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News
22.03.2022

Göran Sluiter discusses the war in Ukraine on EJIL:Talk! and Nederland Rechtsstaat

Göran Sluiter, principal investigator of the rethinking SLIC project, recently wrote three blog posts on issues concerning the war in Ukraine

Criminal law
21.03.2022
Tomas Hamilton & Marc Tiernan

Who could be held responsible for ecocide under the Rome Statute?

At last year’s UvA roundtable discussion with Philippe Sands, and a subsequent Rethinking SLIC Panel Discussion on Ecocide with Kate Mackintosh, we presented our views about the scope of liability for acts of ecocide in response to the Stop Ecocide Foundation Independent Expert Panel’s (IEP) proposal for the legal definition of ecocide. Some reflections from our discussions on ecocide are set out in this blog.

Criminal law
25.02.2022
Göran Sluiter

Almost 25 years after its creation, the Russia-Ukraine conflict sadly shows the increasing irrelevance of the International Criminal Court

There can be no doubt that the recent Russian aggression towards Ukraine amounts to one of the most important allegations of international crimes since the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC). For at least three reasons, the role of the ICC in relation to Putin’s and Russia’s commission of core crimes on Ukrainian territory has thus far been disappointing, and sadly appears indicative of the Court’s increasing irrelevance. 

Criminal law
24.12.2021
Tomas Hamilton and Gabriele Caon

Corporate complicity in Myanmar: beyond Facebook

Since at least 2017, Myanmar has come under increased scrutiny for the actions of its military (the Tatmadaw) against ethnic minorities in its northern provinces and in Rakhine. While the Burmese government has argued its actions are in response to threats by militant groups, many have characterised them as international crimes.
It is both realistic and legally possible for the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (‘IIMM’) and the ICC to ensure that allegations of corporate complicity feature in the future accountability landscape for Myanmar under international criminal law. The individual complicity of corporate CEOs falls within the terms of reference of the IIMM and the material jurisdiction of the ICC. Customary international law standards of aiding and abetting, and Article 25 of the Rome Statute provide a legal basis for the accomplice liability of such individuals.

News
23.12.2021

Göran Sluiter's blog post on secondary liability of social media platforms for revenge pornography has prompted Dutch MP to ask questions to Minister of Justice

Last week, Rethinking SLIC* published Göran Sluiter's blog post on the secondary liability of social media platforms in relation to 'image-based sexual abuse' (I-BSA, also known as 'revenge pornography'). The blog has prompted Dutch Member of Parliament Michiel van Nispen of opposition party SP to submit written questions on the matter to Minister of Justice Grapperhaus. 

Criminal law
17.12.2021
Göran Sluiter

Aiding and abetting liability for social media platforms in relation to ‘image-based sexual abuse’ – a way around Article 14 (1) of EU Directive 2000/31?

Image-based sexual abuse (I-BSA), also known as ‘revenge pornography’, has a grave impact on its victims and can lead to feelings of fear, shame, humiliation, anger, sadness and depression, and in some cases even to suicide. There is thus every reason to have a robust investigative and prosecutorial policy in place to effectively deal with such cases. In the Netherlands, a new provision in the Dutch Penal Code, Article 139h, was inserted quite recently to better encapsulate the conduct of I-BSA, justified by the need for a focused penal provision on I-BSA on the basis of a need for a uniform framework, to do justice to victims and to send a strong signal to potential wrongdoers. Could social media platforms be held liable for aiding and abetting I-BSA?

State responsibility
06.12.2021
Joëlle Trampert

A clear risk of what? The Egyptian navy, the Dutch arms export policy and linguistic inconsistencies in the EU Common Position

On 23 November 2021, the District Court of The Hague delivered its summary judgment in the case filed by PAX, Stop Wapenhandel and the Dutch section of the International Commission of Jurists against the Dutch government’s decision to allow the export of military goods and technology to Egypt. The decision exposes certain inconsistencies between the English and the Dutch version of the assessment criteria in the EU Common Position. Could the English wording make a difference on appeal?

News
29.11.2021

Ecocide event with Kate Mackintosh (December 13th 15:00-16:45)

The definition of ecocide proposed by the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide lies at the centre of the current debate surrounding ecocide as an international crime. Rethinking SLIC* is very fortunate to welcome Kate Mackintosh, one of the driving forces behind the ecocide definition and a leading member of the Panel, to speak and update us on recent developments. She will be joined by researchers from the University of Amsterdam who will shed their light on some issues surrounding the definition.

This will be a hybrid event. Register here to participate via Zoom. 

