8. International Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 173-197
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lawson
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
World Government ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Us ◽  
Postal Services ◽  
Sovereign Authority ◽  
National Governments

This chapter describes the broad challenges involved in establishing global order under conditions of anarchy through international law. The fact that there is no world government with powers akin to national governments means that maintaining cooperative relations between and among states is always a careful balancing act, given the problem of enforcing international law in the absence of a single, overarching sovereign authority. The chapter looks at law in the global sphere through the notion of rule of law. It then considers the emergence of international law in broad historical perspective. Moving on to international law in the twentieth century, and up to the present period, the chapter examines the nature of treaties, charters, and covenants which operate in multiple issue areas from postal services, trade, and aviation to communications, the environment, and human rights. It also focuses on two major international courts: the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Finally, the chapter reflects on how the principles and practices of a rules-based international order are faring in the contemporary period with a focus on Russia, China, and the US.

The Impact of the Human Rights Accountability Movement on the International Law of Immunities

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 151-193
Author(s):  
Darryl Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
International Court ◽  
Accountability Movement ◽  
International Discourse ◽  
The Impact

SummaryIn the last decade, the human rights accountability movement has made remarkable inroads into the classical law of immunities. The developments strike a new equilibrium between the need to promote accountability and the need to protect international discourse. These developments form a coherent picture if one looks to the underlying rationales of these areas of law. Immunities ratione materiae, enjoyed by current and former officials, protect official functions on behalf of a state. The landmark Pinochet decision affirmed that official functions could not include the commission of international crimes condemned by international law. Conversely, immunity ratione personae flows from a different rationale. This form of immunity protects only certain high officials representing their state and only during office and facilitates official visits by precluding arrest on any grounds. The International Court of Justice Yerodia decision and other developments confirm that this immunity remains absolute, irrespective of the conduct alleged. However, even this absolute immunity may be relinquished through Security Council enforcement action or acceptance of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Towards an International Criminal Court

1950 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vespasian V. Pella
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
International Court ◽  
Nulla Poena Sine Lege ◽  
International Law Commission

The United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948, adopted a resolution reciting that “in the course of development of the international community, there will be an increasing need of an international judicial organ for the trial of certain crimes under international law,” and therefore inviting the International Law Commission to study the desirability and possibility of establishing such a judicial organ, in particular as “a Criminal Chamber of the International Court of Justice.” Further, in approving the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, the General Assembly endorsed a principle of the greatest import for the codification of international criminal law: that of nullum crimen sine lege, nulla poena sine lege.

The Global Community Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence 2017

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Original Research ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Global Law

The 2017 edition both updates readers on the important work of long-standing international tribunals and introduces readers to more novel topics in international law. The Yearbook has established itself as an authoritative resource for research and guidance on the jurisprudence of both UN-based tribunals and regional courts. The 2017 edition continues to provide expert coverage of the Court of Justice of the European Union and diverse tribunals from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to criminal tribunals such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to economically based tribunals such as ICSID and the WTO Dispute Resolution panel. This edition contains original research articles on the development and analysis of the concept of global law and the views of the global law theorists. It also includes expert introductory essays by prominent scholars in the realm of international law, on topics as diverse and current as the erosion of the postwar liberal global order by national populism and the accompanying disorder in global politics, a bifurcated global nuclear order due to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, and the expansion of the principle of no-impunity and its application to serious violations of social and economic rights. New to the 2017 edition, the author of the article in Recent Lines of Internationalist Thought will now talk about their own work as a Scholar/Judge. In addition, this edition memorializes the late M. Cherif Bassiouni. The Yearbook provides students, scholars, and practitioners alike a valuable combination of expert discussion and direct quotes from the court opinions to which that discussion relates, as well as an annual overview of the process of cross-fertilization between international courts and tribunals and a section focusing on the thought of leading international law scholars on the subject of the globalization.

