In two judgments handed down on 18 October 2017, the Supreme Court (the “Court”) has allowed certain employment claims made by foreign nationals employed as domestic workers at the embassies of foreign states and a diplomat’s residence to proceed despite claims of immunity. The judgments consider important aspects of state and diplomatic immunity, the differences … Read more

An intergovernmental working group mandated to draft a new international legal instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations in relation to human rights is holding its third meeting in Geneva this week. Negotiations for a business and human rights treaty have been ongoing since 2014 when the Human Rights Council established an open-ended mandate … Read more

Introduction The International Criminal Court ("ICC") intends to prioritise the prosecution of cases involving the destruction of the environment, illegal exploitation of resources and land-grabbing, according to a new Policy Paper on Case Selection and Prioritisation published by the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor ("OTP") in September.  A number of NGOs declared the announcement to … Read more

Stéphane Brabant, Partner, and Yann Alix, Senior Associate, have published an article on doing business in Africa, focussing on the need for investors taking a long-term view to consider human rights implications and crisis management. To read the full article please click here. This article was first published in African Banker, Issue 33, 3rd quarter 2015. Read more

In Alberto Justo Rodriguez Licea and others v Curacao Drydock Co, Inc, the Singapore High Court dismissed an appeal against the enforcement of a multi-million dollar judgment issued in the United States awarding damages to Cuban plaintiffs under the US Alien Tort Statute (ATS). In addition to providing useful guidance on the defences which may … Read more

At times, and for a variety of reasons, states will regulate the market in the furtherance of public-policy objectives—including to implement specific human rights obligations. Where investment agreements are in place, these kinds of measures may trigger an investor’s claim for breach by the state of its treaty obligations. Over the course of the last … Read more

After winning an outright majority at the general election, the new UK Government is pressing ahead with its manifesto promise to “scrap the Human Rights Act and introduce a British Bill of Rights“. However, few details have emerged about precisely what a proposed British Bill of Rights would contain and how it would operate. Further, … Read more

In the case of (1) Benkharbouche and (2) Janah v (1) Embassy of the Republic of Sudan and (2) Libya, the English Court of Appeal (the Court) considered the claims by employees of the embassies of Sudan and Libya, that s16(1)(a) and 4(2) of the English State Immunity Act 1978 (the SIA) were incompatible with … Read more