Deutsche Telekom Fined

European Court of Justice - Court of First Instance upholds fine imposed on Deutsche Telekom for abuse of dominant position.

In 2003 the Commission of the European Communities – the executive branch of the European Union – found that Deutsche Telekom “had been abusing its dominant position on the markets for direct access to its fixed telephone network.” Deutsche Telekom, a German-based former state-owned monopoly, is the largest telecommunications company in Europe. The Court of First Instance rejected the company’s legal objections to a EUR 12.6 million fine imposed by the Commission. The Court also noted that the Commission’s authority to find infringements of competition law is not abrogated by decisions made by national authorities. For more information, please click here.

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Former Prime Minister of Kosovo Acquitted

Last week, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Haradinaj was also a commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the late 1990s. Although he was charged with crimes such as murder, rape, and torture, the ICTY found that these crimes, if committed, may have been targeted against individuals rather than against groups. Because the victims may have been targeted for individual reasons, the ICTY could not find that Haradinaj had targeted entire civilian groups.

Although one of Haradinaj’s co-defendants, Idriz Balaj, was also acquitted, a third co-defendant, Lahi Brahimaj, was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail for cruel treatment and torture.

Judge Alphonsus Orie stated that the court has had difficulty in obtaining testimony from a significant number of witnesses. Orie remarked that “The Chamber gained a strong impression that the trial was being held in an atmosphere where witnesses felt unsafe.”

More on the story here.

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Ukrainian Violation of ECHR Article 11

The European Court of Human Rights recently held in Koretskyy & Ors. v. Ukraine that there was a violation of Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights, where the Ukrainian authorities refused to register the applicants’ association called the “Civic Committee for the Preservation of Wild (Indigenous) Natural Areas in Bereznyaky”. The organization was a voluntary association of citizens, non-governmental organizations and other legal entities aiming to preserve wild, natural systems in Ukrainian cities and towns. It was alleged by the government authorities that the association articles had not been drafted in accordance with domestic law. Specifically that the articles failed to contain the association’s status, provided for more activities in other cities than permitted, and entrusted the executive board with financial activities. The Ukrainian Government also argued that it had the exclusive right to regulate independently the activities of non-governmental organizations on its territory. The court opined that the regional court’s decision was insufficient and lacked explanation on any of the allegations. It also held that the association had completely peaceful and democratic aims and did not threaten the system of registration by functioning in towns other than Kyiv. The court found an Article 11 violation because there was no pressing social need to refuse registration.

For further details, click here.

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Slovakia Agrees to Enforce Sentences

Slovakia has entered into an enforcement of sentences agreement with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), allowing for persons convicted before the Tribunal to serve their sentences in Slovak prisons.  The agreement is the second signed by the ICTY this year, and was signed by Mr. Štefan Harabin, the Slovak Minister of Justice, and Mr. Hans Holthuis, the ICTY Registrar, at the ICTY in The Hague. Slovakia is the fifteenth European country to enter into such an agreement.  More information can be found here.

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Ecuador Files Application Against Colombia at the ICJ

On March 31, Ecuador filed an application against Colombia in the UN’s International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding the aerial spraying of toxic herbicides by Colombia along the border the two countries share.

Ecuador asserts that the spraying by Colombia has “caused serious damage to people, to crops, to animals, and to the natural environment on the Ecuadorian side of the frontier, and poses a grave risk of further damage over time.”

The application comes after Ecuador’s claim that efforts at negotiation with Colombia were unsuccessful.  Ecuador asks the ICJ to declare that Colombia is in violation of international law, that it take steps to prevent the depositing of toxic herbicides on Ecuador’s territory, and that it indemnify Ecuador for any damages.  Ecuador believes that the 1948 Pact of Bogotá the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances should apply to the case.  Colombia has not yet formally responded to the application.
See here for more information.

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Madagascar Ratifies Rome Statute

On March 14, Madagascar’s Malagasy Government ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, bringing the total number of States Parties to the Court to 106. The statute will enter into force in the island nation on June 1, 2008.

The Rome Statute was adopted in July of 1998. Last year, the President of the ICC, Judge Philippe Kirsch, called for the ratification of the Rome Statute by countries that had not yet done so. Judge Kirsch emphasized that the Court was already having an effect in deterring crimes and building peace in some countries.

See here for story.

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Limited Liability for Pollution

In Commune de Mesquer v Total France SA and Total International Ltd, the European Court of Justice opined in favor of limiting liability under the polluter pays principle where the waste is not caused intentionally or recklessly. The plaintiff brought the suit for the costs of cleaning oil waste from beaches that resulted from the sinking of a defendant-owned ship. In practice, under the Waste Framework Directive, the financial burden of the disposal operation is on the persons who caused the waste, so long as there is an accusation that they contributed personally to the heavy oil leakage. The opinion relied on the International Liability Convention and the Convention on International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage to limit liability of oil producers, sellers, carriers while still meeting the ‘polluter pays’ principle.   

For further details on this case, click here.

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Ugandan Tribunals To Try Rebels

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni declared that rebel leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army will be tried by local Ugandan tribunals rather than handed over to the International Criminal Court.  The local court system emphasizes compensation and apologies, rather than punishment.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for the five Ugandan rebel leaders after President Museveni requested the body investigate their crimes, leading some to claim that Museveni used ICC indictments as a mechanism for exerting pressure on the rebels to agree to a peace settlement.  Uganda is obliged under international law to send the accused men to the Hague for trial. The decision to try the rebels locally has “opened a rift” between African governments that believe ICC trials should be subordinate to local peace deals and reconciliation and countries which trumpet the ICC as responsible for international justice.  Museveni, asserting Uganda’s right to withdraw from the ICC process, contends that his decision is driven by the desires of the victims and the leaders of those areas affected by the conflict to use “traditional justice.”  Critics respond that Museveni’s actions undermine the credibility of the ICC and the international criminal justice system.

For the full story click here and here.

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Rwanda Agrees to Enforce Sentences

Last week, Rwanda agreed to enforce a jail sentence imposed by the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to address the atrocities of the country’s 1994 genocide. Under the agreement, which has also been signed by six other countries, anyone convicted and given a prison term by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) can now serve that sentence in a Rwandan jail. The agreement is important in part because in signifies a milestone in cooperation between ICTR and Rwanda. For more on this story, click here.

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ECHR Finds Violations

The European Court of Human Rights recently decided Stoica v. Romania in favor of a minority applicant, finding violations of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicant, of Roma origin, alleged that he had been racially discriminated against and then brutally beaten by state police officials. He also alleged that at the domestic level, the case had been insufficiently investigated and racial prejudice resulted the decision of state authorities to not prosecute the police official who beat him. Consequently, the applicant approached the European Court for remedy. Considering factors such as insufficiency of evidence and investigation, minority and severe disability of the applicant, and possible lack of good faith of the prosecutor, the Court held that there was a violation of article 3 and article 14 of the Convention.

For further details on this case, click here.

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