Bughartz v.

Switzerland
Facts: Applicants, as Swiss nationals were married in Germany. Mrs.Burghartz has German
citizenship also. In accordance with German law, they chose the wifes surname,
Burghartz, as their family name. The husband availed himself of his right to put his own
surname in front of that and thus call himself SchnyderBurghartz. The Swiss registry
recorded Schnyder as their joint surname, so the couple applied to substitute Burghartz
as the family surname and SchnyderBurghartz as the husbands surname. Their application
was turned down.
Issue: Can the wifes surname (Burghartz) be used as a family name? And can the husband
avail himself of his right to put his own surname in front of that of his wifes?
Held: Both in the affirmative. There was discrimination on the ground of sex. The
advancement of equality of sexes today is a goal of the member states of the council of
Europe. Very weighty reasons would have to be put forward before there can be a difference
in the treatment on the sole ground of sex.
Basis:
Swiss Federal Constitution: Men and women shall have equal rights.
Swiss Civil Code: Engaged couples shall be authorized, if they so request and if they prove
a legitimate interest to bear the wifes surname as the family name..
Prohibition on discrimination: The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms shall be secured
without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race

Pretty v. United Kingdom

Facts: The applicant was dying of a neuron disease. She was paralyzed but could make
decisions. She wanted to die to be spared of suffering but could not do it by herself. She thus
wanted her husband to help her commit suicide. However, it was a crime to assist another to
commit suicide under the British laws and so she requested that her husband be free from
prosecution if he helped her. Her request was refused. She argued that not being able to die in
dignity, there was an infringement ofArticle 2 (right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of torture
and degrading treatment), Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) and Article
14 (non-discrimination).
Ruling: The ECHR found no such violation of her rights. The Court emphasised that under
the Convention, discrimination may entail equal treatment of those in different conditions,
but also reiterated that member states have a margin of appreciation in their application of
the convention. In this case, the Court found the Government had reasonable justification for
not creating different legal regimes concerning assisted suicide for those physically able and
those physically unable due to the risk of abuse and undermining of the protection of life

safeguarded by the 1961 Suicide Act. For these reasons, the Court unanimously found no
violation of Article 14 of the Convention, and no violation of Articles 2, 3, 8 and 9.

Piandong, Morallos and Bulan vs. The Philippines:

Facts: The Messrs and petitioners were convicted of robbery with homicide and sentenced to
death by the RTC of Caloocan City. SC denied appeal .Further motions for reconsideration were
denied .After the execution had been scheduled for 6 April 1999, the Office of the President, on 5
April 1999, granted a three month reprieve of execution. No clemency was however granted and
counsel presented a communication to the Committee under the Optional Protocol. On 23 June
1999, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur for New Communications,
transmitted the communication to the State party with a request to provide information and
observation sin respect of both admissibility and merits of the claims, in accordance with rule 91,
paragraph 2, of the Committee's rules of procedure. The State party was also requested, under
rule 86 of the Committee's rules of procedure, not to carry out the death sentence against Messrs
and petitioners, while their case was under consideration by the Committee. On 7 July 1999, the
Committee was informed by counsel that a warrant for execution of Messrs and petitioners on 8
July 1999 had been issued. After having contacted the State party's representative to theUnited
Nations Office at Geneva, the Committee was informed that the executions would go ahead as
scheduled,despite the Committee's request under rule 86, since the State party was of the opinion
that Messrs. Piandiong, Morallos and Bulan had received a fair trial.
Issue: WON the state committed grave breach of its obligations under the Optional Protocol to
the international covenant on civil and political rights by putting the alleged victims to death
before the Human Rights Committess had concuded the consideration of the communication?
Held: Yes. It is inexcusable for the state to proceed to execute the 3 convicts after the committee
has acted under its rule 86 to request that the state party refrain from doings so
I.

