{"title":"Requiem for Universal Jurisdiction in Spain","authors":"J. Moltó","doi":"10.7202/1079905AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1079905AR","url":null,"abstract":"The two relevant legislative reforms that universal jurisdiction was subjected to have been a serious blow to the fight against impunity in Spain. The reasons for this de facto repeal of universal justice can only be explained by political interference of foreign governments whose citizens were cornered by Spanish justice. However, with regard to the 2014 reform, there was the possibility that the Constitutional Court might declare that the reform violated some articles of the Spanish Constitution. This last hope evaporated when this court recently rejected the appeals. First, the ruling on 20 December 2018 rejected the Socialist MPs’ arguments. Then, with this precedent, in 2019 the vast majority of cases pursuing international crimes – Tibet, Falun Gong, Rwanda, Guantanamo, the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq, Couso – were definitively closed. After having exhausted all Spain’s internal options, now the different appeals before the European Court of Human Rights are being rejected. Meanwhile, universal jurisdiction has only survived in the Spanish courts if it involves pursuing a few cases of terrorism, leaving those who were being investigated for war crimes and genocide to go scot-free.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"33 1","pages":"55-84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71211863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Marie-Clotilde Runavot, La démocratie appliquée au droit international : de quoi parle-t-on?, Paris, Éditions Pedone, 2018","authors":"Camille Raymond","doi":"10.7202/1079911ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1079911ar","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71212298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Le Brexit au regard des droits des traités et des organisations internationales","authors":"T. Garcia","doi":"10.7202/1065027ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1065027ar","url":null,"abstract":"L’objet et l’intérêt de cet article consistent à examiner l’impact du Brexit sur les rapports respectifs entre les ordres juridiques international, de l’Union européenne et du Royaume-Uni au regard des droits des traités et des organisations internationales. Dans l’espace et dans le temps, un triple mouvement peut être observé. En effet, l’application du droit des traités sous le prisme des organisations internationales consacrée par le Brexit, la participation du Royaume-Uni aux organisations internationales impactée par ce droit des traités et, enfin, une application modifiée du droit des traités à la lumière des organisations internationales après le Brexit, seront successivement étudiées.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"31 1","pages":"75-89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47796693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Self-Defense in Climates of Fear","authors":"Noah Weisbord","doi":"10.7202/1068729AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1068729AR","url":null,"abstract":"Climates of fear—depleted inner cities, segregated rural communities, contested international hotspots—strain the law of self-defense, affecting legislation, policing, prosecution, and adjudication. There are distributional implications to our legislative and judicial choices, justifying or excusing some uses of deadly force but not others, making some segments of the population safer and others less so. Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, Canada’s “Lucky Moose” law, and the international law of self-defence provide three revealing examples. Our doctrinal preferences correspond with the cases and incidents that have most left their mark on us. As such, the law of self-defense is haunted by projections, pre-conceived notions about the world related to our past experiences rather than the situation at hand. This article, based on the author’s keynote lecture at the 2017 McGill Law Graduate conference, considers the challenge that fear poses to the law of self-defence.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71175707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examens préliminaires à la Cour pénale internationale : fondements juridiques, pratique du Bureau de la Procureure et développements judiciaires","authors":"Azé Kerté Amoulgam","doi":"10.7202/1070486ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1070486ar","url":null,"abstract":"Les examens préliminaires occupent une place importante dans la procédure pénale de la Cour pénale internationale, car ils permettent de déterminer les situations qui feront l’objet d’enquête et de poursuites. Ils sont menés en toute discrétion par le Bureau de la Procureure. La Procureure peut engager des examens préliminaires de sa propre initiative ou à partir d’un renvoi d’un État partie ou du Conseil de sécurité de l'Organisation des Nations unies. Ces examens préliminaires portent sur une situation et débouchent, après le test de compétence, de recevabilité et des intérêts de