Latest news with #Jurdi
Middle East Eye
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
French legal group to take EU to court for ‘failing to prevent Gaza genocide'
French and Belgian jurists are due to file a case before the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) on Thursday against the EU Commission and Council for alleged 'failure to prevent genocide' in Gaza. Legal proceedings will come on the back of the failure by EU ministers on Tuesday to agree on suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement. A review of the deal had found that Israel is in breach of the human rights terms associated with the agreement. The EU-Israel agreement provides for preferential trade terms, cooperation on research, culture and security, and a framework for political dialogue. Its human rights clause, Article 2, states that respect for democratic principles and human rights is an essential element of the partnership. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The case, which will be filed in Luxembourg, is the first to challenge the two EU institutions for failing to act against Israel's devastating attack on Gaza. Israel's war on Gaza has been labelled a genocide by several EU members, including Spain, Ireland and Slovenia. The case will be filed by Jurists for the Respect of International Law (Jurdi), a French NGO, which sent formal notices on 12 and 15 May to the Commission and Council. They called for the suspension of cooperation agreements with Israel and for a halt to arms transfers amid the ongoing Israeli campaign, which is confirmed to have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in 21 months. UN's Albanese calls out 'appalling' EU failure to sanction Israel as 32-nation summit in Bogota kicks off Read More » Jurdi is requesting that the CJEU formally acknowledge this failure to act, and order EU institutions to suspend cooperation with Israel, adopt targeted sanctions and fulfil their duty of prevention. Jurdi's president, Patrick Zahnd, told Middle East Eye that the group is also requesting the court issue a binding order for emergency measures. According to Jurdi, the European Commission incurs legal responsibility of EU institutions with respect to Articles 2, 3, 21, 29, and 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the EU–Israel Association Agreement and the peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens). The case argues that the EU violated four principles of international law, including the obligation to prevent genocide, the duty to end impediments to the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, the prohibition on recognition of or assistance to an unlawful situation, such as prolonged occupation, and the obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, particularly in the face of war crimes and crimes against humanity. On Tuesday, the EU's 27 foreign ministers in Brussels failed to agree on the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. They also failed to agree on nine other possible measures against Israel put forward after it was found to have breached human rights provisions of the trade agreement. The measures that would have been agreed on Tuesday included full suspension of the agreement, suspension of its preferential trade provisions, an arms embargo, sanctions on Israeli ministers, or imposing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine.
Middle East Eye
27-06-2025
- Business
- Middle East Eye
French banking giant BNP Paribas sued over failure to report links to Israel
A legal group announced on Friday that it has taken France's banking giant BNP Paribas to court for "failure to fulfil its duty of vigilance," accusing the banking group of failing to define activities supporting Israel, particularly in the context of its military offensive in Gaza. The law requires large French companies to publish a vigilance plan to prevent, among other things, environmental risks and human rights violations related to their activities. "However, far from respecting these obligations, BNP Paribas, in its 2024 vigilance plan, did not deign to define the very existence of its activities in support of the State of Israel or companies arming the State of Israel," the association Jurists for Respect for International Law (Jurdi) said in a press release. "Indeed, the guarantee provided by BNP Paribas for the successful completion of an $8bn bond subscription for the benefit of the Israeli government is not included. Nor is its support for Elbit Systems, the main arms supplier to the State of Israel," it clarified. The association, which brings together lawyers and magistrates, claims to have formally notified BNP Paribas in December 2024 to amend its vigilance plan, and said the banking group refused to do so in March.
Middle East Eye
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
France criticised for allowing Netanyahu's plane to use its airspace
The French government has been accused of a 'serious violation' of its legal obligations by allowing indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane to pass over its airspace - for the third time in two months. Netanyahu, who was issued an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant last year for war crimes in Gaza, travelled from Hungary to the United States last weekend, flying over Croatian, Italian and French airspace en route. Similarly, in February, a plane carrying Netanyahu from Israel to the US flew over Greece, Italy and France. The return flight is reported to have taken a similar reverse route. A French diplomatic source told Middle East Eye that the 2 February flight had been 'authorised' to use French airspace, which they said was 'in full compliance with France's rights and obligations under international law'. 'The Rome Statute does not impose any obligation regarding the overflight of its territory by a state aircraft carrying a person subject to an arrest warrant,' they added. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The diplomatic source would not confirm whether the April flight was also pre-authorised. As signatories to the Rome Statute, France, as well as Croatia and Italy, must arrest anyone indicted by the ICC. A group of legal experts have disputed the French government's interpretation of its obligations. The Association of Jurists for the Respect of International Law (Jurdi), which brings together French jurists and experts to promote the application of international law in relation to Israel-Palestine, said that Paris' legal responsibility extends to airspace. In a letter to President Emmanuel Macron, Jurdi said that Paris likely committed a 'serious violation' of its international commitments if it pre-authorised access to its airspace. Hungary decides to withdraw from ICC during Netanyahu visit Read More » It cited the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed in Chicago in 1944, which says that airspace is a constituent part of a state's territory over which it exercises sovereignty. As such, Jurdi said, France is obligated to 'arrest any person subject to an arrest warrant present on its territory, including by air'. Failure to do so would weaken the integrity of the Rome Statute and cast doubts on the 'fight against impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes,' the jurists wrote. Mathilde Panot, leader of the La France Insoumise (France unbowed, LFI) group in parliament, publicly called on Macron to confirm whether the 6 April flight was pre-authorised. 'Such a decision would be an extremely serious violation of the Rome Statute,' she said on X. MEE reached out to the Croatian and Italian foreign ministries for comment on use of their airspace, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Hungary withdrew from the Rome Statute last week during the Israeli prime minister's visit to the country. 'France is complicit' Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, are being sought by the ICC over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war on Gaza. They are accused of starvation of civilians as a method of war, wilfully causing great suffering, wilful killing, intentional attacks on a civilian population and extermination, among other charges. Netanyahu added 400km onto his flight from Budapest to Washington on Sunday due to fears about flying over countries which may enforce the arrest warrant, Israeli media reported. Why experts say Netanyahu has no immunity before ICC as France claims Read More » Israeli authorities believed that Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands would enforce the ICC warrant in the event that the Wing of Zion state plane needed to make an emergency landing. The 2 February flight was lengthened for the same reason, Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, recently revealed. He said the flight was forced to take a longer path over US army bases to ensure it did not have to make an emergency landing over ICC members in Europe. 'When the prime minister came here last month, he had to fly 13 1/2 hours - a trip that should take 12 hours - people don't know this, but the reason is because he couldn't land anywhere in Europe,' said Leiter. France has been criticised in recent months for suggesting that it would not arrest Netanyahu because it believed he was 'immune' as a senior state official. International law experts told MEE that no such immunity exists. Posting a picture of Netanyahu's flight path, French lawmaker Clemence Guette wrote on X that the Israeli prime minister 'should have been intercepted and arrested' over the weekend. 'By protecting a criminal, France is complicit in his crimes,' Guette said. 'In Gaza, children are still dying under the tyrant Netanyahu's bombs. Stop the genocide.'
