The Status of Non-Implemented EEA Law in Iceland: Lessons from the Judicial Reactions of the Supreme Court to International Law

2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-458
Author(s):  
Ólafur Ísberg Hannesson

AbstractIn October 2007, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court confirmed that the doctrines of direct effect and primacy could not be generated by the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement alone. Rather, the effects of non-implemented EEA provisions were to remain in the hands of the EFTA States. Hence, the relevant question is what weight should be accorded to such norms in domestic law? The Icelandic Supreme Court has yet to take a stance on the direct effect question relation to incorrectly or insufficiently transposed EEA law. The issue has, however, been addressed several times in connection with the European Convention on Human Rights, before its incorporation. In order to address the unclear legal status of EEA norms in Icelandic law, this contribution takes a closer look at the judicial attitude of the Supreme Court taken towards international law in general and the Convention in particular. The perceived differences between EEA law and the Convention have made it easy for observers to dismiss such comparison on the grounds that the two kinds of legal regime are not readily comparable. The article questions these apparent differences by pointing out that EEA law in fact shares all of the features of the Convention that led judges to enforce it in the Icelandic legal order.

Author(s):  
Gibran van Ert

SummaryIn Spraytech v. Hudson, the Supreme Court of Canada made a bold declaration on the status of the precautionary principle in international law. While the methodology of the majority is open to criticism, the judgment is a welcome clarification of the court’s groundbreaking decision in Baker v. Canada and, building on that case, offers the prospect of a truly internationalized Canadian jurisprudence. In a postscript to this comment, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada in Suresh v. Canada is briefly considered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 477-494
Author(s):  
Bríd Ní Ghráinne ◽  
Aisling McMahon

AbstractOn 7 June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSCt) issued its decision on, inter alia, whether Northern Ireland's near-total abortion ban was compatible with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). This article critically assesses the UKSC's treatment of international law in this case. It argues that the UKSCt was justified in finding that Northern Ireland's ban on abortion in cases of rape, incest, and FFA was a violation of Article 8, but that the majority erred in its assessment of Article 3 ECHR and of the relevance of international law more generally.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 664-678
Author(s):  
Md. Kamrul Hasan Arif

The problems concerning the Bihari community is one of the oldest long-standing issues between Bangladesh and Pakistan. In 1971, after the independence of Bangladesh, the Bihari lost their citizenship. Presently, they are stateless and living in various camps in different parts of Bangladesh. This community wanted to be repatriated to their own country, Pakistan, but it denied them citizenship status, although a large number have been repatriated to Pakistan as their country of origin. Recently, in March 2015 the Supreme Court of Pakistan rejected the issue of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh regarding repatriation or taking these people back. This article has tried to determine the status of the Bihari community, what a lasting solution might be, and what the role is of international organisations in helping this community under domestic and international law.


Author(s):  
Wendy A. Adams

SummaryThe distinction between formal and essential validity in Anglo-Canadian choice of law regarding marriage is an illogical bifurcation that unnecessarily invalidates same-sex relationships contracted in foreign jurisdictions. The Supreme Court of Canada has recently reformulated certain rules of private international law, taking into account both the constitutional and sub-constitutional imperatives inherent in a federal setting and the need for order and fairness when co-ordinating diversity in the face of increasing globalization. Reform of the choice of law rules regarding the validity of foreign marriages should proceed accordingly with the result being that a marriage valid where celebrated is valid everywhere. No principled reason exists to deny recognition to same-sex relationships validly contracted in other jurisdictions, nor to differentiate between the rights and obligations arising from the legal status of same-sex and different-sex relationships.


Author(s):  
Hasir Budiman Ritonga

Judicial power in Indonesia under the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia shall be exercised by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. One of the authority of the Constitutional Court according to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia is to decide the dissolution of political parties. The facts in the current Indonesian system of ketatanegaran no cases of political parties that were dissolved through the decision of the Constitutional Court, it's just that the problem is when the Constitutional Court uses its authority to break the dissolution of political parties there are things that are formal juridically there is no clear rules, such as the legal status of party members who are not directly involved in the violation committed by the party and the status of party members who hold the position of members of the legislature both at the center and in the regions. So for that must be resolved by emphasizing the certainty, justice and benefit in the decision of the constitutional court


Refuge ◽  
2003 ◽  
pp. 120-129
Author(s):  
Adrian Di Giovanni

This paper is a comment on Ahani v. Canada (OCA). Canadian courts are presently involved in a dialogue over the role of international law domestically. The courts’ own grappling with various norms of international law, however, has helped to clarify and reinforce the status of these norms. In Baker v. Canada, the Supreme Court gave a new prominence to the “persuasive approach” of applying international law. Ahani demonstrates that while the persuasive approach has begun to be internalized into Canadian law, the courts are still at odds with how persuasive international law should be. To complicate this account, the Supreme Court’s discussion in Suresh of peremptory norms of international law demonstrates that an over-emphasis on the “persuasive” approach can in fact weaken the role of international law domestically. At the same time, the dialogue within the courts is linked to a much more general dialogue. The importance of cases such as Ahani ultimately stretches beyond the domestic context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-400
Author(s):  
Ruben S. P. Valfredo