la justice, sur une décision de la Procureure sur l’opportunité d’ouvrir ou non une enquête. Selon le mode de saisine et la nature de sa décision, la Procureure sera contrainte ou non de demander l’autorisation de la Chambre préliminaire avant de procéder à l’enquête. La Chambre préliminaire exerce deux types de contrôle sur la décision de la Procureure : un contrôle absolu lorsque la Procureure décide de passer à l’étape d’enquête de sa propre initiative ou lorsqu’elle refuse d’enquêter car il en est dans l’intérêt de la justice, et un contrôle souple lorsque la Procureure décide de ne pas enquêter après un renvoi. Le Bureau de la Procureure fait face à des choix difficiles et à des critiques dans sa manière de conduire les examens préliminaires, en lien notamment avec leur durée, leur publicisation, leur rôle, leur contrôle et leur traitement.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71182820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Le recours à l’accord mixte au fil de l’évolution temporelle et matérielle de la compétence de l’Union européenne en matière commerciale","authors":"France Morrissette","doi":"10.7202/1070483ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1070483ar","url":null,"abstract":"Cette étude examine l’obligation de recourir à l’accord mixte lorsque l’ex-CE/UE avait allégué sa compétence commerciale exclusive pour conclure un accord. Nous constaterons que le contenu matériel de la Politique Commerciale Commune (PCC) a connu une évolution non linéaire au fil des transformations historiques de l’ex-CE/UE, ce qui a eu des répercussions sur l’étendue de sa compétence commerciale exclusive et, conséquemment, sur l'obligation de recourir à l’accord mixte pour ses conventions commerciales. Trois périodes marquent cette transformation de la PCC. La première période connaît un recul de la mixité en matière commerciale grâce à l’Avis 1/75, qui affirme que la compétence intrinsèquement exclusive de l'exCE en matière de politique commerciale a un contenu identique à celle d’un État souverain, et à l’Avis 1/78, qui ajoute que la PCC n'exclut pas les mécanismes évolués du commerce international en se limitant à ses aspects classiques, comme les droits de douane. L'avis 1/94 commence la deuxième période en écartant de la PCC plusieurs manifestations non traditionnelles du commerce international, tels les droits de propriété intellectuelle. Cette interprétation étroite de la PCC imposera alors la mixité pour la conclusion de plusieurs accords commerciaux communautaires, dont les accords du cycle d’Uruguay. La troisième période débute en 2009 avec l'article 207 TFUE du Traité de Lisbonne qui attribue à l’UE une compétence exclusive pour pratiquement tous les sujets de l’OMC que l’Avis 1/94 avait exclus de la PCC. L’affaire Daiichi confirmera cette nouvelle vision de la PCC et elle y établira également les fondements d’un test destiné à préciser les critères de rattachement à cette politique. La troisième période marque donc un retour à une interprétation large de la PCC qui incite à penser qu’il y aura probablement, dans les années à venir, un recul du recours à l’accord mixte pour les accords commerciaux de l’UE.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71182874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Extent to Amount ISIL Acts Against Iraqi Minorities to Genocide","authors":"Ayad Yasin Husein Kokha","doi":"10.7202/1075170ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1075170ar","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the status of Iraq’s most vulnerable people, who have been disproportionately affected by gross human rights violations, and the applicability of the offence of genocide to such violations following the deterioration of the security situation within Iraqi territories under the control of so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The paper examines the legal concepts of “genocide” and “minority” at the international and internal levels. It identifies heinous acts committed against Iraqi minorities, characterizes the extent to which such acts can be categorized as genocide, and explores the applicable provisions of international criminal law (ICL). The paper employs an analytical -empirical methodology, for it explains the legal texts, accompanied with case law, and compares them with the onground status, in addition to data gathering. In terms of the legal context, the paper looks specifically at ICL; in terms of subject, it is restricted to the large-scale killings and other heinous acts perpetrated by ISIL against certain Iraqi minorities, particularly Yazidis, Christians, Turkmans, Kakayis, and Shabaks, that may amount to genocide or other international crimes such as crimes against humanity or war crimes. It is also restricted geographically and chronologically, to certain northern and central areas of Iraq during the period of armed conflict (2014 to 2017) between the Iraqi and Kurdistani governments on the one hand, and ISIL on the other. The main objective of this paper is to study the situation of Iraqi minorities and to monitor grave violations of their rights, specifically regarding the crime of genocide, in order to identify the best legal and judicial measures for intensifying internal and international cooperation in regard to prosecuting perpetrators, implementing the rules of ICL effectively, and eventually protecting these defenceless minorities by avoiding the future recurrence of such crimes.