Protecting the Environment During and After Armed Conflict, the International Law Commission and an Overdue Due Diligence Duty for Corporations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-343
Author(s):  
Alexandra Wormald
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
Global Consensus ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

Abstract Recent years have seen a rising global consensus on the need to ensure appropriate protections for the environment during and after armed conflict. In this context, the International Law Commission provisionally adopted 28 draft principles on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts in July 2019. With stakeholder consultation having concluded in June 2021, this article investigates what practical impacts the corporate due diligence and liability provisions in the draft principles are likely to have on the protection of the environment during and after armed conflict, should the principles be implemented as currently drafted.

10 Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bothe Michael
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Work Programme ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

This chapter describes the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. Armed conflicts have had serious consequences on the environment which may last a long time after a conflict has ended. Starting in the 1970s, the matter of the protection of the environment during times of armed conflict became the object of political initiatives and controversy. In recent years, efforts to develop, or at least codify, international law concerning the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict were revived. In 2011, the International Law Commission (ILC) decided to include the topic ‘Protection of the Environment in relation to Armed Conflict’ to its work programme. The formulation of the subject means that the ILC is not only concerned with environmental damage caused during armed conflict, but also with measures that might be taken in peacetime and with environmental consequences of an armed conflict after the end of the conflict, for example toxic remnants of war.

The penal repression of violations of international humanitarian law applicable in non-international armed conflicts

1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (278) ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Plattner
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

At a time when non-international armed conflicts are increasing in number, it may be interesting to examine the implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) applicable in these conflicts. To ensure its respect in international armed conflict, this law provides for the penal repression of certain violations. Used with discernment, especially for preventive purposes, this is undoubtedly an effective measure. There is good reason, therefore, also in view of the work of the International Law Commission (ILC) on a draft code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind, to see whether penal repression of the violations of international humanitarian law applicable in non-international armed conflicts should be promoted.

Due diligence as a secondary rule of general international law

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Secondary Rule ◽  
Law Making ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
Do So

Abstract The conventional understanding of due diligence in international law appears to be that it is a concept that forms part of primary rules. During the preparatory stages in creating the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA), the International Law Commission (ILC) focused on due diligence as though it could have formed part of secondary rules. Despite this process, no due diligence provision forms part of the ARSIWA. Yet a number of the final provisions are based on primary rules. This is because the ILC relied on the method of extrapolation in attempts to create secondary rules. Extrapolation is a method of international law-making by which the output of an analytical process is reproduced in a different form following an examination of its content that exists in other forms. In using this method, the ILC attempted to create secondary rules by extrapolating from primary rules. Yet it did not do so with respect to due diligence. However, due diligence can be formulated and applied differently by using this same method. This article analyses the steps of this process to construct a vision of where international legal practice should venture in the future. In learning from and amalgamating the dominant trends in different areas of international and domestic law, this article proposes that due diligence could exist as a secondary rule of general international law. By formulating and applying due diligence as a secondary rule, there is potential to develop the general international law applicable to determining state responsibility for the conduct of non-state actors.

The Fifty-Sixth Session of the International Law Commission

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Matheson
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
Sixth Session ◽  
International Liability ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Fragmentation Of International Law ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission held its fifty-sixdi session in Geneva from May 3 to June 4, and from July 5 to August 6, 2004, under the chairmanship of Teodor Melescanu of Romania. The Commission completed its first reading of draft principles on international liability for transboundary harm and draft articles on diplomatic protection, which have now been submitted for comment by states with a view to their completion in 2006. The Commission also continued its work on reservations to treaties, responsibility of international organizations, unilateral acts of states, fragmentation of international law, and shared natural resources. In addition, the Commission decided to start work next year on the effect of armed conflict on treaties and the expulsion of aliens, and to recommend adding a new topic—the obligation to prosecute or extradite—to its long-term program. The following is a summary of where each topic stands and what issues are likely to be most prominent at the Commission's 2005 session.

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.

Member States’ Due Diligence Obligations to Supervise International Organisations

2020 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Kristina Daugirdas
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Member States ◽  
Distinct Category ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

There are two reasons to consider member states’ obligations to supervise international organisations as a distinct category of due diligence obligations. First, due diligence obligations typically require states to regulate third parties in some way. But it is harder for states to regulate international organisations than other private actors because international law protects the autonomy of international organisations. Second, such due diligence obligations merit attention because they may compensate for the dearth of mechanisms to hold international organisations accountable when they cause harm. This chapter canvasses member states’ existing obligations vis-à-vis international organisations, and argues in particular that the International Law Commission (ILC) missed an opportunity to frame broader obligations when drafting the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (the ARIO). The chapter closes by making the normative case for establishing a due diligence obligation on member states to ensure that international organisations do not abuse their immunities.

The Due Diligence Principle Under International Law

2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Barnidge
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
State Actors ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

AbstractThis article explores the interface of state responsibility, non-state actors, and the due diligence principle. It begins by examining the various principles of responsibility under international law. After doing so, it closely considers the deliberations of the International Law Commission on the topic of state responsibility. In light of these developments, attention is then paid to exactly what has been expected of states with regard to the activities of non-state actors during the last century. This overview focuses on the due diligence principle, a principle which, it is argued, can be restrictively or expansively interpreted, as the particular facts and circumstances require, to hold states responsible for their actions or omissions related to non-state actors.

scholarly journals The Expulsion of Aliens and Other Topics: The Sixty-Fourth Session of the International Law Commission

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
First Year ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Fourth Session ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission held its sixty-fourth session in Geneva from May 7 to June 1, and from July 2 to August 3, 2012, under the chairmanship of Lucius Caflisch. The session marked the first year of a new quinquennium (2012–2016), with the Commission having completed its work during the prior quinquennium (2007–2011) on four major topics: transboundary aquifers, effects of armed conflict on treaties, reservations to treaties, and responsibility of international organizations.

scholarly journals Dilemmas over individual and state responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law

2004 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-369
Author(s):  
Keneth Mengjo
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

This paper attempts an explanation to some of the complex legal issues surrounding the whole concept of responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law. The arguments here are based on reflections on the draft articles on the responsibility of states for the violations of international humanitarian law adopted by the international law commission as well as opinions of experts on the subject, treaties, conventions international jurisprudence, and internationally recognized principles and customs that govern conduct in armed conflicts so as to limit human suffering particularly of non combatants.

The Fifty-Eighth Session of the International Law Commission

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-441
Author(s):  
Michael J. Matheson
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
International Liability ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Fragmentation Of International Law ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations held its fifty-eighth session in Geneva from May 1 to June 9, and from July 3 to August 11, 2006. This was the final year of the Commission's most recent five-year term (or quinquennium), and it finished work on several topics by completing sets of draft articles on diplomatic protection, principles on international liability for transboundary harm, “guiding principles” on unilateral acts, and conclusions on fragmentation of international law. The Commission also completed its first reading of articles on transboundary aquifers; continued its work on reservations to treaties, responsibility of international organizations, and the effect of armed conflict on treaties; began its consideration of the obligation to extradite or prosecute and the expulsion of aliens; and added a variety of new topics to its long-term program.

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