International organizations — Personality — Legal capacity — Capacity to enter into contracts — Arrangements whereby one organization hosted by another — Modalities of hosting arrangement — Employment of staff members — Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, 1994 — Arrangement for hosting by International Fund for Agricultural Development — Whether Global Mechanism a separate entity

International organizations — Staff members — Appeals — International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal — Jurisdiction — International Fund for Agricultural Development — Acceptance of jurisdiction of Tribunal — Whether extending to complaints brought by persons employed to work on programme of body hosted by Fund — Complainant offered position by IFAD to work as programme officer with Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification — Whether staff member of IFAD — Redundancy — Decision not to renew contract — Grounds for challenge — Excess of authority — Procedure

International organizations — Staff — Appeals mechanism — International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal — Provision for challenge to judgment of the Tribunal by request to International Court of Justice for advisory opinion — Request for suspension of execution of judgment pending opinion — Admissibility of request — Powers of the Tribunal in the absence of express provisions in statute — Impossibility of tribunal assessing soundness of its own judgments — Imbalance in rights of the parties

International Court of Justice — Advisory jurisdiction — International staff cases — Challenge to judgment of International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal — Stay of execution of judgment pending opinion

International organizations — Personality — Legal capacity — Capacity to enter into contracts — Arrangements whereby one organization hosted by another — Nature of hosting arrangements — Employment of staff members — Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification — Arrangement for hosting by International Fund for Agricultural Development

International organizations — Staff members — Appeals — International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal — Jurisdiction — International Fund for Agricultural Development — Acceptance of jurisdiction of Tribunal — Whether extending to complaints brought by persons employed to work on programme of body hosted by Fund — Challenges to Tribunal judgments — Challenge by means of request for advisory opinion of International Court of Justice — Binding character of opinion

International Court of Justice — Advisory jurisdiction — Scope and nature of jurisdiction — Discretion of Court not to reply to request — International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal — Statute of Tribunal providing for challenge to judgments of Tribunal by way of request for advisory opinion — Whether contrary to principle of equality of arms — Whether appropriate for Court to respond to request

International organizations — Staff — Appeals mechanism — International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal — Execution of judgments — Refusal by international organization to comply with earlier judgments — Award of interest for late payment — Award of moral damages — Imposition of penalties for any further delays

Treaties — EC Treaty, 1957 — Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities, 1965 — Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 — Application and interpretation — Court of Justice of the European Communities — Member States of European Community — Obligations on Member States under EC Treaty and Protocol — Article 3 of the Protocol — Fiscal immunity — Communities’ immunity from direct and indirect taxes — Whether Article 3 prohibiting direct taxes on persons who might contract with the Communities and pass on all or part of their tax liabilities to the Communities — Article 13 of the Protocol relating to liabilities of servants of the Communities only — Vienna Convention applicable to inter-State relations only

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — European Community — EC Treaty, 1957 and Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities, 1965 — Obligations of Member States of European Community under the EC Treaty and Protocol — Order of the Region of Brussels Capital of 23 July 1992 — The law of the European Community

Human rights — Right to education — Freedom of thought, conscience and religion — Article 2 of Protocol No 1 to European Convention, 1952 — European Convention on Human Rights, 1950, Article 9 — Freedom not to have a religion — Secularism — Duties in administration of education extending to school environment — Duty of State to respect rights of parents to ensure education and teaching in conformity with their religious and philosophical convictions — “Respect” creating positive obligation for States — Secular views as “convictions” — Pluralism — Neutrality and impartiality — Duty to abstain from indoctrination — Convention not conferring right not to be offended — Margin of appreciation — Crucifix as religious, historical and cultural symbol — Passive symbols not “teaching” — Tradition — Proportionality — Competing interests of parents and society — Lack of consensus between Member States — Whether presence of crucifixes in State school classrooms interfering with applicants’ right to freedom of religion — Whether Italy violating Article 2 of Protocol No 1 and Article 9 of European Convention on Human Rights, 1950

Human rights — States Parties to ensure Covenant rights are extended to all persons within their territories without distinction — Right to life — Prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment — Right to liberty and security of person — Alien lawfully within the territory of a State Party to be expelled only in pursuit of a decision reached in accordance with law — All persons equal before courts and tribunals — Prohibition on arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family and home — Recognition and protection of the family as natural and fundamental group unit of society — Right of every child to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor — Committee not to examine factual assessments de novo — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Articles 6, 7, 9, 13, 14, 17, 23 and 24 — Remedy for violation — United Nations Human Rights Committee

Human rights — Right to life — Prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment — Right to liberty and security of person — Whether States Parties ensuring the extension of Covenant rights to all persons within their territories without distinction — Whether arrested persons being informed of reasons for arrest — Entitlement of persons deprived of their liberty to challenge lawfulness of detention before a court — Whether alien lawfully within the territory of a State Party being expelled in pursuit of a decision reached in accordance with law — All persons equal before courts and tribunals — Entitlement to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law — Prohibition on arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family and home — Recognition and protection of the family as the natural and fundamental group unit of society — Right of every child to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Articles 6, 7, 9, 13, 14, 17, 23 and 24 — Remedy for violation — United Nations Human Rights Committee

Human rights — Asylum — Admissibility of author’s communication to Human Rights Committee — Consideration of merits — Whether States Parties ensuring the extension of Covenant rights to all persons within their territories without distinction — Prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment — Entitlement of all persons to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law — Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion — Whether Article 18 engaging obligation of non-refoulement — Whether any non-refoulement obligation under Article 18 being absolute or subject to limitations — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Articles 2, 7, 14 and 18 — Remedy for violation — United Nations Human Rights Committee

Territory — Acquisition of sovereignty — Islands — Whether international law permitting acquisition of sovereignty over terra nullius by an individual — Whether State acquiring sovereignty over territory obliged to recognize existing private ownership

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Justiciability of international law issue in municipal courts — Act of State doctrine — Whether mere allegations of an act of State rendering a matter non-justiciable

Human rights — Property rights — Customary international law — Whether a private individual can obtain proprietary rights under customary international law in terra nullius through occupation — Whether a State acquiring sovereignty over terra nullius must recognize and give effect to subsisting property rights under customary international law — The law of Australia

States — State-owned corporations — Separate identity — Whether assets of State-owned corporation subject to attachment to enforce debt due from the State — Relationship to State immunity — Lifting corporate veil — Presumption that separate identity of juridical entity established by State will be respected in relation to its and the State’s liabilities — When an entity to be regarded as State organ — Function and control — Nature of “governmental acts” — Distinction between acta jure imperii and acta jure gestionis — Status of entity as separate or organ of State to be considered in the round — Circumstances justifying assimilation of States and separate legal entities for all purposes

State immunity — Enforcement — Separate entities — Trendtex Trading test — Applicability of Trendtex Trading test to issues of enforcement and liability — Distinction between States and separate legal entities — Liability of State-owned entities for debts of State — Lifting corporate veil — State Immunity Act 1978 — The law of Jersey