Re: grant of pardon presupposes that the decision of the SC is valid and the president
is merely exercising the virtue of mercy
There is nothing in the Protocol that restricts the right of an alleged victim of a
violation of his rights under the covenant from submitting a communication after a
request for clemency or pardon has been rejected. The state party may not unilaterally
impose such a condition that limits both the competence the committee and the right
of the alleged victims to submit communications

II.

As to finding of facts of the local courts

It is generally for the courts of State-parties, and not or the committee, to evaluate the
facts and evidence in a particular case and to interpret the relevant legislation

III.

As to the re-introduction of the death penalty in the Philippines violates of is not in

compliance wth ICCPR
The committee cannot address this since neither counsel nor the state party has made
submissions in this respect

Kosiek vs. Germany

Facts: Mr. Rolf Kosiek, is a German National. In 1972, the applicant applied for a vacant post
as lecturer at Nrtingen Technical College After his interview, he wrote to the principal of
Nrtingen Technical College assuring him that he would, if appointed, keep his professional
duties and private political commitment entirely separate and would not misuse his position as a
teacher for political ends; he added that he had no intention of appearing in public in Nrtingen
or the surrounding area as a party militant - during the election campaign for the Bundestag, for
example.
The Ministry appointed him as a lecturer (with the status of probationary civil servant with
effect from 1 September 1972. The decision was taken by the Minister himself who, according to
the Government, had known the applicant as a parliamentarian and had no doubts whatever
about his loyalty to the Constitution. The Land Civil Servants Act, in its version of 27 May 1971,
requires all candidates for civil-service posts - whether temporary or permanent - to give "a
guarantee that they will consistently uphold the free democratic constitutional system within the
meaning of the Basic Law" By virtue of section 64(2) of the Act, civil servants shall undertake to
bear witness to the said system by their every word and deed and to uphold it.
After examining whether the legal conditions for tenure were fulfilled, the Ministry replied
that Mr. Kosieks attitude and political activities had given rise to doubts concerning his loyalty
to the Constitution and that he might even have to be dismissed. On 28 February, the Ministry
gave him notice of dismissal with effect from 30 June

Issue: WON his dismissal contravened Article 10 of the Convention?

Held: The European Court of Human Rights held that there had been no violation of Article 10
(freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It found that, in refusing
the applicants access to the civil service, the responsible Ministry of the Land took account of
his opinions and activities merely in order to determine whether he had proved himself during
his probationary period and whether he possessed one of the necessary personal qualifications
for the post in question.
Johnston vs. Ireland

The applicants were an unmarried couple who could not marry, and so legitimate their daughter,
the third applicant, because the Irish Constitution did not permit divorce. They relied on article
14 in conjunction with article 8, arguing that they had been discriminated against on grounds of
their limited financial means, since (had they been better off) they could have obtained a divorce
by the expedient of a spell of residence outside the Republic.
Held: The complaint was rejected in short measure: Article 14 safeguards persons who are
placed in analogous situations against discriminatory differences of treatment in the exercise of
the rights and freedoms recognised by the Convention. The court notes that under the general
Irish rules of private international law foreign divorces will be recognised in Ireland only if they
have been obtained by persons domiciled abroad. It does not find it to have been established that
these rules are departed from in practice. In its view, the situations of such persons and of the
first and second applicants cannot be regarded as analogous.

3.) Human Rights as Customary International Law

a) Federal Republic of Germany v Netherlands proceedings joined
with Federal Republic of Germany v Denmark (North Sea Continental Shelf
Case)
26 April 1968
Facts:
The waters of the North Sea were shallow, the whole seabed, except for the Norwegian Trough, consisting of
continental shelf at a depth of less than 200 metres. Most of it had already been delimited between the coastal
States concerned. The Federal Republic and Denmark and the Netherlands, respectively, had, however, been
unable to agree on the prolongation of the partial boundaries referred to above, mainly because Denmark and
the Netherlands had wished this prolongation to be effected on the basis of the equidistance principle, that the
Federal Republic was in any event, and apart from the Geneva Convention, bound to accept delimitation on an
equidistance basis, since the use of that method was a rule of general or customary international law,
automatically binding on the Federal Republic, whereas the Federal Republic had considered that it would
unduly curtail what the Federal Republic believed should be its proper share of continental shelf area, on the
basis of proportionality to the length of its North Sea coastline.
Issue: Whether the equidistance principle was a rule of customary international law
Held:
The Equidistance Principle Not a Rule of Customary International Law
In order for this process to occur it was necessary that Article 6 of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the
Continental Shelf should, at all events potentially, be of a norm-creating character. Article 6 was so framed,
however, as to put the obligation to make use of the equidistance method after a primary obligation to effect