This article examines the approach for the domestication of treaties in South Sudan. Such examination is undergone in light of the theories for the domestication of international law norms into the domestic legal systems of state members of the international community. The article establishes that the approach in South Sudan is not clearly indicated, and seems to be inconsistent with regard to the practice of various institutions linked to the domestication of treaties process in South Sudan. However, the article expands on two foundations: the status quo and the ‘ought to be’ approach. The article argues that the approach as it exists seems to be a monist rather than a dualist approach. This is evident from the indicators of South Sudan's constitutional, legislative and judicial settings such as the text of the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011, the treaty ratification process, the practices of the National Legislative Assembly in respect of international conventions and a judicial circular issued by the Supreme Court of South Sudan. Furthermore, the article advances that the ‘as ought to exist’ approach needs to be a clearly mixed approach, partly monist and partly dualist. Such approach combines the advantages associated with each approach in one place. The article recommends that there is a need to have a well informed, well established and clear status in respect of the domestication approach guided by the various arrangements and settings highlighted above. It may also take account of the various states’ attitudes towards international law and the legal school of thought which forms the basis of South Sudan legal system. Such recommendation could be materialised via an act of parliament, a regulation or a practice manual.


2021 ◽  
pp. 151-165
Author(s):  
Halldóra Thorsteinsdóttir

AbstractThis article examines the status of international treaties in Iceland law and how Icelandic court practice has developed in recent years in that area. With regard to the relationship between domestic law and international law, Iceland adheres to the principle of dualism. This means that international law does not come into force as Icelandic law unless implemented by the legislator. As a result, Icelandic Courts will not, in general, apply provisions of international treaties unless they have been incorporated into Icelandic statutory law. However, this does not mean that international obligation are not fulfilled, as Icelandic Courts will seek to interpret domestic law in line with international obligation to the extent possible. If an international treaty has been implemented into Icelandic law, its provisions are binding like other domestic law. With regard to the EEA Agreement, Icelandic Courts will seek to interpret national law in accordance with EEA obligations and follow the judgments of the EFTA Court if the Icelandic provision in question is open to such an interpretation. With regard to the European Convention on Human Rights, Icelandic Courts will even go a step further, as recent judgments show that Icelandic Courts tend to interpret the human rights provisions of the Icelandic Constitution in line with interpretation laid down by The European Court of Human Rights, even in cases where such an interpretation does not exactly fit within the direct wording of the provision in question. This is due to a special connection between the human rights chapter of the Icelandic Constitution and the Convention, as one of the legislators’ main goals when amending the Constitution in 1994 was to bring the human rights chapter more in line with the Convention.


Author(s):  
Neha Jain

This chapter argues that international law has served as a useful tool for the Indian Supreme Court in fulfilling aims that have little to do with the court’s purported status as an organ of the international community. Rather, the Supreme Court has appropriated international legal norms to pursue primarily domestic goals. This chapter proceeds as follows. Section II gives an overview of the status of international law in the Indian constitutional scheme. Section III analyzes the creative uses of international law by the Indian Supreme Court to fill in and add to the content of constitutional rights and guarantees, enabling its encroachment into domains that are normally the prerogative of the legislature and the executive. Section IV puts forward a possible explanation for this appropriation of international legal norms and suggests that international law has performed a legitimizing function in the Supreme Court’s articulation of its vision of the state.


Author(s):  
Tamar Hostovsky Brandes

Abstract This article examines the attitude of the Supreme Court of Israel towards international law in the past decade, focusing on cases concerning the Occupied Territories. It compares the decisions of the past decade to those of the preceding decade, which were characterized as developing a “jurisprudence inspired by international law.” The article argues that the status of international law in decisions that regard the Occupied Territories has, overall, declined. While the international law of occupation still operates, officially, as the governing law in the Occupied Territories, the emphasis on compliance with the norms of international law in the Court’s decisions has decreased. Instead of relying on international law, the Court has increased its reliance on Israeli administrative law, and, in recent years, on Israeli constitutional law. As a result, the distinction between the Occupied Territories and Israel is blurred. The article argues that this shift is consistent with a deliberate eradication of the distinction between Israel and the Occupied Territories by the legislator and the government. While the article does not argue that the Court intentionally supports this eradication, it does argue that it facilitates it.


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