GPIL – German Practice in International Law

Published 16 March 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon

The ‘summoning’ of an ambassador is an age-old diplomatic tool. It means that the receiving State sends a note verbale to the relevant country’s embassy requesting the ambassador to attend a meeting at the foreign ministry usually to express displeasure over actions or a policy of the sending State. The modality of the meeting may vary. It has been said that ‘sometimes it can be a casual conversation in comfortable chairs. Other times, a formal encounter across a table. If the row is serious, it can even be what’s called “a meeting without coffee” when chairs are removed from the room, the ambassador is forced to remain standing, and a formal diplomatic reprimand is read out and handed over in text form, known in the trade as a “note verbale”.’ While Germany generally does not summon foreign ambassadors, but ‘invites’ or ‘calls’ them for talks at the Federal Foreign Office, German ambassadors are from time to time summoned to the foreign ministry of the receiving State. Over the years, especially Turkey and Iran made it a habit to summon the German ambassador. Between March 2016 and July 2019, the German ambassador was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry twenty-five times. (more…)

Published: 14 March 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon

The King of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn frequently stayed in Germany for longer periods of time – making the country his second home. He owned a lakeside villa in the town of Tutzing in Bavaria. As he was not on an official State visit to Germany and also was not in the country at the invitation of the Federal Government, these were purely private stays. When in early 2000 mass pro-democracy protests broke out in Thailand, the king was living in Germany. While the protests were first directed at the government, they later also included demands for reform of the Thai monarchy. This triggered questions whether the king was actually ruling his country from Germany and whether he was allowed to do so under international law. The king left Germany for Thailand on 19 October 2020, but the prospect of him returning in due course triggered further questions about his status under international law while residing in Germany in his private capacity. The Thai king returned to Germany on 8 November 2021. (more…)

Published: 09 March 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon

The Falkland Islands (Malvinas) are a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean 480 km east of  Argentina’s Patagonian coast. The archipelago is also claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. In December 1966, the UN General Assembly noted the existence of a dispute between the two countries ‘concerning sovereignty over the said Islands’. On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the islands, but after a brief war, British rule was re-established on 14 June 1982. (more…)

Published 07 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.

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Published: 02 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 February  2023 Author: Stefan Talmon

In a piece for German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, published on 23 February 2023, Federal Minster of Justice Marco Buschmann announced major changes to the German Code of Crimes Against International Law (CCAIL), the German Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Court Constitution Act with regard to crimes against international law. On the same day, the Federal Ministry of Justice issued a four-page Paper outlining proposals for the development of international criminal law in Germany in more detail. (more…)

Published: 22 February 2023 Author: Stefan Talmon 

On 10 August 2021, German Federal Police arrested David Smith, a British national who worked as a security guard at the British embassy in Berlin, on suspicion of spying for Russia. Under German criminal law, intelligence activities against a fellow NATO member State in Germany is to be treated as intelligence activities against Germany. German police searched the suspect’s home in Potsdam outside Berlin and his workplace at the embassy. The arrest was the result of a joint investigation by the German Federal Police and the Counter Terrorism Commando of London’s Metropolitan Police. The next day, Smith was brought before an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice who ordered his pre-trial detention. Asked about the case, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated: ‘Spying on a close ally on German soil is absolutely unacceptable and we are in full solidarity with our British friends.’ (more…)

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…)