The Yerodia Ruling of the International Court of Justice and the 1993/1999 Belgian Law on Universal Jurisdiction

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAIN WINANTS
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
National Court ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
The Relationship

The 1993/1999 Belgian Law on Universal Jurisdiction allows for prosecution before Belgian domestic courts regardless of the nationality of perpetrators or victims, the place where the breaches were committed, or the presence on Belgian territory of the alleged perpetrators. Is universal jurisdiction contrary to international law? Is universal jurisdiction in absentia permitted under Belgian law and under international law? What is the relationship between universal jurisdiction, as exercised by a national court, and the Statute of the International Criminal Court? This article provides an overview of the Belgian legislation and its future with regard to international law and the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

scholarly journals RETURN TO SENDER: LET THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE JUSTIFY OR QUALIFY INTERNATIONAL-CRIMINAL-COURT EXCEPTIONALISM REGARDING PERSONAL IMMUNITIES

2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-611
Author(s):  
Sarah M.H. Nouwen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court

AbstractThis article argues that it is important for the International Court of Justice to be given an opportunity, for instance through a request for an Advisory Opinion, to explain what exactly it meant when it suggested that the ordinarily applicable international law on immunities need not be an obstacle “before certain international criminal courts, where they have jurisdiction”. Two international criminal courts have built a structure of case law on this one obiter comment, which it seems unable to support.

The Lotus Case in Context

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Stéphane Beaulac
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
International Justice ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions

This chapter addresses the significance of the 1927 case of SS Lotus to assess jurisdiction in international law from a historical perspective. It situates the Lotus case in its historical context by considering the influence of the Westphalian legal order and Emer de Vattel’s understanding of state sovereignty on the Court’s judgment. The influence of both of these frameworks supports the positivistic stance taken by the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) in this decision, which remains present in the more recent jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). By examining the Lotus case, the chapter then looks at the theoretical assumptions that underpin state sovereignty and jurisdiction in international law.

The International Court of Justice and the ‘Principle of Non-Use of Force’

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clause Kreß
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Oil Platforms ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Us ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The Icj ◽  
Palestinian Territory ◽  
Legal Consequences

This chapter examines how the ICJ has interpreted UN Charter provisions on use of force in international relations. It outlines ICJ jurisprudence covering use of force by focusing on prohibition of use of force, exceptions to that prohibition, and prohibition of the threat of force. It cites cases from Corfu Channel (1949) to Nicaragua (1986); Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (1996); Case Concerning Oil Platforms (2003) pitting Iran against the US; Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (2004); and Case Concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (2005). The chapter opines that the Court was remarkably successful in clarifying the law and influencing state practice according to its interpretations. Finally it suggests that the ICJ should avoid too much prohibitive rigour in clarifying the important remaining grey areas of the international law on the use of force.

Introductory Note

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Merrills
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Introductory Note

In 2015 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave three judgments and made a number of orders. In various ways this jurisprudence, although modest in extent, contributed to the elucidation of international law on several procedural, as well as substantive matters. In that year no new cases were begun, but one case was discontinued. At the beginning of 2016 there were therefore ten cases on the Court’s docket. The Court’s work in 2015 demonstrates that through its decisions it continues to assist states to resolve their international disputes peacefully and at the same time to contribute to the clarification and development of international law.

A Moving Target

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa Webb
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Moving Target ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
National Practice

The last 50 years have seen significant changes in the law of immunity. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has, over the past 15 years in particular, played an influential role in the law applicable to this ‘moving target’. This chapter examines three approaches of the ECtHR to the identification of general international law: (i) the ECtHR looking to the International Court of Justice; (ii) the ECtHR looking to national practice; and (iii) the ECtHR looking to the work of the International Law Commission and the provisional application of treaties. Although the ECtHR strives to locate itself within general international law, it necessarily approaches the immunities of States, officials, and international organizations through the lens of Article 6 ECHR and whether the immunity in question constitutes a legitimate and proportionate restriction on the right of access to court. This has, at times, taken the Court down a different path to other judicial bodies and we can identify the emergence of a ‘European approach’ to the role of immunity in employment disputes.

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