The four 1949 Geneva Conventions (for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field, for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, and relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war) can be found at 6 UST 3114, 3217, 3316, 3516 and 75 UNTS 31, 85, 135, 287. The two 1977 Protocols (I – relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts and II – relating to the protection of victims of noninternational armed conflicts) appear respectively at 16 I.L.M. 1391 and 1442 (1977).

On July 25, 2022, the first Article 25 Arbitration Appeal award was issued. The Article 25 mechanism is being used while Appellate Body appointments are still blocked. The substance of the case concerned a dispute between the European Union and Turkey regarding a localization requirement whereby Turkey required foreign producers to commit to localize in Turkey their production of certain pharmaceutical products and where producers did not commit to doing so, relevant products were no longer reimbursed by the Turkish Social Security Institution. Ultimately, the arbitral panel found that the localization requirement was not justifiable under GATT (and consequently that the panel below had not erred in its judgment).

On January 6, 1987, the French Court of Cassation denied the petition for annulment of the decision rendered by the Paris Court of Appeals on July 12, 1984 [23 I.L.M. 1048 (1984)] which set aside the award rendered by an ICC Arbitral Tribunal on March 11, 1983 in the SPP v. The Arab Republic of Egypt case [22 I.L.M. 752 (1983)].

Ruling on the question of their own competence, the arbitrators accepted jurisdiction over the Arab Republic of Egypt on the ground that by affixing the words “approved, agreed and ratified” by the Minister of Tourism and the signature of the Minister of Tourism to a contract entered into “between” SPP and the Egyptian General Organization for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH), the State had agreed to be bound by the ICC arbitration clause contained in that contract.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been charged with the task of supervising the application of international conventions for the protection of refugees. This particular task of UNHCR has never been elaborated, neither during the drafting of UNHCR’s Statute, nor at a later date. It is clear, however, that interpretation of the conventions UNHCR has to supervise is an accepted part of its task. Prompted by its Executive Committee in 1977, it first drafted a Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status (Handbook) under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) and its accompanying 1967 Protocol in 1979. The inclusion of procedures in the Handbook is particularly interesting since the 1951 Convention, and the 1967 Protocol for that matter, do not regulate the determination of refugee status: “It is therefore left to each Contracting State to establish the procedure that it considers most appropriate.” The Handbook nonetheless comprises procedures for the determination of refugee status based on and induced by the observation that state practice regarding status determination varies considerably; ranging from formal procedures to informal arrangements. It is acknowledged that realizing identical procedures would be unlikely and the Handbook therefore confines itself to laying down certain basic requirements.

On February 9, 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) handed down its reparations judgment in the Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda) case. This followed from its December 19, 2005 merits judgment, which found that Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had violated international law vis-à-vis each other and were obliged to make reparations to each other. The ICJ ultimately held that, over five annual instalments of US$65 million from September 1, 2022 until September 1, 2026, Uganda was to pay the DRC a total of US$325 million for damage to persons, damage to property, and damage related to natural resources.

After two years of negotiations, representatives of the United States and twelve Pacific island states signed a five–year regional fisheries treaty that sets forth conditions on U.S. fishing in the region and will guarantee U.S. purchases of at least $1.75 million worth of fishing licenses annually. At the same time, the U.S. fishing industry will provide $250,000 in annual technical assistance to help the island states develop their own fishing industries. The treaty will enter into force after ratification by the United States and ten of the Pacific signatory states. Parties taking part in the negotiations but which have not yet signed the treaty include Niue, Palau, Tonga and Vanuatu.

On March 31, 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its judgment in the case of Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand Intervening) (Whaling Decision). In what is perhaps its most important environmental decision to date, the ICJ ordered Japan to halt its whaling program in the Southern Ocean, finding the program lacked scientific merit and breached requirements of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW).