AN EXPLORATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP WITH UNILATERAL SANCTIONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-378
Author(s):  
Rebecca Barber
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Coercive Measures ◽  
History Of

AbstractThis article seeks to make sense of two seemingly contradictory aspects of the General Assembly's practice: its history of recommending to States that they impose unilateral sanctions; and its series of resolutions denouncing unilateral coercive measures as illegal. It examines the seeming discrepancy between the customary international law position regarding unilateral sanctions, and the position asserted by the Assembly, and argues that on a nuanced reading of the Assembly's resolutions, these positions are not so divergent as is often supposed. The article concludes by examining the scope for the Assembly to make future sanctions recommendations, consistently with its prior condemnation of unilateral coercive measures.

Grotius, Dio Chrysostom and the ‘Invention’ of Customary ius gentium

Grotiana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-44
Author(s):  
Francesca Iurlaro
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Main Claim ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Dio Chrysostom ◽  
Hugo Grotius ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
Normative Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ius Gentium

This article tackles the issue of whether and how Hugo Grotius conceives of custom as a formal source of the law of nations. The main claim of it is that not only custom plays a fundamental role in Grotius’s thought, but that his reflections mark a fundamental turning point for the history of customary international law. A crucial role in this process of re-conceptualization is played by Grotius’s reading of Dio Chrysostom, whose oration On custom provides him with an integrated account of custom as a ‘normative practice’ based on rhetorical judgment (as opposed to the Scholastic interpretation of custom as reiteration of voluntary acts). Consequently, I argue that Dio Chrysostom’s text helps Grotius to transpose the question of the normative legitimacy of custom from a moral to an interpretative level. To conclude, I will show that Grotius adopts two different rhetorical strategies to prove the existence of customary norms of ius gentium.

Legal and Public Trust Considerations for the Ndumo Game Reserve and South Africa-Mozambique Border, following the Migration of the Usuthu River

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Game Reserve ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Boundary ◽  
Alignment Analysis ◽  
Similar Circumstance

The Usuthu River forms part of the international boundary between South Africa and Mozambique. In 2002, this River breached its south bank within the Ndumo Game Reserve and established a new channel within the protected area. In response to the breach, Mozambique proposed the excavation of the floodplain and the establishment of berms to force the flow of the river back into its original alignment. Analysis of the origin and associated history of this portion of the international boundary indicates that it is unlikely that the international boundary has moved with the breech. Furthermore, customary international law pertaining to avulsion or mutation alvei of rivers supports the notion that the international boundary remained in the original channel of the Usuthu River. Finally, case history of a similar circumstance in Africa affirms that this boundary is unlikely to have shifted with the avulsion of the Usuthu River. The Mozambican proposal brings to the fore an array of public trust considerations which are founded in South Africa’sConstitution, and environmental and biodiversity conservation legislation. These considerations prohibit the excavation of the Ndumo Game Reserve. The concept of the state acting as a trustee for, inter alia, biodiversity and protected areas, is reinforced by various water and biodiversity-orientated multilateral agreements to which South Africa is a signatory. Within these, the ones adopted by the Southern African Development Community are the most profound in that they, and specifically the Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement, enjoin state parties from taking decisions that may cause damage to the trust entity beyond the limits of their sovereignty.

4 A History of International Investment Treaties

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salacuse Jeswald W
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Foreign Investments ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Investment Treaties

Since the inception of international investment, foreign investors have sought assurances from the sovereigns in whose territory they invest that their interests will be protected from negative actions by the sovereign and local individuals. This chapter begins with a historical background of the treatification process, which came about due to the perceived weaknesses of customary international law applying to foreign investments. It then discusses the objectives of the movement to negotiate investment treaties; the primary and secondary objectives of investment treaties; long-term goals of investment treaties; the treaty negotiation process; and the consequences of investment treaties, including the growth in investor–state arbitration cases to settle investment disputes.

A History of Maritime Piracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 115-127
Author(s):  
Masha Fedorova ◽  
Piet Hein van Kempen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Maritime Piracy ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
History Of

Masha Fedorova and Piet Hein van Kempen eschew explorations of the nature of piracy to focus on whether there is some legal basis for an obligation in conventional and customary international law on states to criminalize piracy, concluding that such an obligation is absent. But the main thrust of the chapter is an historical survey which tries to decipher why this is the case.

The History of Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Current Status ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
History Of ◽  
General Principles Of Law

This chapter analyses the history of Article 38 of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Statute. It also seeks to reflect on the Article’s current status. The main focus of this chapter is to look at sources of international law through the prism of their historical development, including potential ‘new’ sources (acts of international organizations, unilateral acts of States, soft law) which have emerged long after the twelve ‘wise men’ of the Advisory Committee of Jurists had completed their task of drafting Article 38. The chapter also deals with the ‘classical’ sources of international law, such as customary international law and general principles of law. It takes into account how various courts and tribunals approach these sources.

The Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kittichaisaree Kriangsak
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
International Court ◽  
History Of ◽  
Set Up

Prosecution of perpetrators of serious crimes of international concern before the permanent International Criminal Court, set up in 2002, has been few and far between. Hope thus rests with the implementation of the international legal obligation for States to either extradite such perpetrators to another State able and willing to prosecute them or prosecute the perpetrators themselves or surrender them to be prosecuted by a competent international court. This book is written by the Chairman of the UN International Law Commission's Working Group on the Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare). The Commission submitted its Final Report on that topic to the UN General Assembly in 2014, leaving unanswered numerous important issues such as the customary international law status of the said obligation, immunities of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, the exercise of universal jurisdiction, and competing rules of international law regarding the surrender of persons to a competent international court. This book is an authoritative guide to, as well as the unique drafting history of, the International Law Commission's Final Report. In addition, it provides a comprehensive analysis of the subject, including issues not settled by the Commission and proposing practical solutions to the daunting challenges facing international efforts to bring to account perpetrators of serious atrocities that shock humankind. It will be useful to States, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, international lawyers, students of international law, and the civil society entrusted with human rights protection.

A Short History of Jurisdiction in Transnational Criminal Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 261-275
Author(s):  
Florian Jeßberger
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Short History ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Criminal Jurisdiction ◽  
History Of

Florian Jeßberger explores the development of criminal jurisdiction in multilateral suppression conventions. He identifies general trends, such as extension, specification and standardization, and shows that suppression conventions oscillate between simple replication of firmly settled bases of jurisdiction and integration of innovative, typically subject-matter-specific bases, often pushing the boundaries of the established law of criminal jurisdiction. He also points to the repercussions of jurisdictional rules in transnational criminal law on the ambit of domestic criminal law, by (as treaty practice) shaping the permissive rules under customary international law which limit domestic authority to punish.

Consolidating the International Legal Personality of the osce

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Tichy ◽  
Catherine Quidenus
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Legal Personality

On 14 June 2017, a Headquarters Agreement between Austria and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (‘osce’) was signed. This is remarkable in that the osce, unlike other international organisations, lacks a generally acknowledged international legal status. This View from Practice charts the history of the multilateral efforts to grant a clear legal status to the osce, the recognition by Austria that it considers the osce as having obtained international legal personality on the basis of customary international law by offering to conclude a Headquarters Agreement, and the contents of this Agreement.

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