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71201267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Rule of Law, The Rule of Conflict? Hong Kong and Democracy—Past and Present Revisited","authors":"M. Sadowski","doi":"10.7202/1068730AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1068730AR","url":null,"abstract":"“The rule of law is essential to Hong Kong’s future” — declared the last governor of Hong Kong, Christopher Patten, a few years before the city’s handover to China. The rule of law, obviously, is essential to the future of any legal entity. However, one has to ask what happens if the law that rules is imperfect. It then inevitably leads to conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how efficiently has the rule of law ‘ruled’ in Hong Kong since the transition, with a special focus on the situations when law itself led to conflicts. In his analysis the author concentrates on the post-colonial influences of the past, People's Republic of China’s influences of the present, and outlines possible scenarios for the future of the Chinese Special Administrative Region, while highlighting the question of democracy. The article is divided into two main parts–theoretical, composed of one chapter, and analytical, composed of two chapters. In the first part of the article the author reviews various understandings of the notions of the rule of law and of conflict, introducing the theoretical framework for further investigations. The second chapter of the article is devoted to the question of the rule of law in the semi-autonomous city. The author first explains why its explicit conceptualisation was revolutionary in Hong Kong at this particular moment, and then shows how it has been eroding ever since 1997. In the third chapter of the paper, the author focuses on the situations in Hong Kong when law itself has provoked conflicts — notably the recent oath-swearing dispute — and analyses them. The fourth, concluding part of the paper the author ventures to make predictions on the future of the legal systems, democracy, and thus the lives of the citizens of the Fragrant Harbour.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.7202/1068730AR","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71175958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Case Note: The South China Sea Dispute and the Role of UNCLOS in the Settlement of the Dispute","authors":"M. Hoogeland","doi":"10.7202/1068733AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1068733AR","url":null,"abstract":"In the summer of 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague ruled on a territorial dispute between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the South China Sea (SCS). In brief, the PCA found the claims of the PRC over most areas of the South China Sea illegitimate and therefore did not recognize the PRC’s claim of territoriality over these waters. In this case note, I explore the details of this PCA case, through a close analysis of the relevant case documents. I conclude the note by looking at different precedents set by this particular case. To do so, I also briefly turn attention to the relevant legal concepts of maritime law and the mechanisms for maritime dispute settlement, provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In doing so, I identify how these legal concepts come into play in this particular case and explore its possible implications on future cases of maritime dispute settlement.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71176264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"L’échapper belle : AMPA ou MPIA. Quatre lettres au secours du système de règlement des différends à l’OMC","authors":"Nicolas Gervais, Andrea Ouellet","doi":"10.7202/1075169ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1075169ar","url":null,"abstract":"Le présent article porte sur l’Arrangement multipartite concernant une procédure arbitrale d’appel provisoire conformément à l’article 25 du Mémorandum d’accord sur le règlement des différends (ciaprès, l'AMPA), visant à pallier la paralysie de l’Organe d’appel de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce. Suivant un bref rappel historique, l’AMPA et ses annexes seront, dans un premier temps, étudiés. Dans un second temps, l’AMPA sera analysé à l’aune du règlement des différends « classique », et quelques questions de politique judiciaire suscitées par cet arrangement provisoire seront relevées. Bien qu’il calque à maints égards les procédures ayant cours devant l’Organe d’appel, l’AMPA intègre certaines innovations entre autres issues du Walker process, lequel proposait diverses solutions aux récriminations de certains Membres envers l’Organe d’appel.","PeriodicalId":39264,"journal":{"name":"Quebec Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71201244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}