delimitation by agreement. The faculty of making reservations to Article 6 must all raise doubts as to the
potentially norm-creating character of that Article.
Furthermore, while a very widespread and representative participation in a convention might show that a
conventional rule had become a general rule of international law, in the present case the number of ratifications
and accessions so far was hardly sufficient. As regards the time element, although the passage of only a short
period of time was not necessarily a bar to the formation of a new rule of customary international law on the
basis of what was originally a purely conventional rule, it was indispensable that State practice during that
period, including that of States whose interests were specially affected, should have been both extensive and
virtually uniform in the sense of the provision invoked and should have occurred in such a way as to show a
general recognition that a rule of law was involved.

Not only must the acts concerned amount to a settled practice, but they must also be carried out in such a way
as to be evidence of a belief that this practice is rendered obligatory by the existence of a rule of law requiring
it. The need for such a belief, i.e., the existence of a subjective element, is implicit in the very notion of the
opinio juris sivenecessitatis. The States concerned must therefore feel that they are conforming to what
amounts to a legal obligation. The frequency, or even habitual character of the acts is not in itself enough.
There are many international acts, e.g., in the field of ceremonial and protocol, which are performed almost
invariably, but which are motivated only by considerations of courtesy, convenience or tradition, and not by
any sense of legal duty.

The Court consequently concluded that the Geneva Convention was not in its origins or inception declaratory
of a mandatory rule of customary international law enjoining the use of the equidistance principle, its
subsequent effect had not been constitutive of such a rule, and State practice up to date had equally been
insufficient for the purpose.

b) Nicaragua v United States of America

of 27 June 1986

Facts:

In July 1979 the Government of President Somoza collapsed.The new government began to meet armed
opposition from supporters of the former Somoza Government and ex-members of the National Guard.
The US initially supportive of the new government changed its attitude when, according to the United
States, it found that Nicaragua was providing logistical support and weapons to guerrillas in El Salvador.
In April 1981 it terminated United States aid to Nicaragua and in September 1981, according to
Nicaragua, the United States decided to plan and undertake activities directed against Nicaragua.

Initial US support to the groups fighting against the Nicaraguan Government (called contras) was
covert. Later, the United States officially acknowledged its support. Nicaragua also alleged that the
United States is effectively in control of the contras, the United States devised their strategy and directed
their tactics and that they were paid for and directly controlled by United States personal. Nicaragua also
alleged that some attacks were carried out by United States military with the aim to overthrow the
Government of Nicaragua. Attacks against Nicaragua included the mining of Nicaraguan ports and
attacks on ports, oil installations and a naval base. Nicaragua alleged that aircrafts belonging to the United
States flew over Nicaraguan territory to gather intelligence, supply to the contras in the field and to
intimidate the population.

Issue:Do the provisions common to the Geneva Conventions apply to international armed conflicts as
customary law?

Held:

The conduct of the United States may be judged according to the fundamental general principles of
humanitarian law; in its view, the Geneva Conventions are in some respects a development, and in other
respects no more than the expression, of such principles. It is significant in this respect that, according to
the terms of the Conventions, the denunciation of one of them shall in no way impair the obligations
which the Parties to the conflict shall remain bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of
nations, as they result from the usage established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and
the dictates of the public conscience.

