The Choice of a Treaty

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-118
Author(s):  
Alan Boyle
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Legal System ◽  
Multilateral Treaty

From a lawmaking perspective “soft law” is simply a convenient description for a variety of non-binding normatively worded instruments used in contemporary international relations by states and international organizations. Examples include UN conference declarations, appropriately worded resolutions and declarations adopted by the UN General Assembly or one of its subsidiary organs or specialized agencies, or codes of conduct, guidelines, and principles adopted by any of these UN organs. The main advantage of adopting rules and principles in soft-law form is that the process is simpler, faster, and potentially more inclusive than a multilateral treaty. The UN has pioneered the use of soft law, most obviously through the adoption of General Assembly resolutions that, inter alia, interpret and amplify the UN Charter, codify and progressively develop international law, provide evidence of opinio juris on new norms and general principles, or legitimize state practice. The functions of soft law in the international legal system—and in UN practice—are diverse, but it would be wrong to see the choice of instrument—treaty or soft law—in either/or terms. Non-binding soft law sometimes presents alternatives to lawmaking by treaty; at other times it complements and amplifies treaties while also providing different ways of understanding the legal effect of different kinds of treaties. But it is inconceivable that modern treaty regimes or international organizations such as the UN could function successfully without resort to soft law.

The Work of the International Law Commission, 2007–2011: Progress and Prospects

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McRae
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
The Way

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.

Global Perspectives on Solitary Confinement—Practices and Reforms Worldwide

2019 ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Manfred Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Solitary Confinement ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Special Rapporteur ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Mental And Physical Health ◽  
Harmful Effects

This chapter puts the practice of solitary confinement in the context of and distinguishes it from other aggravated forms of deprivation of liberty, such as incommunicado detention, secret detention, and enforced disappearance. Thereafter, the case law of international and regional monitoring bodies and courts in respect of solitary confinement will be analyzed and compared with the author’s own experience as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture as well as with the experience of Juan Mendez who succeeded the author in this function. On the basis of medical and psychological research showing the harmful effects of solitary confinement on the mental and physical health of detainees, both the author and Juan Mendez contributed to the development of soft law standards, such as the Istanbul Statement and the Mandela Rules, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. By taking powerful scientific evidence into account, these soft law standards, which in principle prohibit every form of solitary confinement for more than fifteen days, are much more advanced than the fairly permissive standards of hard law, as interpreted by regional human rights courts and universal treaty monitoring bodies.

Treaty-Making at the United Nations

2019 ◽  
pp. 50-68
Author(s):  
Stephen Mathias
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Multistage Process ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Multilateral Treaty ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

Beginning in the mid-1970s, the UN General Assembly conducted a review of the multilateral treaty-making process. A 1980 Report of the Secretary-General on this review concluded that there was “extensive diversity” among the various procedures that had been utilized in treaty-making processes, including whether such processes made use of established entities or were ad hoc in nature, the extent to which this involved expert or representative bodies, and the extent of the involvement of the General Assembly. The only generalization that was seen to be possible was that such processes almost always involved a multistage process. This chapter assesses the conclusions of the Secretary-General’s 1980 Report in light of the practice of the intervening years, focusing, in particular, on the role of the Secretariat in the treaty-making process, and adopting for the purposes of its analysis the five stages in the multilateral treaty-making process as identified in the Secretary-General’s 1980 Report: initiation of treaty-making, formulation of multilateral treaties, adoption of multilateral treaties, post-adoption concerns, and supplementing and updating treaties. This chapter also briefly discusses other treaty-making activities of the Secretariat.

