On June 30,2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rescinded die United States designation of Libya as a state sponsor of terrorism. Her action ended nearly twenty-seven years of Libya’s pariah status in American law and rhetoric.The road to the rehabilitation of Libya was a long one in more than a temporal sense. During the 1980s, the country was widely perceived as the world’s strongest supporter of terrorism.The United States in particular saw Libya under the leadership of Muammar el-Qaddafi as a “rogue state” posing a serious threat to U.S. national security interests.This fear was confirmed by Libya’s destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. A bomb placed by Libyan agents on board the aircraft en route to New York detonated over Lockerbie, Scodand, resulting in the deaths of 270 civilians, including 189 Americans. It was perhaps the single worst act of terrorism against the United States until the carnage of September 11, 2001.

Diplomatic Claims (Eritrea v. Ethiopia), Eritrea's Claim 20/Ethiopia's Claim 8, Partial Awards. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Economic Loss Throughout Ethiopia (Ethiopia v. Eritrea), Ethiopia's Claim 7, Partial Award. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Jus ad Bellum (Ethiopia v. Eritrea), Ethiopia's Claims 1–8, Partial Award. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Loss of Property in Ethiopia Owned by Non-Residents (Eritrea v. Ethiopia), Eritrea's Claim 24, Partial Award. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Pensions (Eritrea v. Ethiopia), Eritrea's Claims 15, 19 & 23, Final Award. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Ports (Ethiopia v. Eritrea), Ethiopia's Claim 6, Final AwardS At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Western & Eastern Fronts (Ethiopia v. Eritrea), Ethiopia's Claims 1 & 3, Partial Award. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

Western Front, Aerial Bombardment & Related Claims (Eritrea v. Ethiopia), Eritrea's Claims 1, 3, 5, 9–13,14, 21, 25 & 26, Partial Award. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.

Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 19, 2005.

On December 19, 2005, the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission (Commission) issued seven partial awards and two final awards. These awards determined the respective international responsibility of Eritrea and Ethiopia arising out of the 1998–2000 armed conflict between those two states.

Case Nos.2 BvR 2115/01, 2 BvR 2132/01, & 2 BvR 348/03.60 Neue Juristische Wochenschrift 499 (2007). At <http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de>.

Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany), September 19, 2006.

On September 19, 2006, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht) held in jointly decided Case Nos. 2 BvR 2115/01, 2 BvR 2132/01, & 2 BvR 348/03 that a failure to provide consular information to foreign nationals pursuant to Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) violates the guarantee of a fair trial as provided by the German Constitution (Grundgesetz). The result is in contrast to a recent U. S. Supreme Court decision in Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, a strikingly similar case.

The defendants, two nationals of Turkey and two of Serbia-Montenegro, were arrested in the course of different criminal investigations. They were informed of their rights as defendants as guaranteed by Germany's law of criminal procedure. The prosecuting authorities failed, however, to provide information on the defendants’ right to contact the consular staffs of their own countries in compliance with the VCCR. Three defendants were found guilty of murder and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment by the district court (Landgericht) of Braunschweig. The district court of Hamburg found the fourth defendant guilty of a robbery that resulted in the death of a victim, and sentenced him to eleven years’ imprisonment. Since the defendants refused to make statements, the criminal courts relied, inter alia, on the testimony of the police officers questioning the defendants after their various arrests. During the subsequent criminal proceedings, the defendants, presumably out of ignorance, made no attempt to invoke their consular rights, and the district courts seemed to be equally unaware of those rights.