International Legal News - 4 August 2025
- Aug 4, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2025
The following media round up on international and foreign policy issues from around the world for the period of 28 July to 2 August 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.
1 August 2025
Constitutional Reforms: El Salvador abolishes presidential term-limits
El Salvador’s ruling party has passed a bill which introduces a number of constitutional amendments. Notably, the new law abolishes term limits for the presidency.
The amendment follows the reflection of Bukele who won a second term despite a prohibition at that time in the Country’s constitution. The top court in El Salvador held in 2021 that the provision was in breach of human rights obligations.
It is reported that 57 members of Congress voted in favour of the bill, and three voted against it. Other amendments include extension of the presidential term from five years to six, and to scrap election run-offs.
For more on this story, see here.
31 July 2025
UN chief welcomes ceasefire amidst de-escalation between Thailand and Cambodia
The UN High Commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has welcomed a ceasefire that has been struck between Cambodia and Thailand, following renewed conflict between the two nations over the last five days, resulting in at least 35 deaths and thousands displaced. The conflict also resulted in the suspension of Thailand’s former Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, after leaked messages to Cambodia’s leader, Hen Sun led to concerns over national security.
The two south-east nations have had a near century-long dispute over the ownership of Preah Vihear, an 11th Century Hindu Temple that sits along the located on the Indochinese Peninsula border. In 1962, the International Court of Justice held that the temple was within Cambodia, issuing a similar finding in 2013.
For more on this story, see here.
30 July 2025
UN Court denies early release to war criminal behind Srebrenica genocide
A United Nations war crimes court has denied a request from Ratko Mladic for early release, following requests made on medical grounds.
Mladic, (83) who was a Bosnian Serb military leader during the Yugoslav wars, was imprisoned for his role overseeing the genocide in Srebrenica that saw the killing of men and boys, on the basis of the religious identity.
Commemorations recently took place following the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide which saw the deaths of approximately 8000 Muslim men and boys.
Judge Graciela Gatti, at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, held that submissions concerning Mladic’s condition did not meet the threshold of an “acute terminal illness” which is required for early release.
For more on this story, see here.
29 July 2025
Case Note: UK Supreme Court hands down long-awaited sanctions judgment
The UK Supreme Court has handed down its Judgment in the case of Shvidler v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs [2025] UKSC 30.
In a joint appeal, The Appellants, one individual, and a company, were both subject to designation as sanctioned persons under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
The Appellants raised grounds in respect to the correct approach to be taken by a reviewing court when determining if a designation could constitute a proportionate interference with rights under Article 8 (right to private and family life) and Article 1, Protocol 1 (right to property) of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”), and further, whether their respective designations were in fact a breach of those same Convention Rights.
In what has been deemed by practioners to be a seminal ‘test case’, the judgment is the latest indication of the legality and execution of the UK Sanction’s regime, (adopted following the UK’s departure from the European Union). Moreover, the ruling highlights the role of the courts themselves in reviewing the acts and competencies of the Executive - a matter which lies at the heart of our constitutional settlement. A majority (P. Reed LJ, Sales LJ, Rose LJ, and Richards LJ) have now dismissed the appeal. Notably, Leggatt LJ has offered a dissenting judgment (at para. 245).
For the Supreme Court’s Judgment, and a press summary, see here.
28 July 2025
Nigerian court declares a London Arbitration “Null and Void”
An ICC arbitration, seated in London, which was pending against a local Nigerian oil producer over loan repayments reportedly worth US$2 billion, has been declared to be null and void by a Nigerian state court. It is reported that the declaration follows those same arbitral proceedings being pursued in defiance of earlier court orders.
For more on this story, see here.