Browsing by study line "International Law"
Now showing items 41-60 of 67
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(2021)As transnational corporations have emerged as some of the most prominent actors within the international system, there have been several attempts to approach them through international legal and normative instruments during the past 50 years. Despite this, there is no established system by which corporate actors can be held directly accountable for human rights abuse under international law. Accessing domestic remedies for human rights abuse by transnational corporations remains a challenge as the abuse often occur in regions where fair and effective court proceedings are unavailable. Extraterritorial court proceedings, on the other hand, entail several practical and legal barriers to the access to remedy, causing a general lack of final court rulings in the field. Against this background, international arbitration has been proposed as an accessible and effective method for the resolution of disputes which concern corporate activities and human rights. In December 2019, the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration were launched with the intent of facilitating arbitration of disputes in this context. The aim of arbitration under the Hague Rules is to provide those affected by adverse human rights impacts of businesses with the possibility of a remedy and to provide businesses with a mechanism for addressing their adverse human rights impacts. The aim of the study is to examine the potential of international arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution method for cases concerning adverse human rights impacts by transnational corporations. As the underlying issues which give rise to the need for a non-Statebased grievance mechanism, the thesis addresses the limited international legal framework applicable to corporate actors and the barriers to remedy that victims may face in human rights litigation against transnational corporations. Acknowledging that arbitration is not meant as a general substitute for Statebased redress mechanisms, the thesis finds that international arbitration under specialized procedural rules can provide several advantageous features that improve the access to remedy for victims of human rights abuse by transnational corporations. However, the availability and effectiveness of arbitration in this context is dependent on additional mechanisms to be established on the initiative of states, businesses or international institutions. The thesis concludes that business and human rights arbitration is a well-motivated option to be developed further.
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(2021)Chinese labour programs in Xinjiang allow the use of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups for forced labour in factories owned by private entities. In this thesis, the Uyghur forced labour scheme is researched through the lens of corporate responsibility to respect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The purpose of this thesis is to provide a legal assessment of the scope and extent of transnational corporations’ responsibility under the UNGPs’ business and human rights regime for relying on goods, components, and materials sourced from China implicated in forced labour in the Xinjiang region. Uyghur forced labour is a human rights violation, and under the UNGPs, transnational corporations are expected to respect human rights in all their business activities wherever they operate. As part of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, transnational corporations should address the risk of Uyghur forced labour by conducting human rights due diligence. Transnational corporations have a non-binding responsibility to respect human rights under the UNGPs. The analysis shows that transnational corporations do not have obligations under international law to respect human rights in their extraterritorial activities. Transnational corporations are bound by domestic laws prohibiting international human rights violations and forced labour in their extraterritorial activities. The analysis shows that home states of transnational corporations have extraterritorial jurisdiction in certain situations to incur legal liability on the extraterritorial activities of corporate nationals or their overseas subsidiaries where they fail to respect human rights and the prohibition of forced labour.
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(2020)The Research aims to study the notions of responsibility and liability of controllers and processors and their development that led them to the current status under the GDPR. The Research will also evaluate the importance of the changes in business practices, whether the transmission to the GDPR regime was easy, and whether it was fully completed. The First Chapter of the Research studies the development of data protection legislation at the national and international levels, as well as the main points about data protection law in the EU, focusing is on the development of the responsibility and liability of controllers and processors. In the Second Chapter, the Research studies the approaches to the responsibility and liability of controllers and processors in the EU in detail. The provisions of the GDPR will be explored in comparison with the DPD, and the main changes for controllers or processors are discussed. In the Third Chapter, three recent cases related to non-compliance of different types of controllers: a public authority, a legal service provider and a retailer. This chapter studies the actual examples of challenges of the controllers and their consequences. The Research found that in any period of the development of legislation and at any level, the controller remained primarily responsible and liable, even when the concept of the processor was formed under the DPD. Even though the GDPR introduced several duties that aimed at both the controller and processor and those that were targeting the processor specifically, the existing available practice mainly concerns the controller. The Research also showed that there is still a need to improve the controller’s compliance with the obligations imposed under the GDPR.
