Part II The Sources of the Law of State Immunity, 9 The 2004 UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property: General Aspects

International Conventions

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.

Reflection on the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs – one year on

Drugs and Alcohol Today ◽

10.1108/dat-03-2017-0009 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 74-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Steve Rolles

Keyword(s):

Point Of View ◽

General Assembly ◽

Special Session ◽

Content Type ◽

Health And Human Rights ◽

The Status ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

One Year ◽

International Conventions ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show a reflection of one year on how the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) event was unfolded and its impacts and longer term implications. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a consideration of relevant past and present documentation and commentary. Experiences as a participant at some of the events described. Findings UNGASS was called for by countries affected by the failings of the existing conventions who wanted to introduce reformed alternative policies. Representatives of the status quo who opposed such change were partially successful in retaining some aspects of the prohibition approach and in minimising dissent and debate. Research limitations/implications Some decision-making discussions were not open to all potential participants – governmental, regional and civil society, including the author. Practical implications The wider debate prompted by the UNGASS indicated a breakdown in the previous consensus around the prohibition and punitive paradigm of the international conventions. Social implications Greater emphases on health and human rights aspects of international drug policy were included in the final documents. This provides scope for continued evolution of these emphases in the future. Originality/value The paper presents an account of the UNGASS and pre-UNGASS proceedings from the point of view of a reform-minded participant.

Status of Forces under the UN Convention on State Immunity

International and Comparative Law Quarterly ◽

10.1093/iclq/lei090 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 427-436 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Andrew Dickinson

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

General Assembly ◽

State Immunity ◽

Deep Appreciation ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

United Nations Convention ◽

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’.

The Underdeveloped Nations and the Development of International Law

International Organization ◽

10.1017/s0020818300024565 ◽

1961 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 38-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jorge Castañeda

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Creative Process ◽

General Assembly ◽

Progressive Development ◽

General Terms ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

International Conventions ◽

One of the responsibilities of the UN General Assembly is to encourage the progressive development and codification of international law. One method it may use in discharging diis responsibility is the convening of conferences to draft international conventions for submission to governments. The International Law Commission, a subsidiary organ of the Assembly, draws up draft treaties which may be utilized as working documents at such conferences. This method does not differ fundamentally from die normal procedures of creating international law, since, in substance, it involves die drafting and signing of treaties. However, the General Assembly has, at least potentially, other means (the study of which is die subject of this article), which have not been fully utilized and die use of which would perhaps permit a liberalization of the creative process of developing and codifying international law. Here we shall examine, in general terms, only one of tiiese, i.e., die possibilities and limitations of purely declarative codes of customary rules adopted by the General Assembly as means of discharging that organ's responsibilities.

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

The American Journal of International Law ◽

10.5305/amerjintelaw.106.2.0322 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 106 (2) ◽

pp. 322-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Donald McRae

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

International Organizations ◽

Armed Conflicts ◽

General Assembly ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

The Law ◽

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.

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

Leiden Journal of International Law ◽

10.1017/s0922156500001618 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 3-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter H.F. Bekker

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

International Organizations ◽

Legal Status ◽

General Assembly ◽

Legal Personality ◽

Progressive Development ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

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.

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

International and Comparative Law Quarterly ◽

10.1093/iclq/lei087 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 399-406 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Hazel Fox

Keyword(s):

General Assembly ◽

View Point ◽

State Support ◽

National Courts ◽

State Immunity ◽

Civil Proceedings ◽

Un General Assembly

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.

Part I Prologue, 2 The International Law Commission’s Work on the Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare)

10.1093/law/9780198823292.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Kittichaisaree Kriangsak

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Working Group ◽

Legal Issues ◽

General Assembly ◽

Final Report ◽

History Of ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

This chapter explains the work by the UN International Law Commission on the topic ‘Obligation to extradite or prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare)’ from 2006 to 2014, culminating in the Final Report of the Commission on this topic which was taken note of by the UN General Assembly in 2014. All the legal issues relevant to the obligation are identified and, where appropriate, analysed. The drafting history of the Report by the Working Group under the present author's chairmanship is elucidated in details — and this is the only place where this drafting history can be found.

Methodological Flaws in the ILC's Study on Exceptions to Immunity Ratione Materiae of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction

AJIL Unbound ◽

10.1017/aju.2018.9 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 112 ◽

pp. 9-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Qinmin Shen

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

War Crimes ◽

Crimes Against Humanity ◽

General Assembly ◽

Draft Article ◽

Criminal Jurisdiction ◽

International Crimes ◽

The Core ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

International Law Commission

In July 2017, the UN International Law Commission (ILC) provisionally adopted Draft Article 7 on exceptions to immunity ratione materiae of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, by a recorded vote of twenty-one votes in favor, eight votes against, and one abstention. In the view of the majority of ILC members, immunity ratione materiae does not apply to the six international crimes listed in the draft article—genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, apartheid, torture, and enforced disappearance—either because of a limitation or because of an exception. The unusual practice of adopting a draft article by recorded vote demonstrated the deep controversy among the ILC members themselves. After all, exceptions to official immunity lie at the core of the project of “Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction” that was started a decade ago by the ILC. This divisive Draft Article 7 naturally garnered criticism and equally deep controversy among states in discussions on the ILC's work report at UN General Assembly Sixth Committee in late October 2017.

The Works done by the UN International Law Commission during its 71st session(2019) and the Discussion done at the 6th Committee of the UN General Assembly(74th session 2019)

Korea International Law Review ◽

10.25197/kilr.2020.55.61 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 ◽

pp. 61-212

Author(s):

Ki-Gab Park

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

General Assembly ◽

Un General Assembly ◽

State Immunity Jus Cogens

International and Comparative Law Quarterly ◽

10.1093/iclq/lei091 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 437-446 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Lorna McGregor

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Working Group ◽

General Assembly ◽

State Immunity ◽

Jus Cogens ◽

The General Assembly first proposed that the International Law Commission look into the issue of state immunity in 1977. As State immunity, by its very nature, sits at the interface between traditional and contemporary notions of international law, the span of the negotiations over three decades inevitably exposed the resulting Convention to gaps and inconsistencies with evolving areas of international law. In 1999 the International Law Commission established a Working Group on Jurisdictional immunities of States and their property,