2 October 2013
The Faculty of Law of the University of Bergen (Norway) organises a seminar on 17 October 2013 entitled ‘New Directions in International Responsibility: Seminar on the Responsibility of International Organizations’.
Christiane Ahlborn, PhD candidate in the SHARES project, will give a presentation on the topic of ‘Shared Responsibility’.
1 October 2013
An Argentine judge has issued arrest warrants against four officials of the Franco regime. The arrest warrant follows upon a lawsuit filed by a group of Spaniards claiming to have suffered torture by the officials. They had previously failed to get redress in Spain, where such crimes are covered by a 1977 amnesty law. In the New York Times, Victoria Sanford, professor of anthropology at the City University of New York, commented that even if Spain eventually refuses to extradite its citizens, the request from Argentina is in itself ‘a very important moral sanction on the Franco regime, which also shows Franco’s victims that they can count on international support.’
Source: The New York Times | Argentine Judge Seeks to Put Franco Officials on Trial
30 September 2013
The Non-Aligned Movement highlighted the importance of cooperation among states in order to strengthen the international rule of law at their Ministerial Meeting on Cooperation for the Rule of Law at the International Level. Speaking at this meeting, UN Secretary-General stated that upholding the rule of law at the international level is the collective responsibility of member states, and said it should be a priority particularly at this moment in time when various conflicts are unfolding around the world.
30 September 2013
María Antonieta Guillen De Bográn, vice-president of Honduras, addressed transnational crime in her speech to the UN General Assembly, noting that ‘effectively combating transnational crime also requires international and regional efforts’, because they are more comprehensive in enforcing the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility between the states that are consumers, and those that are producers of drugs.
Source: General Assembly of the United Nations | General Debate of the 68th Session | Honduras | H.E. Mrs. María Antonieta de Bográn, Vice-President | 27 September 2013
Source: UN News Centre | Senior Honduran official stresses need to scale–up combat against transborder crime
30 September 2013
Dutch foundation Urgenda is planning to sue the Dutch state for its failing climate change policy. The court summons (Dutch only) will be presented to the state on 23 October. The plaintiffs claim there rests an obligation upon the Netherlands to reduce its CO2-emissions with 25-40 percent by 2020 compared to emission levels in 1990, in order to prevent damage to the global environment and violations of international human rights law. Various reports suggest that a 25-40 percent reduction is required of all industrialised states in order to have a real chance at limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius.
Urgenda will ask of the Dutch courts to declare that the Netherlands is acting wrongfully by failing to take the necessary measures to achieve a reduction percentage of 25-40 percent, and to order the Netherlands to (i) take the necessary measures to achieve this reduction percentage and (ii) inform Dutch citizens about the risks of climate change.
Source: NOS | Klimaatorganisatie klaagt staat aan (in Dutch)
Source: Wij willen actie | Over de rechtszaak (in Dutch)