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(2016)The objective of this thesis is to show that the shift towards a widened jurisdiction by the CJEU in a broader perspective can be regarded as a concrete expression of the changing notion of sovereignty in international law. The thesis argues that recent decisions given by the CJEU through interpretation have created more adjudicative space for the Court, and that a representative group of legal scholars advocate for an enlarged jurisdiction of the CJEU within the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU (CFSP). It also presents the direction in which sovereignty as a notion in international law has progressed in recent decades, which is argued to follow the trend of globalisation and in this context lead to a step away from the traditional Westphalian view to the benefit of international cooperation. The thesis navigates, first, international law in examining the notion of sovereignty. Thereafter it proceeds to assess the state of play of the external relations of the EU. This is done by presenting the regulatory framework within the area and the changes the area has seen due to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, as well as relevant recent case law. Lastly, an overview of a representational sample of academic articles addressing the shifting dynamic of justiciability within the CFSP is presented. The main finding of the research is that the jurisdiction of the CJEU indeed has been broadened in recent years. This shift was triggered by the changes in the Treaty law by the Treaty of Lisbon, and has subsequently been carried out through the case law of the CJEU. This development, alongside the opinions by the scholars, can be viewed as an example of the shifting sovereignty concept, which can be regarded as progressing away from the Westphalian understanding of the notion, to promote globalisation and international cooperation.
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(2023)This study focuses on an analysis of two challenges facing the Central Asian region: the establishment and advancement of the Rule of Law and the fight against corruption. Despite being a historically important geostrategic region at the crossroads of the European and Asian continents, Central Asia does not always receive the attention it deserves, and research materials specifically concerning the region’s issue of Rule of Law development and its relationship with corruption are few. This study aims to analyse and assess foreign evaluations and promotions of Rule of Law and anticorruption measures targeting Central Asian countries. The specific legacy of Soviet times and countries made of subnational identities and kinship networks suggests another type of modernity that need to be composed with. This study finds that the neoliberal model presuming that a thick rule of law combined with liberalised markets will result in economic development has been discredited by high growth countries having free-market economies and liberalised capitalism but maintaining high level of corruption, institutionalised autocracy and state capture. This study shows that global governance instruments have still not fully come to grasp with this reality. Many still combine economic objectives with rule of law advancement through neoliberal ideals. Yet, the promotion of free trade and deregulated markets can encourage rent-seeking activities, which in turn can foster corruption weakening the rule of law in developed countries and hindering its development in transition nations.
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(2024)The aftermath of World War II saw to the emergence of a new world order – sanctions. It became a tactical tool capable of inflicting coercive measures on an aggressive State to deter it from performing acts contrary to international law. However, with current global events and the study of sanctions post-1945, it is becoming evident that the intent behind the creation of sanctions remain in doubt today, given that there have been questions surrounding its legality especially when imposed unilaterally. Consequentially, sanctions (especially unilateral) have stirred contentious debates on its proportionate nature, especially when it is likely to constitute an intervention in the affairs of another State. This has been followed by several appraisals by the Court, international legal scholars and academics. Given the existential grey areas on sanctions, judicial precedence of the Nicaragua case has been set to serve as a focal point in dealing with the research question of this thesis, which is: whether ‘international law has changed or developed in matters of unilaterally imposed sanctions and non-intervention; and what threshold (if any) exists in determining an intervention?’ An answer is attempted mainly through an analysis of legal and jurisprudential materials, with political materials used to buttress past and recent events of States that have been subjected to sanctions (especially unilaterally imposed sanctions) and intervention in their internal affairs. It is then concluded that, considering several developments in international law since Nicaragua, there should be a shift from wholly relying on the Court’s finding made over three decades ago. Rather each case should be addressed to reflect current developments in international law, otherwise the fundamentals of unilateral economic sanctions remain fragmented.
