GPIL – German Practice in International Law

Published: 04 June 2020 Authors: Julian Hettihewa and Stefan Talmon

The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional inter-governmental organisation consisting of 11 Member States, including Germany, and the European Union (EU). There are also 11 countries with observer status and 17 organisations serving as strategic partners. The CBSS supports the political and practical translation of international initiatives and agreements into regional actions on the ground. Founded in 1992, the organisation centres around three key issues: regional identity, a sustainable and prosperous region, and a safe and secure region. On 19 May 2020, the Foreign Ministers of the Member States and the Secretary General of the EU’s European External Action Service gathered in a digital meeting, debating important topics such as COVID-19, climate change, organised crime – and youth participation. The session concluded with the adoption of the Bornholm Declaration. In the Declaration, the Foreign Ministers and the high-level representative of the EU: (more…)

Published: 02 June 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

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

Published: 28 May 2020 Author: Kristina Schönfeldt

In spring 1995, the Brent Field – an oil and gas development area located 186 km north-east of the Shetland Islands in the North Sea and thus under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom – gave rise to a heated public debate. Greenpeace activists from Germany protested against the sinking of the Brent Spar, an oil storage facility and tanker loading buoy in the Brent Field operated by the petroleum company Shell UK, fearing disastrous consequences for the marine environment. Germany and Iceland shared their concerns and formally objected to the disposal of Brent Spar at sea. (more…)

Published: 26 May 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 22 July 1946, the Republic of China (ROC), together with the United Kingdom, was the first State to become a member of the World Health Organization (WHO). In the last phase of the Chinese civil war, the Nationalist Government of the ROC under General Chiang Kai-shek was forced by its Communist opponents to abandon mainland China and to relocate to Taiwan. By proclamation of 8 December 1949, the Nationalist Government transferred the capital of the ROC from mainland China to Taipei, the capital of the island of Taiwan. On 1 September 1949, the Communist counter-government under Mao Tse-tung, which controlled all of mainland China, had proclaimed the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing. On 5 May 1950, the ROC informed the Director-General of the WHO of its withdrawal from the organization, but in 1953 it resumed its participation. The question of China’s representation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) was first raised in 1953 when the credentials of the ROC delegation were accepted only after a formal vote. In the following years, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and other Eastern bloc countries regularly protested the non-representation of the PRC and launched several unsuccessful attempts to unseat the delegation of the ROC. (more…)

Published: 18 May 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

At the beginning of May 2020, Germany joined the Global Ocean Alliance for marine protection. The Alliance was initially created by the British Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September 2019. The aim of the initiative is to ensure that at least 30% of the global ocean is assigned Marine Protected Area (MPA) status by 2030 through the 30by30 initiative. MPAs are geographically defined marine areas that are designated and managed to achieve specific conservation and sustainable use objectives. MPAs have been established by coastal States in their territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Germany became the 14^th State to join the Alliance. Commenting on Germany joining the Alliance, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety commented: (more…)

Published: 14 May 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 8 May 2020, the day which marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the Maltese ambassador to Finland, Michael Zammit Tabona, posted the following statement on his private Facebook page:

“75 years ago we stopped Hitler. Who will stop Angela Merkel? She has fulfilled Hitler’s dream! To control Europe.”

(more…)

Published: 12 May 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 therefore compile these statements on a monthly basis. (more…)

Published: 1 May 2020 Author: Rohan Sinha

On 10 July 2019, the Regional Court in Wiesbaden sentenced Ali Bashar Ahmad Zebari to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of Susanna Feldmann. The criminal trial attracted large public attention in Germany because, following the crime, the accused had fled to northern Iraq, from where he was repatriated to Germany under rather unusual circumstances. After an arrest warrant had been issued against the accused, he was traced to the autonomous region of Kurdistan-Iraq, where he was arrested on 8 June 2018 by Kurdish security forces at the request of the German Federal Police. The next day, the head of the Federal Police himself travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan to bring him back. The head of the Federal Police and two members of his staff met with Kurdish officials at Erbil International Airport “for reasons of protocol” while other federal officers who were accompanying him remained in the plane. According to the Federal Police, the Kurdish security forces delivered the accused right to the door of the plane and handed him over to Federal Police officers. He boarded the plane voluntarily and was brought back to Germany without being handcuffed or otherwise restrained. The Federal Government insisted that the police officers on board were present only to ensure aviation security. The operation was described as a “deportation”, rather than an extradition. The accused arrived back in Germany on 9 June 2018, where he was formally arrested. He was interrogated and brought before an investigating judge who ordered his pre-trial detention. The accused confessed the murder of the 14-year old schoolgirl but denied raping her. (more…)

Published: 29 April 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

In February 2011, in the early stages of the civil war in Libya, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the country. The implementation of the arms embargo and other sanctions is monitored by a Committee of the Security Council. In March 2011, the Security Council also established a Panel of Experts to examine and analyse information regarding the implementation of the arms embargo; in particular, incidents of non-compliance. These measures, however, did not stop the influx of arms into Libya. In its report of November 2019, the Panel of Experts remarked that “the arms embargo was ineffective, and resulted in regular maritime and air transfers to Libya of military materiel.” The Panel identified Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as routinely and sometimes blatantly supplying weapons to the parties to the conflict, employing little effort to disguise the source. (more…)

Published: 27 April 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon

On 3 January 2020, the United States killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and several members of his entourage in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport. General Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, a military unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran responsible for its foreign operations, supporting non-State actors in neighbouring countries, including Shia militias in Iraq. The United States considered Soleimani as the mastermind behind numerous attacks by Iranian proxies against American troops in the Middle East. (more…)