Criminal law
11.11.2021
Ahmad Al Zien

Re-innovating the grapes of wrath: the responsibility of Russian cluster munitions manufacturers under the Rome Statute

Between 2012 and 2019, 674 attacks with cluster munitions were reported in Syria. The majority of those attacks were carried out within the Syrian-Russian Joint Operation. One of the deployed cluster munitions is the SPBE-D model, an example of a new generation of Russian cluster munitions, which was tested in Syria. This blogpost discusses whether Russian company NPO Basalt participated in violations of international humanitarian law by providing cluster munitions to be tested in the Syrian conflict. It also analyzes the responsibility of NPO Basalt’s executives under the rules of the Rome Statute as an aider and abettor to the aforementioned violations.

Tort law
18.10.2021
Jindan-Karena Mann

The Promise of Shareholder Rebellions for Business and Human Rights

On 26 May 2021, two separate shareholder meetings at leading oil companies made major headlines, when they provided a theater for “shareholder rebellions” by climate activists and investors. At Exxon Mobil, the small, San Francisco-based hedge fund Engine No. 1 successfully campaigned to replace three of the company’s board members with its own candidates who are committed to pursuing a green business strategy. On the same day at Chevron, 61% of the company’s shareholders voted in favor of a proposal by the Dutch organization Follow This to cut carbon emissions. Can shareholder rebellions also work in the context of business and human rights violations?

Criminal law
01.10.2021
Marc Tiernan

A Different Type of Tech Support: Examining secondary criminal liability for online assistance to offline crimes

There has been a steady increase in online disinformation and extremism, the effects of which have been felt offline. Through various online platforms, politicians and military leaders incite violence, far-right groups organise riots and violent attacks, forums inspire domestic terrorists to carry out mass shootings, and conspiracy theories spread like wildfire. From these examples, a common theme emerges – people use online platforms, primarily social media, to help and influence others to commit crimes offline. How should criminal law address this issue?

Criminal law
23.09.2021
Tomas Hamilton

An arms trade case at the International Criminal Court: Would the Article 25(3)(c) ‘purpose’ requirement really matter?

The allegation that arms manufacturers in the Global North (who produce and export weapons ‘lawfully’ in accordance with national export regulations) are producing weapons that are used (unlawfully) against civilian populations in the Global South has come under elevated scrutiny in recent years. Some sectors of civil society have become ever more vocal about arms exports from the EU, the US, and other major manufacturing States that appear to facilitate atrocity, despite complying with their home state’s national export controls. How can a society claim respect for human rights at home, while producing weapons that fuel conflict and criminality abroad?

News
09.09.2021

Conference on 'Corporate Social Responsibility in the Netherlands' (November 12th 10:30-16:30)

The regulation of multinational corporations, especially in situations of negative impact, poses challenging questions. This conference, organised by the Open Universiteit, will address these questions from a Dutch and comparative perspective. Current developments show a transformation of voluntary and sector driven guidelines into legally binding CSR obligations that have extraterritorial application. What will this mean for corporations and the people impacted by their conduct?

News
24.08.2021

Conference on the 'Transformative effects of COVID-19 on Globalisation & Law' (Online conference - September 16-17 2021)

It is hard to name an area of life that the Coronavirus pandemic has not affected – from travelling to doing groceries and from grieving to global politics. Some of the effects are more transient, others are here to stay: the pandemic will have had transformative effects in a number of domains – but which? And in particular, what about law? The research cooperation Transformative effects of Globalisation in Law has invited fellow scholars for an online zoom conference on the 16th and 17th of September to discuss these issues.

State responsibility
15.07.2021
Joëlle Trampert & Ahmad Al Zien

Litigating Syria in Strasbourg – on the (im)possibility of individual applications against Turkey and Russia

The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, one of the most devastating and barbaric in the world today, has been ongoing for over a decade. Many actors have committed atrocities and continue to do so with virtual impunity. A potential avenue for establishing the responsibility of Russia and Turkey for gross human rights abuses committed in Syria is the European Court of Human Rights. Although several individual applications have been lodged, they seem to have been rejected – most likely because the applicants failed to exhaust all domestic remedies. But would such applications always be considered inadmissible?

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Tag cloud

  • Criminal law 25
  • Business and human rights 20
  • Due diligence 11
  • Aiding and abetting 11
  • State responsibility 11
  • Corporate criminal liability 10
  • Domestic law 9
  • Civil law 9
  • Arms export 9
  • Tort law 8
  • Europe 8
  • Supply chain 7
  • International Humanitarian Law 7
  • ICC 6
  • ECtHR 5
  • Jurisdiction 5
  • Syria 5
  • United States 5
  • Russia 5
  • Guiding principles 4
  • contact
  • colophon
  • disclaimer