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(2023)Valtioiden lainkäytöllinen koskemattomuus on vuosisatojen ajan ollut vakiintunut osa kansainvälistä tapaoikeutta. Se vahvistaa periaatteen valtioiden täysivaltaisesta yhdenvertaisuudesta, joka on kansainvälisen oikeudellisen järjestyksen perusta. Viime vuosikymmenten aikana nähty valtioiden lisääntyvä liiketoiminta ulkomailla on vaikuttanut lainkäytöllistä koskemattomuutta ohjaavien perustavanlaatuisten sääntöjen muutokseen ehdottomasta koskemattomuudesta kohti rajoitettua koskemattomuutta. Valtiollisten sijoitusrahastojen viimeaikainen kasvu on muodostanut uudenlaisen haasteen tälle järjestykselle. Sijoitusrahastojen määrän lisääntyminen ja niiden varallisuuden voimakas kehitys on nostanut ne sekä saataviaan perivien yksityisten velkojien että forumvaltioiden oikeuslaitosten valokeilaan, kun ne joutuvat ratkaisemaan uuden kysymyksen valtiollisen koskemattomuuden ulottuvuudesta. Tutkielma tarkastelee sijoitusrahastojen kaksijakoisen roolin jännitettä, joka muodostuu niiden tehtävään valtion varainhoitajana ja kaupallisena sijoittajana ulkomailla. Tarkoitus on selvittää valtion keskuspankkien hallinnoimien sijoitusrahastojen asema mahdollisten pakkotoimenpiteiden kohteena valtiollisen lainkäytöllisen koskemattomuuden kannalta. Tutkielmassa havainnollistetaan valtiollisen koskemattomuuden kehittymistä valtioiden lisääntyvän kaupallisen toiminnan läpi sekä käsitellään niitä oikeuslähteitä, jotka määrittävät valtiollisten sijoitusrahastojen kansainvälisoikeudellista kohtelua. Tutkielmassa analysoitaviin oikeuslähteisiin lukeutuvat yleissopimukset, eritoten YK:n yleissopimus valtioiden ja niiden omaisuuden lainkäytöllisestä koskemattomuudesta sekä sen esityöt, yleiset oikeusperiaatteet, kansallinen lainsäädäntö, oikeuskirjallisuus sekä kansainvälinen ja kansallinen oikeuskäytäntö. Tutkimus osoittaa, että sijoitusrahastojen lainkäytöllinen koskemattomuus on yhä määrittämättä oikeuslähteissä yksiselitteisellä ja yhdenmukaisella tavalla. Valtiokäytännössä voidaan havaita, että kansainvälistä oikeutta soveltavat tuomioistuimet saattavat päättyä päinvastaisiin ratkaisuihin samojen tosiseikkojen pohjalta. Valtiokäytännön pohjalta voidaan kuitenkin tehdä systemaattinen johtopäätelmä kolmesta erilaisesta lähestymistavasta sijoitusrahastojen kohtelussa, riippuen kansallisen lainsäädännön sanelemasta vieraan valtion keskuspankin omaisuuden asemasta sekä siitä, kuinka valtion harjoittama kaupallinen toiminta määritellään.
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(2023)The alarming state of the environment has led to a sobering realisation by the global community of the need to act promptly for environmental protection. International environmental law is a fairly new field of law addressing the challenges that the global environment faces in an ever-increasing extent. The current study focuses on questions related to the application of state responsibility in the context of international environmental law, and difficulties involved in this respect. Additionally, the thesis will examine inherent ambiguities of international environmental law in respect of the preventive approach to environmental harm. The traditional response of international law to transboundary damage in general has been to impose responsibility on a state that has caused the damage. Accordingly, the state in question has been required to desist from the harmful conduct and to provide accurate reparation to the injured state for the damage that has been caused. In other words, the sovereign rights of states have been diminished for the benefit of the environment and issues regarding environmental harm have been addressed with a focus on reparation. The state responsibility regime is quite well established in international law and customary rules have been codified to provide a clear framework of preconditions in order for state responsibility to be invoked. The compatibility of the state responsibility regime with matters related to the environment can, however, be questioned. This is because state responsibility rests on a reparative approach in regard to harm caused to neighbouring states. The nature of irreversible and irreparable environmental harm, however, is such that requires prior attention rather than counting on a reactive approach to harm that has occurred. The challenges faced by state responsibility in the context of international environmental law include, for instance, difficulties in identifying the source of environmental harm, the establishment of a causal link between a suspected harmful activity and damage as well as the attribution of such harmful conduct to a state. The difficulties mentioned above have not gone unnoticed by the international community which has realised that the reparative no-harm rationale behind state responsibility is ill-adapted to address environmental concerns. The core objective of the rules of international law governing the environment is the prevention of environmental harm rather than just providing a state that suffers environmental damage an opportunity to seek reparation. Hence, a paradigm shift from a reparatory approach to a preventive approach has occurred. Essentially, the principle of prevention, which has become a foundational principle in the field of international environmental law, entails a duty for states to prevent, reduce or control significant transboundary environmental harm resulting from activities within their jurisdiction or control. However, while preventive action is preferable in regards of environmental protection, the regime of preventive measures is not without its ambiguities. Unclarities can be discovered, for instance, in the objective of the obligation to prevent harm as well as its core elements of due diligence and the threshold of significant harm. Despite its ambiguities, the principle of prevention remains as the governing norm in respect of addressing transboundary environmental harm. What needs to be acknowledged is that international environmental law finds itself in a state of development, whereby its rules and principles have yet to deploy their full legal effects. Notwithstanding the incompatibility of a reparative approach with environmental protection, the study arrives at the conclusion that state responsibility, while in principle not an ideal approach, at least for the time being has a significant role in addressing transboundary environmental harm – in ensemble with prevention.
