In recent months, there has been considerable activity in Liberia and in The Gambia towards establishing courts of a criminal remit to prosecute and try those allegedly responsible for having carried out war crimes, crimes against humanity, human rights violations and other serious and heinous crimes in these two West African countries.

        On April 30, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an 15–1 Order rejecting a request by Nicaragua for the indication of provisional measures in connection with claims relating to Germany’s support for Israel in the ongoing Gaza conflict. It is recalled that on March 1, 2024, Nicaragua filed an Application instituting proceedings against Germany concerning alleged violations by Germany of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, “intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law” and other norms of general international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip.

        Amid concern from Caribbean governments over the destabilizing potential of U.S. firearm exportations, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released on April 30, 2024 an interim final rule (IFR) on controls of firearms and related items in BIS’ scope.  Guided by a working group headed by the U.S. Department of State, the IFR tightens licensing and export restrictions on firearms for 36 countries.

        On April 3, 2024, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court rendered a judgement on tax administrative assistance, regarding the topics of fishing expeditions and attorney-client privilege between U.S. lawyers and their Swiss clients.  The event that triggered the case was a request for administrative assistance from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA), regarding a U.S. taxpayer (hereafter: the Taxpayer). 

        After the bribery and money laundering accusations, Polit was arrested in March 2022. Court documents and evidence presented at the trial show that, between 2010 to 2015, Carlos Roman Polit Faggioni, 73, solicited and received over $10 million in bribe payments from Odebrecht  S.A., the Brazil-based construction multinational.  

        Those who have tried to warn INTERPOL of a potentially incoming abusive Red Notice, diffusion or other government request most probably already know that the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) does not consider such requests from individuals on their merits and does not render decisions in their regard.  INTERPOL calls such attempts to warn “pre-emptive requests.”  

        On April 23, 2024, the European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transfer of proceedings in criminal matters. With the innovative solutions adopted in other instruments, such as European Arrest Warrant, MLAT (1996), prisoner transfer, confiscation, the gathering of evidence through a European Investigation Order, and the carrying out of criminal investigations through a Joint Investigation Team, the European Union has revolutionized the system of international cooperation in criminal matters.

        On April 24, 2024, the European Parliament adopted a package of laws buttressing the European Union’s mechanisms to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The European Parliament adopted the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) package consisting of the sixth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) directive  (adopted with 513 votes in favor, 25 against, and 33 abstentions), the EU “single rulebook” regulation (adopted with 479 votes in favor, 61 against, and 32 abstentions), and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority a(AMLA) regulation (adopted with 482 votes in favor, 47 against, and 38 abstentions).

                On April 29, 2024, Spain arrested Roger Ver, an early investor in bitcoins, on a U.S. extradition warrant.  In an indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Ver is charged with mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns.[1]