On the Road to Vienna

This chapter focuses on the negotiations that preceded the 1961 Vienna Conference (which led to the conclusion of the VCDR). The author challenges the view that the successful codification was an obvious step and refers in this regard to a history of intense negotiation which spanned fifteen years. With particular reference to the International Law Commission (ILC), the chapter explores the difficult task faced by ILC members to strike a balance between the codification of existing practice and progressive development of diplomatic law. It reaches the finding that the ILC negotiations were crucial for the success of the Conference, but notes also that certain States supported a less-binding form of codification. The chapter also underlines the fact that many issues that had caused friction between the Cold War parties were settled during the preparatory meetings and remained largely untouched during the 1961 negotiations.

Customary International Law

10.4337/9781788118910 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pierre-Marie Dupuy ◽

Keyword(s):

General Practice ◽

International Law ◽

Complex Relationship ◽

Customary International Law ◽

Progressive Development ◽

The World ◽

International custom “as evidence of a general practice accepted as law”, is considered one of the two main sources of international law as it primarily derives from the conduct of sovereign States, but is also closely connected with the role of the international judge when identifying the applicable customary rule, a function it shares with the bodies in charge of its codification (and progressive development), starting with the International Law Commission. Though mainly considered to be general international law, international custom has a complex relationship with many specific fields of law and specific regions of the world. The editor provides comprehensive research published in the last seven decades, invaluable to everyone interested in the field of customary international law.

Diplomatic protection in international law and the United Nations

Zbornik Matice srpske za drustvene nauke ◽

10.2298/zmsdn1345667m ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 667-681

Author(s):

Bojan Milisavljevic

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Customary Law ◽

Diplomatic Protection ◽

History Of ◽

The United Nations ◽

The Impact ◽

The paper deals with the issue of the diplomatic protection in international law and its development through the history of the international community. In this sense, the author investigates the practice of states regarding the application of diplomatic protection and the steps taken by the International Law Commission of the United Nations on the codification of this area. In 2004 International Law Commission adopted at first reading a full set of draft articles. In this paper is presented judicial practice, especially of the International Court of Justice, in the field of diplomatic protection in order to evaluate whether the approach of the Court to diplomatic protection has become more human-rights oriented in the last few years. Author presents the development of customary law rules relating to diplomatic protection and its transition into a whole system of rules through the work of the International Law Commission. In this sense, these are the basic stages in the codification of rules on diplomatic protection and the United Nations contribution to the protection of the rights of foreign nationals. This article points the development of universal and regional mechanisms to protect human rights and highlights the impact of those mechanisms on traditional measures of diplomatic protection.

The International Law Commission: Codification and Progressive Development after Forty Years

Canadian Yearbook of international Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international ◽

10.1017/s0069005800003246 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 355-368 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D. M. McRae

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Progressive Development ◽

Droit International ◽

SommaireLa Commission du droit international est maintenant à l'œuvre depuis quarante ans. À ses débuts, la Commission a très bien réussi, en effectuant le travail préparatoire aux conventions sur le droit de la mer, sur les relations diplomatiques et consulaires et sur le droit des traités. Depuis lors, les conventions résultant du travail de la Commission on été beaucoup plus controversées et n'ont pas reçu le même appui général. Le changement dans la nature des thèmes à l'étude par la Commission entraîne à l'heure actuelle une réévaluation du rôle et des méthodes de travail de la Commission. L'aspect de développement progressif du travail de la Commission occupe une place plus grande que par le passé et moins d'importance est maintenant accordée aux codifications de type traditionnel. Ceci suppose une redéfinition des objectifs de la Commission et signifie qu'un traité multilatéral n'est ni le seul ni le dénouement habituel du travail de la Commission. Les États doivent reconsidérer leur propre façon d'aborder le travail de la Commission et, en particulier, le rôle que pue la Sixième Commission en révisant chaque année le rapport de la Commission. Enfin, les membres de la Commission eux-mêmes doivent reconnaître que leur rôle dans le processus de création du droit international est devenu beaucoup plus créatif et beaucoup plus dynamique que la seule codification des pratiques ètiques concordantes.

Debating the Ouroboros of International Law: The Drafting History of Article 31(3)(c)

International Community Law Review ◽

10.1163/187197407x196721 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 1-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Panos Merkouris

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Present Status ◽

Vienna Convention ◽

History Of ◽

The Law ◽

Droit International ◽

AbstractThe Diversification and expansion of International Law has sparked a series of debates on the present status and future of International Law; even more so, since the ILC decided to tackle the issue of fragmentation. One of the areas of research and controversy has been Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which, arguably, enshrines the principle of systemic integration. The aim of this article is to explore the evolution of Article 31(3)(c) from its first inception by the forefathers of international law up to the finalization of the text of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. By mapping the critical arguments in the three main fora of debate (i.e the Institut de Droit International, the International Law Commission and the Vienna Conference on the Law of treaties) what arises is a series of conclusions with respect to certain aspects of Article 31(3)(c) as well as certain recurring themes in the nature and progress of the discussions. All of the above will show that the drafting history of Article 31(3)(c) seems to suggest that the relevant provision was meant to serve a purpose expressed more concisely by the symbol of Ouroboros rather than of a mere "master-key" to the house of International Law.

Part I Prologue, 1 General Introduction

10.1093/law/9780198823292.003.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Kittichaisaree Kriangsak

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

International Criminal ◽

Legal Obligation ◽

General Introduction ◽

Legal Concept ◽

Progressive Development ◽

The Third ◽

International Criminal Tribunals ◽

This chapter introduces the legal concept of the international legal obligation to extradite or prosecute perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international concern, tracing its historical foundation, explaining the codification and progressive development work of the UN International Law Commission on the 1996 Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind that has bearings on the concept, and identifying the gap in the existing treaty regime on this obligation. It succinctly analyses the three intertwined alternatives of extradition, prosecution, both by domestic criminal tribunals, and the third alternative of surrendering the perpetrators of such crimes to international criminal tribunals for the purpose of their prosecution.

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.

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.

The End of the Cold War as an Epochal Event in the History of International Law

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.1663871 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Randall C. H. Lesaffer

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

International Law ◽

History Of ◽

History Of International Law ◽

The Cold War

2. The Historical Evolution of the International Community

Cassese's International Law ◽

10.1093/he/9780199231287.003.0002 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 20-44

Author(s):

Paola Gaeta ◽

Jorge E. Viñuales ◽

Salvatore Zappalà

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

International Law ◽

Historical Context ◽

Historical Evolution ◽

World War ◽

History Of ◽

Independent States ◽

History Of International Law ◽

The 1960S ◽

The Cold War

This chapter traces the historical evolution of the international legal system, which is organized for analytical purposes in four major stages: from its gradual emergence (sixteenth–early seventeenth century) to the First World War; from the establishment of the League of Nations to the end of the Second World War (1919–1945); from the establishment of the United Nations to the end of the Cold War (1945–1989); and the last three decades since the end of the Cold War (1990–2020). The chapter emphasizes the European roots of international law but also the pressure it has faced since the 1960s to reflect the interests of developing and newly independent States. It also provides some basic historical elements and references to the growing literature on the history of international law, which are useful to understand the historical context of the material examined in subsequent chapters.

On Scripts and Sensibility: Cold War International Law and Revolutionary Caribbean Subjects

German Law Journal ◽

10.1017/glj.2020.91 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (8) ◽

pp. 1541-1569

Author(s):

Vidya Kumar

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

International Law ◽

Customary Law ◽

Historical Events ◽

Legal Scholarship ◽

Mise En Scene ◽

History Of ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Cold War ◽

The U.S

AbstractThrough a literary-theatrical reading of international legality, this Article challenges the “settled script” produced by international legal scholars to frame and assess the legality of two historical events—the Grenada Revolution (1979–1983) and the U.S. Invasion of Grenada (1983). It does so by reading the Cold War as a sensibility performed by these scholars, one that recognized the operation of rival international legal orders and one that crafted a different script—Cold War Customary Law (“CWCL”)—to decide questions of international legality in a Cold War context. In addition to offering a new way to read the Cold War and international legality, this Article argues first that it is important to uncover this parallel and competing script of international legality operating at the time, and not dismiss it as unrelated political or ideological discourse, as it clearly influenced the interpretive logic and reasoning practices international lawyers deployed to frame what constituted legality in international law. Second, it argues that this Cold War sensibility in international legal scholarship on intervention and revolution predated the events in Grenada, and that if a different theatrical mise en scène is adopted—one which eschews “the short durée” or “evental history” of the settled script—this sensibility can be understood as being both continuous and discontinuous with rival imperial forms of international law operating in the Caribbean across time and place, where its discontinuities open up space to recover revolutionary Caribbean subjects of international law and a sensibility of shame in the present.