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(2022)The question of state responsibility in climate change is becoming more and more relevant, as climate change continues to have detrimental effects on both the environment and the people. Sovereign states, however, cannot be forced to act. Sovereignty provides the states with a freedom to stay passive in the fight against climate change. With climate change causing sea level rise and increasing the frequency of natural disasters, the universal human rights stand threatened by the effects. International human rights law does not mention climate change, but if it can be proven that it truly violates human rights, states would have a responsibility to address climate change, at least in the sense that they ought to protect the victims of disasters and slow onset events. International environmental law provides with a responsibility to prevent environmental harm under the no-harm principle. The responsibility to prevent climate change would require that the connection between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change related environmental damage is sufficiently proven. The fact that climate change is partly natural and partly anthropological complicates this issue. The current climate change law does not appropriately address the sharing of responsibility to prevent climate change and compensate for damages caused by it. There are some principles, such as the polluter pays, beneficiary pays and ability to pay principles, which address the responsibility of those who pollute, those who benefit from the pollution, and the different levels of abilities to pay. From them, it follows that developed states ought to have a broader responsibility to pay than developing states, since they have polluted more, benefit more from the pollution, and have the means to pay more. The climate change regime is decades old, but it still fails to properly assign states with responsibilities to prevent climate change. Human rights law and environmental law compensate for some parts climate law lacks in, but the scientific uncertainties make the applicability controversial.
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(2021)The codification of the law of the sea at the third United Nations Conference on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS III) was a significant development within that body of law. With it came the establishment of a sui generis area in the seas named the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Each coastal state can establish an EEZ up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline of which its territorial sea is measured. Within the new zone, the separation of activities that belong under the freedom of the high seas took place. Sovereign rights and jurisdiction over such activities as fishing, erecting artificial installations and marine scientific research were attributed to coastal states. While traditional freedoms of the high seas, such as navigation, were assigned to flag states. The attempt to create a compromise represents the latest solution to the classic conflict between the free sea (mare liberum) and the closed sea (mare clausum). However, making a new zone between the high seas and the territorial waters of coastal states left legal ambiguity with activities that are not explicitly attributed to the coastal state or the flag state. Two of those unattributed activities are bunkering and ship-to-ship transfers. The uncertainty involving the two activities has created disputes which have found their way to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). In the cases of the M/V “Saiga” and M/V “Virginia G,” the activity of bunkering foreign fishing vessels was adjudicated at ITLOS. The three options available to the Tribunal were to attribute bunkering to the coastal state, the flag state, or deciding the activity based on equity. In M/V “Saiga,” ITLOS used judicial restraint and refused to settle the issue of bunkering, despite the request of both parties. However, the situation in the case of M/V “Virginia G” required a decision. Through arguments using the text of UNCLOS and the practices of coastal states, ITLOS decided the bunkering of foreign fishing vessels to be under the jurisdiction of the coastal state due to a connection with fishing. Bunkering in all other instances and arguments based on marine pollution were not considered. Currently, before ITLOS is the case of the M/T “San Padre Pio.” The unattributed activity of conducting a ship-to-ship transfer within the EEZ of a coastal state will be decided. An analysis of the argumentation utilized in earlier cases was used to predict the outcome of this dispute. The Tribunal will likely find a solution based on incompatible laws and will not have to categorize ship-to-ship transfers, thus leaving the activity’s attribution unsettled.
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(2023)The thesis introduces international investment law and its development – mainly focusing on bilateral investment treaties. International investment law faces its own challenges, and no global consensus has been reached on the treatment of foreign direct investments. That said, many states have chosen to agree on the treatment of investment through bilateral treaties designed to promote and protect foreign investments in the host state. Foreign investment involves different and possibly unknown risks compared to domestic investment. How these risks materialise and how these risks have been mitigated through bilateral investment treaties has been left to the development of international investment law. For the time being, the solution has mainly been investment treaties, of which bilateral investment protection treaties are discussed here. On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. This was, at the latest, when many of the “Russia risks” that an investor knew or should have known about materialized. Following this shocking attack on Ukraine, many states have publicly condemned Russia's actions. Several sanctions, such as but not limited to restrictions on transfers of funds and services to Russia, closing of air spaces, travel bans and asset freezes, have been imposed against Russia for military action(s) - over a period of several years. To show their support for Ukraine, many companies have decided to withdraw from the Russian market. As a countermeasure, Russia has presented draft regulation to nationalise foreign investment. The draft legislation, if passed, would “allow” the Russian government to expropriate investments by 'unfriendly' foreign states that seek to exit the Russian market. That said, the thesis focuses on what is meant by expropriation in international investment law, and when expropriation is considered legal. The aim of the thesis is to examine how the bilateral investment treaty by and between Finland and the Socialist Soviet Union (to which the Russian Federation later became a party) can provide support to investors from Finland that have invested in Russia. The thesis discusses the definitions stipulated in the bilateral investment treaty, as well as the provisions concerning explicit safeguards, general principles and the international dispute settlement mechanism. Discussion related to being a Finnish company that has invested in Russia - and is now considering leaving or has left the Russian market is also introduced.