The Court considers that there is an obligation on the United States Government, in the terms of Article 1
of the Geneva Conventions, to respect the Conventions and even to ensure respect for them in all
circumstances, since such an obligation does not derive only from the Conventions themselves, but from
the general principles of humanitarian law to which the Conventions merely give specific expression. The
United States is thus under an obligation not to encourage persons or groups engaged in the conflict in
Nicaragua to act in violation of the provisions of Article 3 common to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Article 3 defines certain rules to be applied in the armed conflicts of a non-international character. There
is no doubt that, in the event of international armed conflicts, these rules also constitute a minimum
yardstick, in addition to the more elaborate rules which are also to apply to international conflicts; and
they are rules which, in the Courts opinion, reflect what the Court in 1949 called elementary
considerations of humanity. The Court may therefore find them applicable to the present dispute, and is

thus not required to decide what role the United States multilateral treaty reservation might otherwise play
in regard to the treaties in question.

[For digest purposes on discussion relating to human rights as customary laws, you can probably stop
here; however, you may read on for the human rights violations etc]

The Four Geneva Conventions:

Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the
Field. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of
Armed Forces at Sea. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.

Alleged violations discussed:

The Court has noted that the United States did not issue any warning or notification of the
presence of the mines which had been laid in or near the ports of Nicaragua. Yet even in time
of war, the Convention relative to the laying of automatic submarine contact mines of October 18,
1907 (the Hague Convention No. VIII) provides that every possible precaution must be taken for
the security of peaceful shipping and belligerents are boundto notify the danger zones as soon
as military exigencies permit, by a notice addressed to ship owners, which must also be
communicated to the Governments through the diplomatic channel (Art. 3).
Neutral Powers which lay mines off their own coasts must issue a similar notification, in advance
(Art. 4). It has already been made clear above that in peacetime for one State to lay mines in the
internal or territorial water of another is an unlawful act; but in addition, if a State lays mines in
any waters whatever in which the vessels of another State have rights of access or passage, and
fails to give any warning or notification whatsoever, in disregard of the security of peaceful
shipping,it commits a breach of the principles of humanitarian law underlying the specific
provisions of Convention No. VIII of 1907. Those principles were expressed by the Court in
the Corfu Channelcase as followscertain general and well recognized principles, namely:
elementary considerations of humanity, even more exacting in peace than in war

As to the question of the application of humanitarian law to the activities of the United States,
except as regards the mines, Nicaragua has not however attributed any breach of
humanitarian law to either United States personnel or the UCLAs [Unilaterally
Controlled Latino Assets acronym used by the CIA for Latin American citizens, paid by,
and acting under the direct instructions of, United States military or intelligence personnel],
as distinct from thecontras.

The Applicant has claimed that acts perpetrated by the contras constitute breaches of the
fundamental norms protecting human rights; it has not raised the question of the law applicable
in the event of conflict such as that between the contras and the established Government. In
effect, Nicaragua is accusing the contras of violations both of the law of human rights and
humanitarian law, and is attributing responsibility for these acts to the United States. The Court
has however found that this submission of Nicaragua cannot be upheld.

The United States participation, even if preponderant or decisive, in the financing, organizing,
training, supplying and equipping of the contras, the selection of its military or paramilitary
targets, and the planning of the whole of its operation, is still insufficient in itself, on the basis of
the evidence in the possession of the Court, for the purpose of attributing to the United States the
acts committed by the contras in the course of their military or paramilitary operations in
Nicaragua. All the forms of United States participation mentioned above, and even the general
control by the respondent State over a force with a high degree of dependency on it, would not in
themselves mean, without further evidence, that the United States directed or enforced the
perpetration of the acts contrary to human rights and humanitarian law alleged by the applicant
State. Such acts could well be committed by members of the contras without the control of the
United States. For this conduct to give rise to legal responsibility of the United States, it would in
principle have to be proved that State had effective control of the military or paramilitary
operations in the course of which the alleged violations were committed.

