The individual claims against foreign state governments is made increasingly complex by the number of possible actors and institutions involved. International Claims settlement agreements, domestic courts, ad hoc bodies can all overlap to reach a solution. What are the lessons learned from this process? How can a harmonious result be achieved?
Bio
Joan Donoghue
Joan E. Donoghue is an American jurist, currently serving as a Judge on the International Court of Justice, having been elected to that post in 2010.
Donoghue graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with honors degrees in Russian Studies and in Biology, in 1978, and the Boalt Hall School of Law, of the University of California, Berkeley, with her Juris Doctor, in 1981. In the 1980s, Donoghue acted as attorney-advisor for the US in Nicaragua v. United States.
She was the General Counsel of Freddie Mac, and, more recently, the Deputy Legal Adviser at the United States State Department.
Donoghue was elected to the ICJ on September 9, 2010 to fill the place left vacant by the resignation of Thomas Buergenthal. Pursuant to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, Donoghue will fill the remainder of the nine-year term for which Buergenthal had been elected; thus Donoghue's term now expires on February 5, 2015.
Donoghue's name had been the only nomination for this ICJ vacancy received by the Secretary-General within the specified time. (After the expiration of the deadline for submissions of nominations, the Secretariat received communications from the national group of Colombia also nominating a candidate.
In the General Assembly, Donoghue received 159 votes out of 167 valid ballots (there were 8 abstentions). In the Security Council, she received all 15 votes.
Donoghue was officially sworn in as a member of the ICJ on September 13, 2010.
Although the ICJ was established in 1945, Donoghue was only the third woman ever elected to be a member of the Court. Of the Court's 15 members, three are now female (the others are Xue Hanqin, sworn in on the same day as Donoghue, and Julia Sebutinde, who joined the Court in 2012).
Timothy J. Feighery
On March 21, 2011, Mr. Timothy J. Feighery was sworn in as the Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. He was nominated for the position by President Obama on November 15, 2010, and confirmed by the Senate on March 10, 2011.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth
Royce C. Lamberth is a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, serving as its Chief Judge. He was nominated to the federal bench on March 19, 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 13, 1987. He also served as Presiding Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1995 to 2002.
Francis McGovern
Francis McGovern is a Professor of Law at Duke University.
Royce C. Lamberth, Chief Judge for the United States Federal Court for the District of Columbia, talks about the delicate nature of holding a state liable for wrongdoing in court. Citing the United States as an example, Lamberth discusses his reluctance to tread upon the powers of Congress and the executive branch.
Body of legal rules, norms, and standards that apply between sovereign states and other entities that are legally recognized as international actors. The term was coined by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Important elements of international law include sovereignty, recognition (which allows a country to honour the claims of another), consent (which allows for modifications in international agreements to fit the customs of a country), freedom of the high seas, self-defense (which ensures that measures may be taken against illegal acts committed against a sovereign country), freedom of commerce, and protection of nationals abroad. International courts, such as the International Court of Justice, resolve disputes on these and other matters, including war crimes. See alsoasylum; immunity.