Published: 27 April 2023 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: 25 April 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon
On 7 December 2020, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a new Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime that allowed the EU to impose restrictive measures on individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. The new regime provided for travel bans, asset freezes and a prohibition to make funds or economic resources available, either directly or indirectly, to listed human rights offenders. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime was first applied on 2 March 2021 against four Russian individuals involved in serious human rights violations in Russia. (more…)
Published: 20 April 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon
From 1884 to 1915, Germany was the colonial power in the territory of what is today Namibia. In 1904, the Herero and Nama tribes revolted against German colonial rule. The revolt was brutally crushed by imperial German troops. It is estimated that, between 1904 and 1908, some 65,000 Herero (80 per cent of the tribe’s population) and some 10,000 Nama (50 per cent of the tribe’s population) were killed, starved to death or died in camps. The events have been referred to as ‘the first genocide of the 20th century’. While Germany acknowledged its ‘moral and historical responsibility to Namibia’, it tried for a long time to avoid referring to the events as ‘genocide’. (more…)
Published: 18 April 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon
On 17 January 2021, prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was arrested by security forces at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months being treated for poisoning with a chemical nerve agent that he blamed on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Several days later, a court ruled that while in Germany Alexei Navalny had violated probation terms of a suspended sentence from 2014 and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison. (more…)
Published: 10 April 2023 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: 6 April 2023 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: 4 April 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon
In September 2021, Vanuatu announced his intention to build a coalition of States to seek an advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On 24 October 2022, Vanuatu announced that it was working closely with a core group of eleven other States, including Germany – the ICJAO4Climate Core Group – focussed on seeking an advisory opinion of the ICJ clarifying the rights and obligations of States under international law as it pertains to the adverse effects of climate change. Three days, later Vanuatu’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ambassador Odo Tevi, made a statement to the General Assembly, which read in part: (more…)
Published: 31 March 2023 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 30 March 2023 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 March 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon
The idea of sending a warship to the South China Sea had been discussed in the German government since mid-2019. It was reported that the deployment was initially opposed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. However, over the years pressure by allies to send a warship to the Indo-Pacific grew. In December 2020, Japan called on Germany to send a warship to East Asia to take part in joint exercises with units of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces in 2021. Japan also suggested that the warship should traverse the South China Sea in order to counter Chinese claims in the area. Indicating a shift in the government’s position, the Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Defence, Peter Tauber, responded to a parliamentary question that sending a warship to the Indo-Pacific was considered a measure ‘to protect and safeguard the rules-based international order’ such as ‘the principles of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.’ It would also underline Germany’s ‘commitment to freedom of navigation’. (more…)