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(2023)Tämä tutkielma tutkii syitä siihen, miksi nk. ”ihmisoikeuspoikkeus” ei ole sellaisenaan menestynyt hyväksyttynä poikkeuksena valtion, valtiojohdon tai diplomaatin immuniteettiin. Ihmisoikeuspoikkeuksella tarkoitetaan tässä tutkielmassa poikkeusta immuniteettiin, joka perustuu ainoastaan ihmisoikeusloukkaukseen. Tällaisessa tilanteessa immuniteettia siis rajoitettaisiin siten, että ihmisoikeutta loukannut valtio, valtiopäämies tai diplomaatti ei voisi enää nauttia sen tuomasta suojasta. Näin saatettaisiin ihmisoikeusloukkauksen tehnyt taho oikeudelliseen vastuuseen. Tutkielman aihetta lähestytään pääosin lainopillisin keinoin. Tutkielma toteaa, että pääsyy ihmisoikeuspoikkeuksen menestymisen tiellä on varsinkin Kansainvälisen tuomioistuimen ICJ:n suhtautuminen jus cogens-argumenttiin. Tutkielmassa todetaan argumentin perustuvan siihen, että tietyt ihmisoikeudet ovat jus cogens-luontoisia, jolloin niistä ei voida millään tavalla poiketa. Näin ollen immuniteetin tuoma suoja ei olisi sovellettavissa niiden loukkaustapauksissa. Immuniteetti taas on prosessin este, joka estää tuomioistuinta edes tarkastelemasta onko jus cogens-luonteen omaavaa sääntöä rikottu. Kansainvälinen tuomioistuin näkee näiden kahden käsitteen välillä ylitsepääsemättömän ongelman, jonka vuoksi ihmisoikeuspoikkeuksen edistäminen valtion tai valtiojohdon immuniteetin tasolla ei ole edennyt. Tutkielma näkee potentiaalisen takaportin ihmisoikeuspoikkeukselle muodostuvan diplomaattisen immuniteetin tasolla. Tarkasteltaessa Iso-Britannian korkeimman oikeuden kahta päätöstä on selvää, että ihmisoikeusloukkausten uhrien edustajat ovat myös havahtuneet jus cogens-argumentin menestyksettömyyteen. Näin ollen ihmisoikeuspoikkeusta on lähdetty edistämään Diplomaattisia suhteita koskevan Wienin Yleissopimuksen (VCDR) artiklan 31(1)(c):n liiketoimintapoikkeuksen alla, luoden potentiaalisen pohjan yleiselle ihmisoikeuspoikkeukselle tulevaisuudessa.
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(2021)The purpose of this thesis is to determine how economic sanctions imposed by the United States and their Office of Foreign Assets Control are enforced and why they are strictly observed in countries and by entities not under the United States’ jurisdiction. The focus is on Finland and how Finnish legislation enables this. This thesis includes a historical and theoretical look into the use of economic sanctions and into how global economic factors affect the way United States economic sanctions function. The thesis also establishes an overall view of the main issuers of economic sanctions that affect Finland. The effects of economic sanctions are analyzed by examining the legal case between Boris Rotenberg and four Finnish banks. Boris Rotenberg was placed under sanctions by the United States, which led to him being denied banking services and to his payments not being forwarded. This resulted in Boris Rotenberg suing the banks for the denial of the services. The case is important for demonstrating how the United States economic sanctions work in practice in Finland and how they affect entities not under the jurisdiction of the United States. The conclusion of the thesis is that the fact that economic sanctions imposed by the United States are not legally enforceable in Finland is of very little consequence since the repercussions of non-compliance are harsh. The United States economic sanctions cannot be violated without violating Finnish legislation, which in practice means that United States economic sanctions can be seen to be enforceable in Finland as well.
