International Legal News - 14 July 2025

The following media round up on international and foreign policy issues from around the world for the period of 7 July to 11 July 2025. Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates from the International Criminal Court, European Court of Human Rights, United Nations, European Union and other sources. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.

Guernica 37 International Legal News

11 July 2025

Commemorating the 30^th anniversary of Srebrenica

The 11 of July 2025 marks 30 years of the Srebrenica genocide.

8,372 Bosnian men and boys were murdered in just a few days.

They were murdered because of their religious identity.

The wider Bosnian War saw over 100,000 killed. Thousands subject to sexual violence. More than 2 million people displaced from their homes between the years of 1992 and 1995.

To learn more about what took place in Srebrenica, how these events are being commemorated, and RSUK’s statement, visit Srebrenica.org.uk

11 July 2025

Humanitarian crisis, violence and displacement in Nigeria

The Human Rights organisation Amnesty International has urged the authorities in Nigeria to act in response to what is believed to a crisis taking place in Benue State, where it is thought that an estimated 500,000 people have been displaced as a consequence of violence in the region.

Many residents in towns of Benue have been either subject to violence or forced to flee due to raids by armed groups. Refuge camps are said to be susceptible to further dangers. There is reportedly severe overcrowding, widespread gender-based violence, and a lack of medical care, especially for women in labour.

Isa Sanusi, the director of Amnesty International Nigeria, has warned that a continued failure by the authorities to prosecute people responsible for the situation, “is fueling a cycle of impunity”.

For more on this story, see here.

10 July 2025

UN body urges restraint as violence resumes in Libya

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) a segment of the UN dedicated to working with the people and government of Libya has issued a statement urging military forces to exercise restraint following the mobilisation of armed groups pushing the country to violent clashes.

Reports from Tripoli suggests armed groups are deploying fighters. Concerns remain as to the effect that armed activity will have in densely populated Civillian regions.

Violence in the region can be traced back to 2011 when the death of Muammar Gaddafi during the so-called Arab Spring which led to civil war.

The country has been further encumbered by the repercussions of Storm Daniel which caused devastation in the region in 2023, leading to the deaths of 11,000 people. Political tensions have only further obstructed the accessibility of humanitarian support.

For more on this story, see here.

9 July 2025

UK criminal justice system mulls jury-free trials

A 378-page report by Sir Brian Leveson, has published new proposals to tackle the ever-growing backlog of trials in the Courts of England and Wales. The report proposes a wide-ranging set of recommendations including the creation of a new division of the Crown Court in which a judge and two magistrates can hear “either way” offences, as well as removing the right to a jury trial in the Crown Court for cases where a maximum sentence does not exceed two years, amongst other proposals. It is envisaged that 9000 sitting days would be saved.

The proposals would introduce a significant departure from the right to trial by jury. Trial by one’s peers has been a cornerstone of common law justice for hundreds of years. Reflecting on the proposals Sir Brian has expressed his own reservations:

“I don’t rejoice in these recommendations but I do believe they’re absolutely essential […] Do I want to curtail jury trial? Would I like to? No … But I would ask that the report be judged not on what I am undoing, but on what I am trying to protect.” There is “a real risk of total system collapse in the near future” he has warned.

It is reported that there are around 77,000 cases waiting to be heard in the Criminal Courts of England and Wales.

For more on this story, see here.

To read the report, see here.

8 July 2025

UK Court of Appeal confirms that Litigation Funding Agreements calculated by damages may not necessarily be Damage Based Agreements

The law on third-party funding is complex. One question that has lacked clarity, concerns whether Litigation Funding Agreements, (“LFAs”) may also be characterised as damage-based agreements (“DBAs”).

The answer is important for parties that enter into such agreements because DBAs are governed by Section 58AA of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, which in turn provides for certain regulatory requirements under the DBA Regulations 2013 for their lawfulness and enforceability.

In 2023, the Supreme Court case of R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) (Appellants) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others (Respondents) [2023] UKSC 28 held that LFAs that provide funders a percentage of any damages recovered are DBAs that must comply with the relevant regime, although in practice agreements of this nature rarely have been able to comply and therefore be enforced.

This week, the Court of Appeal in Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd v Alex Neill Class Representative Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 841 was asked to consider an appeal from the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) whether LFAs which provide for the funder to receive a multiple of the amount it has paid is a DBA if it also caps that amount at the level of the damages received by the funded party. In its ruling, LFAs constructed in this manner were not held to constitute DBAs.

This will likely be of particular relevance to parties that are seeking third party funding in arbitral and litigation proceedings with a nexus to England and Wales.

For further analysis of the Court’s reasoning, see here.

For the Court of Appeal Judgment, see here.

For the Supreme Court Judgment, see here.

7 July 2025

Inter-American Court says countries must prevent climate harms

In an Advisory Opinion issued on 3 July 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has affirmed that countries must protect the climate system as part of their human rights obligations in respect to the American Convention on Human Rights, as well as other human rights law.

Advisory Opinions issued by the Inter-American Court carries significant political and legal weight. The decision is applicable to all 34 countries that form the Organization of American States, including both the United States of America, and Canada.

The Advisory Opinion was requested by both Chile and Columbia in 2023, who asked for a clarification on the scope of responsibility held by states member to the convention. It will require member states to ensure that their own national climate policies are compatible.

For more on this story, see here.

For the Advisory Opinion (Spanish), see here.