The Ivory Coast has already begun the process of prosecuting human rights offenders for the crimes that occurred following the country's 2010 elections. In November the International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo [JURIST report], the wife of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo. Also in November, Laurent Gbagbo was found fit to stand trial [JURIST report] before the ICC. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] has also released a report that said the Ivory Coast's military committed widespread human rights abuses in August and September. In 2011 the Ivory Coast's government launched a truth and reconciliation commission [JURIST report] to resolve conflicts stemming from violence that occurred during the country's tense post-election atmosphere.

Egypt has endured political turmoil since its revolution [JURIST feature] last year. Earlier this week, Egyptian courts suspended work [JURIST report] to protest Morsi's recent decree, which, most significantly, removed judicial review of his actions. In October, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged Egypt to amend its proposed constitution [JURIST report] to comply with international treaties. In August, a lawyer in Egypt filed an appeal challenging a declaration by Morsi granting himself complete legislative and executive power [JURIST reports]. In July, a few days after he was sworn in as president, Morsi issued a decree [JURIST reports] calling the Egyptian parliament back into session, despite a previous ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolving parliament after finding that one-third of its members were elected illegally. The court suspended Morsi's decree two days later, after which Morsi vowed that he would respect the ruling [JURIST reports]. Days before its dissolution, the Egyptian parliament elected a new constitutional council after lawmakers finally reached an agreement [JURIST reports] on the political composition of the council.

Last month the UN Security Council [official website] condemned [JURIST report] piracy and acts of armed robbery against vessels off the coast of Somalia. The Security Council urged the international community to develop a comprehensive response to discourage these acts. A number of countries around the world have taken actions in the attempt to solve the problem of maritime piracy. In October the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg [official website, in German] sentenced 10 Somalis [JURIST report] who were involved in the hijacking the German freighter MS Taipan off the coast of Somalia two years ago. Also in October, an appeals court in Kenya concluded that Kenyan courts have jurisdiction [JURIST report] to try international piracy suspects. Also that month six accused Somali pirates went on trial [JURIST report] in a Paris court in connection with the 2008 hijacking of the cruise ship Le Ponant in the Gulf of Aden. In July the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau [official website] reported that the number of global pirate attacks fell sharply [JURIST report] in the first half of 2012.

The decision by the ICJ will be the latest in a series of decisions resolving border disputes and the outcome could have broad repercussions in the region. Last month the ICJ resolved [JURIST report] a long running dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua, leading Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to question whether the ICJ's verdicts would be respected.The ICJ also issued a ruling [JURIST report] in 2009 resolving a dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Palestinian-Jordanian Qatada has fought terrorism charges and extradition in court for more than a decade. The SIAC denied bail [JURIST report] to Qatada in May. In early February he was released on bail [JURIST report] after he made an application for bail following the ECHR block of his deportation, but he was arrested again in April to begin deportation proceedings. Qatada was granted political asylum by the UK in 1994. When he was arrested in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989, police seized a sizable sum of money in various currencies for which no explanation was given. Later in 2001, he went into hiding to avoid being arrested and detained under the then-proposed Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. He was arrested again in 2002 and held until March 2005 when he was released pursuant to a House of Lords judgment declaring his detention without trial to be unlawful. In February 2009 the ECHR ordered the UK to pay 2,500 in damages [JURIST report] to Qatada after determining that his imprisonment violated the European Convention on Human Rights. Despite his previous grant of asylum and fears of torture and persecution, UK Law Lords in February 2009 ruled that Qatada could be returned [JURIST report] to Jordan to face terrorism charges. The February decision overruled an April 2008 Court of Appeal decision blocking his deportation [JURIST report].

Haradinaj's retrial began [JURIST report] in August 2011. The appeals chamber of the ICTY reversed [JURIST report] the acquittal in July 2010 and ordered a retrial for Haradinaj after finding the integrity of the original proceedings was compromised and the Trial Chamber failed to take sufficient steps to counter witness intimidation that permeated the trial. Haradinaj was first acquitted [JURIST report] in 2008 when the Trial Chamber found insufficient evidence to establish a criminal enterprise. Del Ponte originally brought charges against Haradinaj and two KLA fighters in 2005 for 37 counts of war crimes [JURIST report] including murder, persecution and rape. Del Ponte condemned many politicians of the former Yugoslavia, including Haradinaj, in her book "The Hunt: Me and War Criminals" that the Swiss government barred [JURIST report] her from publicly promoting.