However, the Court has found the United States responsible for the publication and
dissemination of the manual on Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare.
The Court has also found that general principles of humanitarian law include a particular
prohibition, accepted by States, and extending to activities which occur in the context of armed
conflicts, whether international in character or not. By virtue of such general principles, the
United States is bound to refrain from encouragement of persons or groups engaged in the
conflict in Nicaragua to commit violations of Article 3 which is common to all four Geneva

Conventions of August 12, 1949. The question here does not of course relate to the definition of
the circumstances in which one State may be regarded as responsible for acts carried out by
another State, which probably do not include the possibility of incitement. The Court takes note
of the advice given in the manual on psychological operations to neutralize certain carefully
selected and planned targets, including judges, police officers, State Security officials, etc., after
the local population have been gathered in order to take part in the act and formulate accusations
against the oppressor. In view of the Court, this must be regarded as contrary to the prohibition
in Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, with respect to non-combatants, of
the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement
pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are
recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples
and probably also of the prohibition of violence to life and person, in particular murder to all
kinds, ... .

When considering whether the publication of such a manual, encouraging the commission of acts
contrary to general principles of humanitarian law, is unlawful, it is material to consider whether
that encouragement was offered to persons in circumstances where the commission of such acts
was likely or foreseeable. The Court has however found [...] that at the relevant time those
responsible for the issue of the manual were aware of, at the least, allegations that the behaviour
of the contras in the field was not consistent with humanitarian law; it was in fact even claimed
by the CIA that the purpose of the manual was to moderate such behaviour. The publication and
dissemination of a manual in fact containing the advice quoted above must therefore be regarded
as an encouragement, which was likely to be effective, to commit acts contrary to general
principles of international humanitarian law reflected in treaties.

Humanitarian assistance (principle of non-intervention)

The Court therefore finds that the support given by the United States, up to the end of September 1984, to
the military and paramilitary activities of the contras in Nicaragua, by financial support, training, supply
of weapons, intelligence and logistic support, constitutes a clear breach of the principle of nonintervention. The Court has however taken note that, with effect from the beginning of the United States
governmental financial year 1985, namely 1 October 1984, the United States Congress has restricted the
use of the funds appropriated for assistance to the contras to humanitarian assistance [...]. There can be
no doubt that the provision of strictly humanitarian aid to persons or forces in another country, whatever
their political affiliations or objectives, cannot be regarded as unlawful intervention, or as in any other
way contrary to international law. The characteristics of such aid were indicated in the first and second of

the fundamental principles declared by the Twentieth International Conference of the Red Cross, that
The Red Cross, born of desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the
battlefield, endeavours in its international and national capacity to prevent and alleviate human
suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the
human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation and lasting peace amongst all
peoples
and that
It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It
endeavours only to relieve suffering, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress.

The United States legislation which limited aid to the contras to humanitarian assistance however also
defined what was meant by such assistance, namely:
the provision of food, clothing, medicine, and other humanitarian assistance, and it does not include the
provision of weapons, weapons systems, ammunition, or other equipment, vehicles, or material which can
be used to inflict serious bodily harm or death [...].
It is also to be noted that, while the United States Congress has directed that the CIA and Department of
Defense are not to administer any of the funds voted, it was understood that intelligence information
might be shared with the contras. Since the Court has no information as to the interpretation in fact
given to the Congress decision, or as to whether intelligence information is in fact still being supplied to
the contras, it will limit itself to a declaration as to how the law applies in this respect. An essential
feature of truly humanitarian aid is that it is given without discrimination of any kind. In view of the
Court, if the provision of humanitarian assistance is to escape condemnation as an intervention in the
internal affairs of Nicaragua, not only must it be limited to the purposes hallowed in the practice of the
Red Cross, namely to prevent and alleviate human suffering, and to protect life and health and to
ensure respect for the human being; it must also, and above all, be given without discrimination to all in
need in Nicaragua, not merely to the contras and their dependants.