Montagsrunde am MPIL

Im Angesicht des Erstarkens extremistischer Parteien streben die Ampel-Fraktionen gemeinsam mit der Union eine Änderung des Grundgesetzes an, um die Unabhängigkeit des Bundesverfassungsgerichts als Kontrollorgan zu gewährleisten. So warnte Nancy Faeser: „Autoritäre Kräfte wollen die Demokratie und den Rechtsstaat von innen zerstören, indem sie die unabhängige Justiz und die demokratischen Institutionen angreifen“. Felix und Ich werden euch in die Diskussion in Wissenschaft und Politik einführen.

Wir freuen uns auf eine spannende Diskussion!

Felix und Valentin

In this meeting, I intend to highlight three significant judicial decisions from 2023 in Panama, Mexico, and Peru (discussed in chronological order) within the broader context of transformative constitutionalism in Latin America. These rulings leveraged the interpretive framework established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and regional treaties to reinforce environmental protections.

On November 27, the Supreme Court of Justice in Panama declared Law 406 unconstitutional. This law had enabled a Canadian corporation to engage in copper exploration and exploitation within the territory of Panama.

On November 29, the Supreme Court of Mexico established jurisprudence by applying the conventionality control doctrine to extend legal standing within the country's amparo (constitutional protection mechanism), in alignment with the principles set forth in the Escazú Agreement.

In Peru, on December 13, a Civil Judicial Chamber compelled the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to recognize an environmental crisis in the Huancavelica region, primarily due to heavy metal contamination, and to initiate appropriate remedial actions.

The presentation will examine the judicial reasoning employed by each court and foster a discussion on the critical role of the human rights communities of practice in initiating these legal processes.

On December 14, 2023 European legislators reached a provisional deal on the long-awaited EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). With this directive, large companies in EU will be required to identify and address the impacts they have on human rights and the environment in their own operations and through their business relationships. On February 9, EU member states were set to pass a critical vote on the final text for a common EU framework for responsible business conduct. However, following a last-minute intervention by German liberal party FDP, Germany announced that they will abstain and couple other EU members joined in. Thus, the directive has been taken off the agenda of the meeting on February 9 since it was not expected to reach a majority among EU countries. Despite significant efforts by supporters, it seems that the CSDDD won’t be included to European Council’s agenda until the election in June.

In this Monday meeting, I would like to discuss these recent developments as well as possible application of the CSDDD and its substance scope concerning human rights, the due diligence requirement, and the coverage of supply chains.  

Best regards,

Imge Akaslan

Dear all,

At the dusk of "Labor Month," I would like to discuss with you the request made by the Director-General of the International Labor Organization on 13 November 2023. The request seeks an urgent Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of the 1948 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention. This convention safeguards workers’ rights to collective organization and the question asked from the Court was formulated as follows:

“Is the right to strike of workers and their organizations protected under the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)?”

The purpose of this request is to settle a longstanding 30-year dispute over treaty interpretation between the Worker's Group and Employer's Group sections of the ILO’s Governing Body. Given that the request falls under Article 103 of the Rules of the Court, which mandates expedited procedures, we might anticipate a prompt response from the ICJ. However, even if the Advisory Opinion is not issued by the scheduled presentation date, it remains relevant to discuss the underlying motivations for this request as well as the implications of the ICJ’s treaty interpretation role for the legal significance of the right to strike for member states of the ILO.

Looking forward to the discussion!

Warm regards,

Julia

The European Court of Human Rights will deliver three judgments on climate protection on 9 April 2024: Duarte Agostinho, Verein KlimaSeniorinnen and Carême. These are the first judgments handed down by the Court on the question of whether and to what extent the European Convention on Human Rights grants human rights protection in matters of climate change. In doing so, the Court has to clarify fundamental questions, including those relating to the victim status of the complainants, the applicability of the Convention in relation to extraterritorial human rights violations and the interpretative link between international environmental law and human rights protection.

Dear colleagues,

on March 26, the arbitral tribunal established to decide the "Dispute concerning the detention of Ukrainian naval vessels and servicemen (Ukraine v. the Russian Federation)" has rendered a decision on Russia's challenges against Professor Rüdiger Wolfrum and Professor Donald McRae. Interestingly, Russia challenged both arbitrators because they had supported the Declaration of the Institute of International Law on Aggression in Ukraine. As the majority of the tribunal found, supporting this declaration raised justifiable doubts as to the arbitrators' impartiality (see for the dissenting opinion here).

In addition to the doctrinally interesting questions of the legal yardstick to determine an arbitrator's impartiality, this decision raises intriguing questions on the boundaries of what a (prospective) may still say, write, or support. It is this more general issue (and its implications for publications etc) I would like to discuss with you based the tribunal's decision.

I look forward to a fruitful discussion.

Best wishes

Robert Stendel

From 6 to 9 June 2024, around 370 million Europeans will be called to the polls to elect the 720 members of the next European Parliament. In this Monday Round I will discuss the national results and give some outlook on what these could mean for the next legislative period.

Dear colleagues,

many of you will have followed the proceedings before the ICJ in the case between Nicaragua v. Germany raising many intriguing questions of international law and beyond. In this monday meeting, we want to discuss with you the ICJ's decision on Nicaragua's request for provisional measures (if yet rendered).

We look forward to a fruitful discussion.

Best wishes

Alexander Wentker & Robert Stendel

Pope Francis' appeal to the Ukrainian government not to be ashamed to raise the white flag provoked strong reactions from various politicians. By examining how the Roman Catholic Church has positioned itself during the Ukraine War specifically and wars in the 21st century more generally, I would like to spark a discussion on what to expect from religious actors concerning international law.

Talk by Flávia Piovesan, ex-Vice President of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights

Talk by Nancy Hernández, current President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights