In Defence of State Immunity: Why the UN: Convention on State Immunity is Important

2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel Fox

The Convention on State Immunity adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2004 represents in treaty form a finished product of some 22 years of work 1 It indicates a consensus of State support for the restrictive doctrine of State immunity in its application to civil proceedings relating to commercial matters in national courts. It is a considerable achievement from the view point of the specialist lawyers and diplomats who have steered the project to UN endorsement.

Author(s):  
Fox Hazel ◽  
Webb Philippa

This chapter provides a general description of UNCSI, the travaux préparatoires relating to the work of the International Law Commission (ILC) and the discussions in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Sixth (Legal) Committee, and the exclusions, omissions, final clauses, as follows: the legislative history, which covers the ILC's work and its consideration in the UN; the status of the Convention; the Convention's relation to other international conventions; interpretation of the Convention; the structure of the Convention; the general rule of immunity in the Convention; the exclusions and matters omitted from the Convention; a general assessment of the Convention; and its implementation by States who have ratified the Convention.


2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Dickinson

The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 December 2004.1 The General Assembly recorded, in the first paragraph of its resolution adopting the Convention, its ‘deep appreciation to the International Law Commission and the Ad Hoc Committee on jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property for their valuable work on the law of jurisdictional immunities of States and their property’. Whatever view one takes as to the merits of the Convention text or the prospects of its success,2 it cannot be doubted that this acknowledgment was well deserved—it is, if anything, an understatement to describe the conclusion of a detailed international instrument on state immunity, embodying the restrictive theory of immunity, as a ‘diplomatic triumph’.


Author(s):  
Luis Cabrera

This chapter explores the case for a more formalized United Nations parliamentary assembly, including the potential oversight, accountability, and (ultimately) co-decision roles that such a body could play alongside the UN General Assembly. Given difficulties in expecting national parliamentarians to perform such functions continuously, a UN assembly is found to hold greater potential for promoting key UN system aims in the areas of security, justice, and democratic accountability, even as the existing Inter-Parliamentary Union continued to play some important complementary roles. Learning from relevant global and regional parliamentary bodies, the chapter outlines concrete steps toward developing a parliamentary assembly over time, including the creation of a more informal UN network of UN-focused national parliamentarians in the near term.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-252
Author(s):  
Elspeth Guild

AbstractIn this contribution, I examine the links between the human rights basis of the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and its embeddedness in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. While the GCM grew out of a development framework, it was rapidly incorporated into the UN human rights system. Even during the negotiation of the GCM, human rights took priority over development. The resistance that was manifested against the GCM on its endorsement by the UN General Assembly was directed not against its development links, but rather concerns about its human rights impact. This paper examines the placing of migration in this dual framework and the ways in which outcomes compatible with both are achievable.


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Thomas

In the decade after 1952 France faced sustained United Nations criticism of its colonial policies in north Africa. As membership of the UN General Assembly expanded, support for the non-aligned states of the Afro-Asian bloc increased. North African nationalist parties established their permanent offices in New York to press their case for independence. Tracing UN consideration of French North Africa from the first major General Assembly discussion of Tunisia in 1952 to the end of the Algerian war in 1962, this article considers the tactics employed on both sides of the colonial/anti-colonial divide to manipulate the UN Charter's ambiguities over the rights of colonial powers and the jurisdiction of the General Assembly in colonial disputes.


Paradigms ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
J‐F. Guilhaudis ◽  
A.J.R. Groom

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McRae

On November 17, 2011, the UN General Assembly elected the members of the International Law Commission for the next five years. In the course of the quinquennium that was completed in August 2011 with the end of the sixty-third session, the Commission concluded four major topics on its agenda: the law of transboundary aquifers, the responsibility of international organizations, the effect of armed conflicts on treaties, and reservations to treaties. It was by any standard a substantial output. The beginning of a new quinquennium now provides an opportunity to assess what the Commission has achieved, to consider the way it operates, and to reflect on what lies ahead for it.


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