COVID-19 | ANZSIL Perspective

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Trade-Related Security Exceptions: An Analysis of the Flexibility under International Law

by Muhammad Zaheer Abbas | 29 May 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised serious concerns about affordable and equitable access to the needed health technologies. The patent-based pricing model of health technologies further exacerbates these concerns. This paper critically evaluates Article 73(b) of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (WTO TRIPS Agreement) to answer the key question: whether this safeguard provision can be invoked by WTO Member States in response to COVID-19 in order to improve access to critically needed health technologies. This is an important question because access to health technologies is a matter of life and death in a pandemic situation....

Managing the Impact of COVID-19 in Western and Central Pacific Fisheries: Balancing Protection of Peoples with Resource Conservation through International Law

by Penelope Ridings | 12 Feb 2021

COVID-19 and its impact on global supply chains has been a focus of recent discussions on the pandemic. International organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation have sought to provide guidance on measures which can be taken to protect supply chains and the incomes of fishing communities, while maintaining appropriate fisheries control measures. The practical impact of COVID-19 on the Pacific tuna fishery has been highlighted, particularly in light of the economic reliance of small island developing States on tuna fisheries. There are significant concerns over the impact of the virus on Pacific island countries which to date have largely been COVID-19 free. These issues...

As lockdown lifts, it is time to repatriate women and children held in Syrian camps

by Eamonn Kelly, Felicity Gerry KC, Sue Milne and Cate Read | 12 Jun 2020

Australian women and children currently being held in the Al-Hawl camp in Syria present a jurisdictional headache for their home States, some of whom have made domestic criminal allegations against these citizens in respect of their conduct abroad. In Australia, senior ministers allege, amongst other things, that citizens detained in Syrian refugee camps have committed foreign fighter offences and pose a risk to the Australian community if repatriated. This short article considers a State’s duties to protect its citizens, particularly women and children, as an incident of nationality and a citizens’ right to return to Australia, especially where alleged crimes empower Australian Courts...

COVID-19 and the UN Security Council: Should We Expect an Intervention?

by Ash Murphy | 12 May 2020

When the 2014 West African Ebola crisis reached its pinnacle the UN Security Council (UNSC) took the unprecedented step of declaring the outbreak an Article 39 threat to international peace and security – thus activating its most powerful tool under the UN Charter. Just six years on, COVID-19 has gripped the planet with unrivalled intensity, generating over 3 million cases and causing 205,000 deaths (at the time of writing). However, the UNSC remains in a guise of hibernation and has not yet adopted a meaningful position on what Secretary-General Guterres has called ‘the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War’. This inaction may appear inconsistent given the 2014...