On May 27, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights rendered its judgment in the case of Marguš v. Croatia. The applicant, who had served in the Croatian Army, was convicted of war crimes in 2007, following an earlier decision in 1997 to grant him amnesty for these crimes. A majority of the Grand Chamber drew on Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (the Convention) and general international law to argue that Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 of the Convention (the right not to be tried or punished twice) was inapplicable in these circumstances and that the applicant’s claim on this point was inadmissible. The Grand Chamber also ruled that there had been no violation of Article 6 of the Convention (the right to a fair trial).

On July 3, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued its partial Judgment on the Merits in the case of Georgia v. Russian Federation (I). The ECHR Grand Chamber granted and denied various claims brought by Georgia. It determined that Georgia’s requested compensation relief was not yet ripe for decision.

In April and May of 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), sitting as a Grand Chamber, issued two preliminary rulings with dramatic implications for internet privacy—a topic of increasing global concern following Edward Snowden’s leaks on the data surveillance programs run by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and its allies. The first case, Digital Rights Ireland Ltd. v. Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and others joined with Kärtner Landesregierung and others, found an unacceptable interference in the rights to privacy and data protection in a European Union directive that required private telecom and internet companies to retain records of user activity and to make those records available for use by law enforcement. The second case, Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos and Mario Costeja González, recognized that there are situations where an internet search engine, such as Google, could be ordered to erase links from search results to protect individual privacy. While these two cases have dramatically different policy implications, both demonstrate Europe’s efforts to apply human rights to modern technology and to reconcile security, freedom of information, and privacy.

On March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 68/262 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The resolution was adopted in response to the March 16, 2014 referendum held in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol, and it affirmed the territorial integrity, unity, sovereignty, and political independence of Ukraine, calling on states to desist and refrain from actions that undermine the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The Maritime Labour Convention (Convention) is a global legal instrument developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. It was drafted with a view to completing the international regulatory regime for quality shipping as the “fourth pillar,” standing next to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. Its two fundamental aims are to ensure comprehensive and worldwide protection of the rights of seafarers, and in doing so, to also allow a level playing field for states and ship owners committed to providing decent working and living conditions for seafarers by protecting them from unfair competition on the part of substandard ships. To this end, the establishment of firm rules that can be flexibly implemented by state parties, while at the same time providing rigorous compliance and enforcement procedures to safeguard their integrity and efficiency, are important aspects underlying the Convention.