Category: Uncategorised

Published: 15 February 2023 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Tobias Weiß

On 1 July 2022, Viet Nam began issuing new non-biometric passports with a dark blue cover and a serial number beginning with ‘P’. Unlike the previous green passports, the new document no longer included the place of birth of the holder. Instead, the place of birth was hidden in a twelve-digit personal numeric code that had to be deciphered using a seven-page list of tables. Contrary to international practice, Viet Nam had not informed the German Government in advance about the new passports. On 27 July 2022, Germany became the first country to stop recognising the new passports. (more…)

Published 15 February 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon

We are delighted to announce that the second volume of German Practice in International Law has been published by Cambridge University Press. This volume assembles seventy-three case studies by twenty-one authors, a 102-page digest section with notable statements on international law by Germany and a list of international agreements concluded by Germany in 2020. The 2021 volume is to follow at the end of this year. Please support the GPIL project by recommending the books to your librarian.

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Published: 11 January 2023 Author: Joshua Wirtz

As a new year is upon us, it is time to take our customary glance back at the past year of GPIL by sharing the statistics for 2022: (more…)

Published: 6 June 2022  Author: Stefan Talmon

We are delighted to announce that the first volume of German Practice in International Law has been published by Cambridge University Press. The first volume assembles some eighty case studies by twenty-one authors, a sixty-two-page digest section with notable statements on international law by Germany and a list of international agreements concluded by Germany in 2019. The 2020 volume is to follow at the end of this year. Please support the GPIL project by recommending the books to your librarian.

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On 24 February 2021, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz sentenced Eyad Al-Gharib to four years and six months in prison for his role as an officer of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. The Court found Al-Gharib guilty of aiding and abetting a crime against humanity by torture and grave deprivation of liberty under the German Code of Crimes against International Law (CCAIL). Section 7 of the CCAIL provides in the relevant parts: (more…)

Published 28 April 2022  Authors: Stefan Talmon and Joshua Wirtz 

On the evening of 19 November 2021, unknown perpetrators hurled an incendiary device at the entrance of Iran’s consulate in the northern German city of Hamburg, sparking a fire that was quickly doused. The attack resulted in some damage to the building, but no casualties were reported. Upon being called to the scene by passers-by, the police immediately launched a major manhunt; underground trains were stopped and searched. Two persons were briefly detained but later released when it turned out that they had nothing to do with the attack. (more…)

Published: 11 January 2022 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Zoé Flöer

In 2021, Germany signed some 80 bilateral agreements. By far the most bilateral agreements were concluded with the United States concerning the exemption and benefits of US enterprises serving US troops in Germany under the Supplementary Agreement to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement. In addition, Germany concluded some 12 multilateral treaties during that period and signed numerous non-legally binding international agreements such as Memoranda of Understanding and Declarations of Intent. The following is an incomplete list compiled from public sources: (more…)

Published: 3 January 2022 Author: Stefan Talmon

It is the time of the year for statistics. I am delighted to report that 2021 has been another good year for GPIL: (more…)

Published: 18 November 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

As is to be expected, both the German Federal Government and its permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, have presented a favourable view of Germany’s two-year membership of the UN Security Council. Some voices in the literature also reached a generally positive verdict. While Germany undoubtedly had its successes on the Council, the global political situation and its direct and public confrontation with permanent members China, Russia and the United States meant that the overall picture is not nearly as rosy as has been painted. While individual aspects of Germany’s Council membership have been dealt with in several case studies, the following are some general observations on its two-year stint on what it considers “the most important organ of the United Nations for guaranteeing peace and security worldwide.” (more…)

Published: 16 November 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

At the end of December 2020, Germany’s two-year stint as a non-permanent member of the Security Council came to an end. In two of its last public meetings, two permanent members – Russia and China – gave it the acridest send-off in the history of the United Nations. The farewell messages were addressed to Germany’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, but were, of course, directed at Germany as a member of the Security Council. (more…)