCPoA, on 16 January 2016 the EU and the United States lifted some of their unilateral nuclear-related economic sanctions on Iran. (more…)

Published: 20 March 2020 Authors: Carl-Philipp Sassenrath and Stefan Talmon

In 2011, uprisings in Yemen sparked a complex political military crisis that has been ongoing ever since. Since March 2015, a coalition of Arab States led by Saudi Arabia has supported the Yemeni Government under President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi in a conflict with the Houthi armed movement and other domestic and regional actors. The coalition, which is comprised of eight other Arab States, receives intelligence, logistical support and weapons from the United States and the United Kingdom. Other States are also reported to have sold arms to the conflicting parties. The Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, which was established in 2017 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the request of the Human Rights Council, concluded that all parties to the conflict have violated international law. In order to strengthen international accountability, the German Federal Government had lobbied for the establishment of the Group of Eminent Experts.

In their 2018 political agreement establishing a coalition government, the ruling parties in Germany set out their policy with regard to the conflict in Yemen and the export of arms as follows: (more…)

Published: 09 March 2020 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Mary Lobo

On 27 November 2019, the Governments of Turkey and Libya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which purported to delimit the boundaries of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the two States the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The public disclosure of this document prompted protests from several other States, especially Greece and Cyprus, as the area that had purportedly been delimited between Turkey and Libya included sea areas also claimed by these two States as part of their continental shelf and EEZ. (more…)

Published: 3 March 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

Throughout the year, Germany makes numerous statements on international law. Not all of these statements form part of a case study presented on GPIL. However, these statements may nevertheless be of interest to international lawyers. We will therefore compile these statements on a monthly basis, starting with January 2020. (more…)

Published: 17 February 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

Civil-war torn Syria has become a stomping ground for foreign troops. The United States, Russia, Turkey, France and the United Kingdom have all admitted that they have soldiers on the ground in Syria. While France and the United Kingdom have sent special operations forces to Syria, the United States, Russia and Turkey have deployed regular troops to the country. All five States have justified their troop presence in Syria with fighting the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups in the country. In response to parliamentary questions, in January 2020 the German Federal Government set out its position on the legal basis for the presence of the Russian and U.S. troops in Syria.

Russian troops have been in Syria since September 2015, supporting the Syrian military in its fight with rebel groups. The Russian intervention came at an official request by the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad. The Federal Government seems to acknowledge the legality of the presence of Russian troops as an intervention by invitation, stating: (more…)

Published: 12 February 2020 Authors: Ruth Effinowicz and Stefan Talmon

Recent years have seen a large number of people, mainly from African and Asian countries trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean. For 2019, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported 110,669 migrants and refugees entering Europe via the sea route. In 2019 alone, at least 1,283 persons died when trying to cross the Mediterranean. The death toll since 2014 has reached at least 19,164. This has prompted various non-State actors to organise search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. In August 2018, the spokesperson for the German Federal Foreign Office summarised the situation as follows:

“Under normal circumstances, saving lives at sea is not a mass phenomenon but something that occurs only sporadically. Rescue at sea is governed by rules of international law. If ships take onboard rescued persons, they can be brought to the nearest port. The fact that we now have a situation where thousands of people are trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe has changed the situation.”

This changed situation has given rise to difficult legal questions. Some of these questions have been addressed by the German Federal Government in replies to parliamentary questions and enquiries by the media.

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Published: 10 February 2020 Author: Tobias Weiss

Cameroon has been plagued by protests ever since the country’s presidential elections on 7 October 2018, when the 85-year-old Paul Biya became president for the seventh time in an election marred by low voter turnout and violence. Opposition leader Maurice Kamto from the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) who, according to the official results had achieved only 14% of the vote compared to Paul Biya’s 71%, alleged that the election was rigged.

While protests had been staged sporadically since the elections, a new round of protests broke out throughout the country on 26 January 2019. This time, the protests, however, were not limited to Cameroon. In the early hours of 27 January 2019, a small group of protesters forcefully entered the embassy of Cameroon in Berlin and occupied the building for several hours. They streamed their occupation, chanting “Vive la revolution!” The group said that by its action it was supporting the opposition movement in Cameroon. There was no police protection of the embassy at the time. After a call with the Cameroonian ambassador, the police entered the premises and removed the protesters. The embassy building suffered minor damages. No one was injured. The police took the protestors into custody and investigated charges of trespassing and damage to property. A similar event took place in Paris at roughly the same time. (more…)

Published: 07 February 2020 Authors: Shpetim Bajrami and Stefan Talmon

In recent years, the question of how to prevent an arms race in outer space has gained traction in the United Nations. On 5 November 2019, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) of the General Assembly voted on four draft resolutions relating to the prevention of an arms race in outer space. While frequently emphasizing its commitment to prevent an arms race in outer space and highlighting the need for new rules to that effect, Germany voted in favour of only two of these resolutions, voting against one and abstaining on another.

Outer space is not subject to the sovereignty of States. On the contrary, according to the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty), the exploration and use of outer space “shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.” The Outer Space Treaty has 109 parties, including the major spacefaring nations. Germany ratified the Treaty on 10 February 1971. The Outer Space Treaty is largely silent on the question of the militarization of outer space. Article IV (1) of the Treaty provides: (more…)