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 October 21, 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a statement on the results of the fifth Plenary of the FATF under the German Presidency.
In October 2021, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York announced its collaboration with U.S. investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s office to determine if the artifacts in the museum were stolen from Cambodia.[1]
[1] By Peter Whoriskey, Spencer Woodman and Malia Politzer, Met officials, U.S. attorneys discuss whether Cambodian relics were stolen, The Wash. Po., Oct. 26, 2021, A1.
On October 22, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in United States v. Halkbank, 20 Cr. 3499, directing that a criminal prosecution against sovereign-owned Halkbank for money-laundering and related charges could proceed. The opinion surveyed several complex issues relating to prosecution of sovereign owned enterprises (SOEs) under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). While it resolved some of these questions, it carefully avoided addressing others; as a result, several questions still lurk in this complex and important area.
On September 21, 2021, the Mexican government on behalf of its Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) filed a 141-page complaint in the Florida state court against former security chief Genero Garcia Luna and a series of companies operated by him and his associates, in order to recover illegally obtained assets.[1]
[1] The United Mexican States v. Genero Garcia Luna et al, Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, Complex Business Litigation Division, Sept. 21, 2021 (hereafter Complaint).
On September 21, 2021, the European Human Rights Court’s Chamber overwhelmingly held Russia responsible for the poisoning of Aleksandr Litvinenko.[1] On the same day, the British government named Denis Sergeev as a suspect in the Novichok poisoning of former Russian spy, Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter Yulia.[2]
[1] Carter v. Russia, European Court of Human Rights, (Application no. 20914/07), Judgment, Sept. 21, 2021 https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-211972%22]}.
[2] Michael Schwirtz and Cora Engelbrecht, U.K. Police Charge Third Man in Effort to Assassinate Russian Dissident, N.Y. Times, Sept. 22, 2021, at A9, col. 1.
On October 16, 2021, Cape Verde extradited Alex Nain Saab Moran (Saab) to the United States to answer an indictment charging him with laundering the proceeds of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with a scheme to pay bribes to take advantage of Venezuela’s government-controlled exchange rate.[1]
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Colombian Businessman Charged with Money Laundering Extradited to the United States from Cabo Verde, Press Rel., Oct. 17, 2021. For additional background on the Saab extradition, see Kenneth Boggess Venezuelan Emissary Alex Saab Approved for Extradition to the U.S., Called to Mexico for Talks with Opposition, 37 Int’l Enforcement L. Rep. __ (Oct. 2021).
An October 4, 2021 report published by the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (“Mission”) warned of the likelihood of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the country by multiple conflicting parties since the beginning of 2016. The report, which the Mission presented on October 5, 2021, examines nine areas of focus for violations, abuses, and crimes under international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law.[1] Categories range from deprivation of liberty to extrajudicial killings and gender-based violence. In response, the U.N. Human Rights Council renewed the Mission’s timeline for an additional nine months to conduct further investigation and assemble information in greater detail.[2]
[1] United Nations, General Assembly, Report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/48/83 (Oct. 1, 2021).
[2] Abdulkader Assad, Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate in Libya extended for 9 months, The Libya Observer (Oct. 11, 2021), https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/fact-finding-missions-mandate-libya-ex....
On October 7-8, 2021, the European Justice and Home Affairs Council met and agreed to take several initiatives on international enforcement matters.[1]
[1][1] EU, Justice and Home Affairs Council, Oct. 7-8, 2021, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/jha/2021/10/07-08
On September 29, 2021, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator briefed the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA Council) on its Afghanistan Counter-Terrorism Action Plan.[1]
The JHA Council will review the Counter-Terrorism Action Plan and its implementation after six months in consultation with Working Party on Terrorism (TWP) and Working Party on Terrorism International Aspects (COTER) and thereafter at six months intervals.
[1] EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Afghanistan: Counter-Terrorism Action Plan, JHA Council, 12315/21, Sept. 29, 2021.
On September 5, 2021, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave funding to the United Nations Investigations Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) to develop Iraq’s witness protection program aimed at protecting witnesses of ISIL crimes. [1]
[1] The Netherlands Commits New Funding to UNITAD in Support of Witness Protection in Iraq, Relief Web, Oct. 5, 2021, Press Rel., https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/netherlands-commits-new-funding-unitad-support-witness-protection-iraq-enar.