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The Extraterritorial Reach of Positive Obligations : the ECtHR Case of S.S. and the Others v. Italy (2021)The thesis is a study of the communicated case ‘S.S. and the Others v. Italy’ (application no. 21660/80) of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The application is on behalf of the victims of an incident in which a migrant boat found itself in distress after having left Libya for Europe. The Libyan Coast Guard failed to rescue all of the migrants and allegedly acted negligently, mistreating those they took onboard, and returned them to Libya, exposing them to continued ill-treatment and some of them also to forced return (refoulement) to their countries of origin. Italy is a State Party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and has a bilateral agreement, ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU), with Libya (a non-ECHR State). On the basis of the MoU, Italy funds and equips the Libyan Coast Guard. The agreement can be seen as a means to ‘outsource’ border control and to instruct Libya to intercept migrants before they reach Italy and the European Union (EU), thus effectively circumventing the obligations of the ECHR. The research question is in two parts. First, I ask whether Italy had extraterritorial jurisdiction as stated in Article 1 ECHR, and second, if it had, has Italy violated its positive obligations to secure the applicants’ rights. Jurisdiction is a ‘threshold criterium’ for the Court to study the merits of an application. As for the violations, the thesis focuses on Article 2 (right to life) and Article 3 (prohibition of torture; includes also the prohibition of forced return, or refoulement). The methodology is doctrinal in that the thesis aims to examine critically the central features of the relevant legislation and case law in order to create an arguably correct and sufficiently complete statement on the Court’s reasoning and outcome. The main sources are the provisions of the ECHR itself and the relevant previous case law of the Court, together with a literature review. Additionally, there are third-party interveners’ statements and a video reconstruction of the events. The Court’s questions and information requests to the parties, as attached to the application, are used as a starting point. Besides a hypothesis of the argumentation and the decision of the Court, some estimations are made about what could be the consequences of the decision to such bilateral pacts as the MoU between Italy and Libya, and, in general, to ‘deals’ between the EU Member States and third or transit countries. Finally, the thesis reflects on the eventual repercussions on the topical issue of the EU Commission’s 23.9.2020 proposal for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which appears to encourage the Member States to maintain and develop outsourcing practices.
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(2024)The free movement of goods is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union (EU) and is enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This principle allows for goods to be freely traded between EU member states without any customs duties or quantitative restrictions. However, while the free movement of goods promotes trade and economic growth within the EU, it also raises concerns regarding the protection of health. The main objective is to understand the current legal framework and regulation governing the free movement of goods and protection of health within the EU. Therefore, finding a balance between the free movement of goods and the protection of health is crucial. To address these concerns, the EU has established a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure the safety and health protection of goods. This includes harmonized standards, regulations, and directives across member states, strengthening the overall safety provisions for goods available on the market. Additionally, the EU has established various agencies, such as the European Food Safety Authority and the European Medicines Agency, to assess risks and provide scientific advice on health-related matters. This study came to conclude that the free movement of goods is essential for promoting trade and economic growth within the EU, it is based on these main findings and others that the researcher made recommendations that, increased harmonization of health regulations, continuous monitoring and updating of regulations are necessary to address emerging challenges posed by evolving technologies and global supply chains within the EU.
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(2023)Based on a traditional view, international law is a system of principles and rules that emanate either directly through treaty or indirectly through custom. International financial regulation on the other hand is a system of informal and non-binding rules. The international financial regulatory process formulates broad supervisory standards and guidelines as well as recommends statements of best practices. These are then implemented by national regulatory agencies through arrangements best suited for the national legal system in question. As such, international financial standards are not considered “hard law” as traditionally understood within the framework of international law, but rather it is “soft law”. Nevertheless, international financial regulation creates commitments and gives rise to expectations. Furthermore, the implementation of international financial regulation is boosted by a range of enforcement technologies. Finance holds a higher share in economic activity than ever before as a result of economic expansion and integration. Furthermore, technological advances, globalisation and innovations in financial instruments have allowed a greater level of participation in financial transactions. The development of international financial regulation dates back to the 1940s, however, the current form of international financial governance is based on ideology that emerged in the 1970s, an ideology promoting economic liberalisation and self-regulating markets. The development of international financial regulation has made great strides in the past decades, however, the numerous financial disasters and crises in the past 20 years, most notably the 2007-2008 financial crisis, highlight the weaknesses of the international financial system and the failure of the idea of self-regulating markets. A major cause of financial disasters and crises is the fact that financial market practices are innovative and constantly evolving, but both national and international regulatory action frequently lags behind market developments. In fact, regulatory changes usually react to risky market practices only after these practices have caused significant damage. Furthermore, financial reforms tend to emphasise fixing the immediate symptoms of crises. This regulatory lag is primarily a consequence of the prevailing ideologies and the priorities of major economies which influence financial regulation as well as the historical path dependence of international financial regulation. It should also be noted that the regulation often fails to serve the broader interests of society as a whole, for example, inadequate regulation can lead to systemic risks and foster market manipulation and fraud. This thesis addresses the disconnection between the pace of regulation and financial innovation, arguing that addressing this disconnect is crucial. Furthermore, this thesis will emphasise the significance of international financial regulation in a globalised world where financial activities transcend national borders. Effective international financial regulation is indispensable to ensure financial stability and prevent cross-border financial crises.
