In September 2013, officials of the Russian Federation boarded the vessel Arctic Sunrise, an icebreaker flying the flag of the Netherlands. The vessel, operated by Greenpeace International, was present in the Russian Federation’s Exclusive Economic Zone in order to protest against the operation of the offshore fixed oil platform Prirazlomnaya. Russian authorities detained the Arctic Sunrise itself and all persons on board the vessel, initially based on an accusation of piracy.

Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum is the United States Supreme Court’s second decision interpreting the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. § 1350, which was enacted by the First Congress as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789. The ATS provides that federal district courts “shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” Absent the ATS, such claims could only be brought in state, not federal, courts.

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.

On August 22, 2012, the Republic of Senegal and the African Union (AU) signed an agreement to create a tribunal within the Senegalese judicial system to prosecute the perpetrators of international law violations in Chad between 1982 and 1990. To be called the Extraordinary African Chambers (Chambers), the tribunal is the result of years of political and judicial bargaining around Hissein Habré, the former President of Chad. The Chambers were inaugurated in February 2013, following the agreement upon a Statute of the Chambers in January 2013. On July 2, 2013, Hissein Habré was charged with crimes against humanity, torture, and war crimes, and placed in pre-trial detention. To date, Habré is the only indictee, but the Prosecutor reportedly intends to seek the indictment of five officials of Habré’s administration suspected of having committed international crimes.