The Work of The International Law Commission on “Relations between States and International Organizations” Discontinued: an Assessment

1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H.F. Bekker
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The UN General Assembly has recently decided to delete from the agenda of the International Law Commission the topic ‘Relations between States and International Organizations’.Over a period of 31 years, fourteen Reports by two successive Special Rapporteurs studied the topic in two parts. The First part of the topic (1963–1975) dealt with the privileges and immunities of representatives of states to international organizations, and resulted in a Convention, that has, however, not yet entered into force; the Second part of the topic (1976–1992) concentrated on the legal status and immunities of organizations themselves.The author analyzes the Draft Articles that have been submitted in the course of the ILC's study of the Second part. This is done by way of a three-step application of the functional necessity concept of organizational immunities:(1) Status, dealing with an organization's functions, legal personality and capacity-(2) Selection, defining a scale of organizational immunities for which an organization may be eligible - and (3) Scope, determining the extent of selected immunities. Finally, the author employs the two statutory functions of the ILC -the codification of international law and the progressive development of international law- to assess the contribution by the ILC to this field of international institutional law.

Elements of Nordic Practice 2005–2006: Finland

2008 ◽  
Vol 77 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 141-161
Author(s):  
Juha Rainne
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Tribunals ◽  
International Sanctions

AbstractThis report includes selected parts of Finnish state practice in the field of international law in 2005 and 2006. The activities during this period were dominated by Finland's Presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of 2006. The report comprises state practice related, inter alia, to humanitarian law, international tribunals, international sanctions, measures to combat terrorism and the work of the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly. Special attention is paid to the activities that took place in the field of international law during the Finnish EU Presidency.

The Gatt and Multilateral Treaty Making: The Tokyo Round

1983 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. McRae ◽  
J. C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Tokyo Round ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Multilateral Treaty

Multilateral treaty making, sometimes called the "international legislative process", occurs in a variety of forms and under the auspices of many international organizations. Concern that insufficient information is available about the way treaties are negotiated in different forums and that the process is haphazard led to a proposal for its review in the Sixth Committee at the 32d session of the United Nations General Assembly. Acting upon.this initiative, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 32/48, which called upon the Secretary- General to report on the techniques and procedures used in the elaboration of multilateral treaties. In order to assist in the preparation of this report, comments were requested from states, specialized agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, and the offices of the United Nations.

Re-examining States’ External Obligations to Implement Economic and Social Rights of Children

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Wabwile
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

International law on the protection and promotion of social and economic rights of the child binds states parties to respect, protect and secure these rights both in their own territories as well as to contribute to the programmes for such fulfilment in other countries in a strategy aiming at global implementation of these rights. This paper explores the legal basis for states‘ external obligations to support fulfilment of social and economic rights. It surveys inter alia the relevant treaty texts, explanatory resolutions of the UN General Assembly and statements in reports submitted by states parties to the UN monitoring committees, and argues that recent state practice and interpretation of human rights obligations confirms the extraterritorial obligations to support fulfilment of these rights. Since these are obligations to fulfil the rights of human beings in other countries rather than obligations to third states, they can be referred to as ‘diagonal obligations‘ to distinguish them from inter-state horizontal responsibility.

Three Questions on Terrorism

1973 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The Self ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Special Committee ◽  
Repeated Calls ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Creation

WE LIVE IN A TERRORISTIC AGE. FEW, EVEN AMONG THE MOST favoured and secure, can fail to be haunted by the ugly sights and ghastly dreams of terroristic murder, massacre, and torture and the suffering of the innocents. Numerous international organizations and the mass media at least agree in characterizing our era as one ‘full of dismal terror’. There have been repeated calls for serious scientific study of the nature and causes of terrorism culminating in the recent decision of the UN General Assembly to establish a special committee for this purpose. Many students of politics will suspect that the creation of ‘study committees’ by such organizations as the UN and the Socialist International will simply serve to reflect the self-interest of the national participants, or that they will simply turn into propaganda exercises.

The Responsibility to Protect Turns Ten

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Bellamy
Keyword(s):  
International Society ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Norm ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Widespread View ◽  
The Way

Ten years since its adoption by the UN General Assembly, the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) has become an established international norm associated with positive changes to the way that international society responds to genocide and mass atrocities. In its first decade, RtoP has moved from being a controversial and indeterminate concept seldom utilized by international society to a norm utilized almost habitually. This is an assessment that stands in contrast to the widespread view that RtoP is associated with “growing controversy,” but is one that rests on evidence of state practice.

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