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(2021)In this Master’s thesis the aim is to examine what are the elements of direct and public incitement to genocide under the Rome Statute, and how have they been examined in international criminal jurisprudence, what is the territorial jurisdiction of the ICC in light of the recent rulings by the Court’s PTCs and how can it be applied to incitement to genocide committed through the internet as well as can a social media platform’s owner be considered responsible for incitement to genocide under the Rome Statute. The inspiration for this thesis arises from the role Facebook has had in the alleged crimes that have taken place in Myanmar and the Statutes failure to take into account crimes committed in the internet. The role social media has had in the violence against Rohingyas gives a graphic example of the impact such inciting material may have through the global outreach of social media platforms. The methodology used in the thesis is primarily doctrinal. However, the research questions are approached with the help of an article written by Michail Vagias concerning the jurisdiction of the ICC over core crimes committed through the internet. The article is discussed throughout the thesis. The thesis begins with establishing the elements of direct and public incitement to genocide. With the help of the jurisprudence of ad hoc tribunals, this thesis puts together an exhaustive definition of the crime, gathering also the most contentious issues concerning the definition and nature of the crime. Next, the territorial jurisdiction of the Court is examined. In addition to reviewing the article by Vagias, this thesis examines in-depth two recent decision by the Court’s PTCs that define the limits of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction. Through an examination of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction, the PTCs’ recent decisions and relevant legal scholarship, this thesis will provide a refined version of Vagias’ approach on the Court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed online and the hypothetical situation he uses to illustrate the issue. The crime of direct and public incitement to genocide can be considered a preliminary phase of the gravest crime known to mankind and thus has to be effectively prosecuted when appropriate. Because of the emergence of new technologies and the changes in its operational environment, the Court must, in addition to the actual perpetrator, consider the responsibility of those de facto providing the platform for incitement to genocide. Thus, this thesis also sets out to investigate under what circumstances a controlling owner of a social media platform can be 1. held criminally responsible under the Rome Statute for incitement to genocide taking place on the platform or 2. held responsible for aiding and abetting in incitement to genocide taking place on the platform. In addition to the Court’s jurisdiction over natural persons acting on behalf of a company and over proper and improper omissions, this thesis discusses elements of commission by omission and aiding and abetting by omission as they are established in the jurisprudence of the ad hoc tribunals. This thesis will contribute by proposing that an executive could be held liable if the specific elements of omission, constructed from the jurisprudence of the ad hoc tribunals and recent legal scholarship, are fulfilled. In addition, this thesis will argue that the elements of commission by omission differ from the elements of aiding and abetting by omission. Further, this thesis discusses whether an executive of a social media platform is under the legal duty to prevent incitement to genocide from taking place according to international law.
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(2017)The settlement of the maritime dispute between the Republic of Turkey (RoT) and the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) in the Eastern Mediterranean is politically deadlocked. Both countries keep insisting on their maritime claims despite the diplomatic settlement efforts by the United Nations and the Council of Europe. RoC argues that an equidistance line should be drawn between the two opposite areas, whereas RoT claims that the existence of relevant circumstances, including geographical and non-geographical factors, necessitates a different maritime solution. As their maritime dispute is, besides a political matter, a legal matter regulated by international law, this thesis aims to review the claims of both parties based on the contemporary conventional and customary international law of the sea, with due regard to state practice and international jurisprudence. To determine where the maritime boundary between Turkey and Cyprus lies, legally speaking, an attempt is made to critically compare this case with the outcome of relevant international judicial decisions.
