The International Enforcement Law Reporter is a monthly print and online journal covering news and trends in international enforcement law.
Since September 1985, the International Enforcement Law Reporter has analyzed the premier developments in both the substantive and procedural aspects of international enforcement law. Read by practitioners, academics, and politicians, the IELR is a valuable guide to the difficult and dynamic field of international law.
On June 15, 2023, the European Parliament (EP) published a resolution on lessons learnt from the Pandora Papers and other revelations. The EP adopted the report by a 465-5 vote with 36 abstentions.
On June 13, 2023, the European Parliament adopted a two-part legislative package will introduce a coherent EU framework for handling electronic evidence, speed up the process of evidence gathering, and maintain safeguards for fundamental rights. To make cross-border investigations more effective, MEPs voted to adopt new rules on the exchange of electronic evidence by law enforcement authorities.
On May 15 to 26, 2023, international community, represented by nearly 300 experts coming from all over the world, held a Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries in the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The key outcome of this gathering is the adoption, by consensus, the Ljubljana – The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and other International Crimes (“the Convention”).
On June 5, 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) addressed crime concerns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the need for a new approach in combating the crimes committed in the DRC. This followed Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khans’, first visit to the DRC, where he spoke with DRC authorities and leading figures, such as Dr. Denis Mukwege, fighting the continued crimes against humanity happening in Eastern Congo. There have been efforts made to help with the ongoing conflicts in the DRC, however there is still a significant number of atrocities occurring on a regular basis. This fact-finding mission resulted in him calling for a ‘stronger partnership’ between global players and local authorities, citing the fact that the “rapes and crimes have not stopped” as proof that their current strategies are not enough.[1]
On June 9, 2023, Interpol announced the results of a month long operation conducted in March and April codenamed Tripartite Spider which resulted in the seizure of explosives and the arrests of 14 terror suspects linked to terror groups ADF, Al-Shabaab, and ISIS. The enforcement action occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Somali, Tanzania, and Uganda.[1]
On June 6, 2023, a High Court judge in the UK denied Julian Assange permission to appeal an order to extradite him to the United States to stand charges under the Espionage Act.[1]
[1] Claudia Rebaza and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Julian Assange loses latest attempt to appeal against extradition to the US, CNN, June 9, 2023.
On June 8, 2023, Peru extradited Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway to the United States to face charges that he tried to extort money from the mother of the missing daughter. Van der Sloot arrived in an FBI-operated plane at Shuttlesworth Airport in Birmingham, Alabama.[1]
[1] Associated Press, Suspect in Holloway case arrives in U.S., Wash. Post, June 9, 2023, at A2, col.2.
On June 8 2023, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the Applicants) filed a joint application instituting proceedings against the Syrian Arab Republic before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, concerning alleged violations of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention against Torture).[1]
* Professor Plachta specializes in criminal law and international criminal law. He has authored numerous publication on a wide range of problems concerning law enforcement and international cooperation in criminal matters. He currently teaches criminal law and European criminal law at the University of Security in Poznan, Poland.
[1] International Court of Justice, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands jointly institute proceedings against the Syrian Arab Republic and request the Court to indicate provisional measures, Press release No. 2023/28, June 12, 2023.
On April 12, 2023, Wilfred Rattigan, a Jamaican national residing in Maryland and an attorney and retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent, brought a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica, seeking to compel Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service to disclose a gift in the amount of US $99,000.[1]
[1] Wilfred Rattigan v. Senator The Honorable Kamina Johnson Smith et al, In the Matter of the Financial Administration and Audit Act, Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica, Civil Div., Claim No. SU 2023 CV 01256, Affidavit of Wilfred Rattigan in Support of Notice of Application for Court Orders, filed April 19, 2023.
On May 12, 2023, the French cour de cassation (Supreme Court), Plenary Assembly, issued a ruling based on two cases involving acts in Syria, clarifying the “universal jurisdiction” standard for claims in France.
