GPIL – German Practice in International Law

Published: 3 September 2024  Author: Stefan Talmon

On 3 May 2019, German customs and federal police stopped a car with diplomatic registration plates on the A17 motorway from Prague to Dresden for a routine inspection. During the search of the vehicle, officers found 70kg of heroin in two suitcases, neatly packed in 140 packs of 500 grams each, with a street value of more than €3 million. When the two vehicle occupants — Battushig B., Vice-Consul of the Mongolian Consulate General in Istanbul, and Erdenebayar S., his driver, from the domestic service at the same consular post — were to be arrested, they claimed consular immunity. As the two men were not accredited to Germany, however, they were provisionally detained by the police. The following day, the Dresden District Court issued an arrest warrant and ordered their pre-trial detention. (more…)

Published 29 August 2024  Author: Stefan Talmon

In a judgement of 2 August 2024 on a civil law claim for damages, a German judge invented the concept of ‘nature’, or an individual ecosystem such as a river or forest, as an ‘ecological person’ with its own subjective rights. Based on Articles 2 and 3(1) in connection with Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the doctrine of human rights documents as ‘living instruments’, the Regional Court of Erfurt, siting as a single judge, found a comprehensive right of ecological persons ‘to have their existence, preservation and regeneration of their life cycles, structure, functions and development processes respected and protected.’ The Court argued that ‘the recognition of specific rights of ecological persons through the interpretation and application of existing Union law is necessary because of the importance and urgency of the ecological challenges – climate change, species extinction and global littering – and the threat of irreversible damage’ (LG Erfurt, Urteil vom 02.08.2024 – 8 O 1373/21). (more…)

Published 29 August 2024  Author: Stefan Talmon

On 24 August 2024, Namibia denied the German-owned cargo vessel MV Kathrin, sailing under the flag of Portugal, access to its port of Walvis Bay on the ground that the vessel was carrying ‘explosive material destined for Israel.’ (more…)

Published 25 July 2024 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its advisory opinion in the case concerning Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In response to questions posed by the UN General Assembly, the ICJ found, inter alia, that the State of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is unlawful and that Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence there as rapidly as possible. (more…)

Published: 23 July 2024 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Antonia Mirbach

In response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, Israel embarked on an extensive aerial bombardment of Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip, followed by a large-scale ground invasion of the territory. Israel’s military operation led to a large number of deaths and injuries among the Palestinian civilian population, especially women and children, widespread destruction in Gaza, and the internal displacement of more than 80 per cent of the territory’s population, a situation that has been described as ‘an ongoing human tragedy of semi-apocalyptic proportions’. Germany has been widely perceived as one of the countries offering unconditional support to Israel, including by supplying weapons and other military equipment. In 2023, according to reports, Germany was the second-largest weapons exporter to Israel after the United States. This led Nicaragua on 1 March 2024 to institute proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Germany, alleging breaches of certain international obligations in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. (more…)

Published 02 May 2024 Author: Stefan Talmon

In exercising its right to self-defence in response to the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, Israel embarked on an extensive aerial bombardment of Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip followed by a large-scale ground invasion of the territory. In the words of Judge Al-Khasawneh, Israel’s military operation gave rise to ‘an ongoing human tragedy of semi-apocalyptic proportions’. The events in the Gaza Strip triggered South Africa in December 2023 to institute proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of breaches of the Genocide Convention, including the commission of genocidal acts against the Palestinians in Gaza. (more…)

Published: 16 April 2024  Author: Stefan Talmon

For a long time, the avoidance of multiple nationality, that is, the simultaneous possession of two or more nationalities by the same person, was one of the principles of German nationality law. This changed on 26 June 2024, when the Law to Modernise the Nationality Law entered into force. The modernisation law abandoned the principle of avoiding multiple nationality and allowed Germans to hold multiple nationalities. One of the declared aims of the law was to adapt the existing Nationality Law to ‘the requirements of an immigration society’. (more…)

Published 7 April 2024 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 7 October 2023, a Jewish Sabbath day, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups indiscriminately fired between 3,000–5,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel while, at the same time, more than 1,000 Hamas militants breached Israel’s heavily fortified security fence surrounding the territory to launch unprecedented attacks in multiple locations in Israel. Hamas fighters indiscriminately killed and injured Israeli security forces and civilians, including some 260 people attending a music festival in southern Israel. Some 1,200 Israelis, including many women and children, were killed and more than 3,300 injured – the largest number of Jewish victims in a single day since the holocaust. In addition, Hamas abducted some 230 Israelis to the Gaza Strip where they were kept as hostages. These despicable actions of Hamas constituted egregious violations of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. (more…)

Published: 2 April 2024  Author: Stefan Talmon

On the evening of 26 March 2024, Türkiye’s consulate-general in the city of Hannover was attacked by some twenty persons throwing stones at the building and hitting the windows with iron bars. The attack only lasted for about half a minute. Upon arrival of police the persons fled the scene on foot. No one was injured in the attack, but the building’s windows and main entrance door were damaged. Police arrested two suspects in the vicinity of the consulate- general, who were later released. The state security department of the police investigated the incident. Türkiye blamed sympathisers of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which had been outlawed in Germany as a terrorist organisation since 1993, for the attack. The Turkish Consul General requested increased security measures from police authorities for both the consulate- general and the offices of Turkish civil society groups. The incident was also raised with the German ambassador to Ankara. (more…)

Published: 21 March 2024 Author: Stefan Talmon

In response to the barbaric terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023, Israel, in exercise of the right to self-defence, embarked on an extensive aerial bombardment of Hamas’ positions in the Gaza Strip followed by a large-scale ground invasion of the territory which led to high numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties. Approximately 70 per cent of those killed were said to be women and children. The military operations of the Israel Defence Force (IDF) in the northern Gaza Strip also led to a large-scale internal displacement of the Palestinian population with many seeking refuge in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip close to the border with Egypt. (more…)