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(2021)Abstract Faculty: Faculty of Law Degree programme: Master of Laws Study track: International Law Author: Sami Keinänen Title: The Progressive Development and Codification of Peremptory Norms of International Law Level: Master’s Thesis Month and year: November 2021 Number of pages: XXXII + 80 Keywords: International Law, Human Rights Law, Jus Cogens, Peremptory Norm, State Immunity, State Responsibility, Universal Jurisdiction, Draft Conclusions on Peremptory Norms of International Law, International Law Commission Supervisor or supervisors: Ukri Soirila Where deposited: University of Helsinki Library Additional information: Abstract: Jus cogens has attributes from both legal positivism and natural law and has witnessed narrow and more expansive interpretations. This thesis examines the case law related to peremptory norms, the theoretical and practical features, defects and definitional issues of jus cogens, and the ideological changes which need to take place in order to facilitate its future applications as a general rule of international law. Article 53 of the Vienna Convention defines peremptory norms as rules accepted and recognized by the international community of states as a whole as norms from which no derogation is permitted, voiding treaties if at the time of their conclusion they conflict with peremptory norms of international law, effectuating a normative hierarchy of international law and allowing sovereign states to be bound by norms which they have not explicitly consented to. The essential nature of peremptory norms is believed to be that they reflect and protect the fundamental values of the international community. The determination of the substance and applicability of peremptory norms has been the subject of enduring debate and uncertainty. Jus cogens suggests a non-consent-based hierarchy of norms, but in its sectoral aspects its influence has been negligible due to both political and ideological reasons and the distinction between substantive and procedural rules. The international community has not reached a consensus on whether the primary value of jus cogens is in the symbolic idealization of a value-oriented international legal order, or in the direct application of fundamental principles of general international law. The contemporary effects of jus cogens have therefore been more subtle than they could have been with a strict hierarchical interpretation of jus cogens as the highest law. Following the International Law Commission’s Draft Conclusions on Peremptory Norms of General International Law (jus cogens) in 2019 this thesis systematizes and analyzes the major decisions of courts, debates and conclusions of the International Law Commission, comments by governments and the writings of scholars in an attempt to exhibit that the real obstacle for the broad interpretation of jus cogens is not strictly juridical, and can be resolved with a socio-legal approach and a reprioritization of interests. The fiduciary theory places international law over sovereignty and the interests of individuals over those of states, and could be the required missing piece in addition to a hint of judicial activism which would allow jus cogens to fulfil its potential. Jus cogens continues to develop progressively, and the Draft Conclusions have engaged the international community in a discussion that will ultimately, given enough time, result in an evolution of the concept of jus cogens and the establishment of a value-based international legal order founded on the fundamental principles of human rights.
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(2021)Claims of breach of legitimate expectations have been widely used by investors in the energy sector. The protection of legitimate expectations is one of the core elements of the fair and equitable treatment obligation which is included in most investment treaties. The protection of expectations is an important function of investment treaties as investors make their investment decisions on the basis of calculations on the expected return, which is highly dependent of the laws in the state where the investment is made. In other words, returns of energy investments are directly linked to the stability and predictability of domestic laws. There is a need to protect investors against adverse state measures, as subsequent state conduct after that the investment decision has been made can cause substantial loses for the investors within the energy sector. However, at the same time, states need to implement measures that may affect investments in a detrimental manner to achieve certain energy policy goals. The energy sector and energy law are constantly developing due to changing circumstances. The current change is driven by the energy transition and the move towards a low-carbon economy. Environmental protection, human rights and renewable energy production are key issues of the energy transition. These issues are getting more and more attention in energy policies. Investment treaty provisions, and especially the FET standard, have usually been drafted in a vague manner which does not explicitly tell what the relationship is between investment protection and host state’s regulatory right. This has led to many different conceptions of the doctrine of legitimate expectations. These conceptions have usually either been overinclusive or underinclusive. This thesis suggests that most investment treaties should be interpreted in a balanced manner that considers both the interests of investors and host states. Therefore, a balancing approach where investors’ expectations are weighed against the host states’ right to regulate is needed. It is argued in this thesis that a conception on the protection of expectations should be based on the principles of legal certain and proportionality. A justification that is based on these two principles could be applied in a manner that is balanced and would not be over- or underinclusive. This principle-based approach would replace the doctrine of legitimate expectations. According to this approach legitimate expectations would only be an element that should be considered in the assessment on whether investors right to legal certainty has been breached, but legitimate expectations would not constitute a self-standing doctrine with direct legal effect. This thesis argues that a similar approach used in EU law should be applied in international investment disputes. In EU law the principle of legal certainty is just one principle that should be weighed against other core principles of the EU. Therefore, it is suggested that when assessing if investors’ expectations should be protected in specific circumstances, arbitral tribunals should use and weigh the international energy law principles against the principle of legal certainty when conducting a proportionality assessment. It is concluded that this principles based approach would be the most suitable conception for the protection of investors’ expectations as it would not be under- or overinclusive and it could be used in a flexible manner to changing circumstances in the energy market. This principle-based approach would be allowed under the current normative framework. However, it would be sensible to include in investment treaties that when considering if investors’ expectations should be protected, arbitral tribunals should rely on the principle of legal certainty, and conduct a proportionality assessment where all circumstances relating to the investment and the state measure are considered. As this thesis concerns the question of whether the current framework allows treaties to be interpreted in a balanced manner, the thesis will mainly rely on doctrinal research. In addition, by applying an inductive methodology this thesis will answer whether the doctrine has been conceptualized in a suitable manner in investment disputes.
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