scholarly journals International Law of State Responsibility and COVID-19: An Ideology Critique

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-121
Author(s):  
Robert Knox ◽  
Ntina Tzouvala

Abstract Despite minimal prospects of success, international lawyers spent the first few months of the global pandemic discussing whether the rules of state responsibility could be invoked against states, especially China, for their acts and omissions regarding COVID-19. In this piece, we take these debates seriously, if not necessarily literally. We argue that the unrealistic nature of these debates does not make them irrelevant. Rather, we propose an ideology critique of state responsibility as a legal field. Our approach is two-fold. First, we argue these debates need to be situated within the rise of geopolitical competition between the US and its allies on the one hand and China on the other. In this context, state responsibility is always laid at the feet of one’s opponents. Secondly, we posit that my emphasising the role of states, recourse to state responsibility renders invisible the role of transnational processes of capitalist production and exchange that have profound effects on nature and set the stage for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. Drawing from the work of the geographer Neil Smith, we argue against the ‘naturalisation’ of disasters performed much of the international legal discourse about COVID-19.

Author(s):  
Carlo de Stefano

Chapter I offers a reconstruction of the definition of attribution for the purposes of State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, drawing from the history and travaux of the process of codification of the international law of State responsibility that resulted in the adoption by the International Law Commission in 2001 of the text of the ARSIWA (Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts). This part emphasizes the preliminary operation and role of rules of attributability in comparison to the other ‘secondary’ rules of international law. In addition, it discusses the threshold principle of the supremacy of international law in order to convey the autonomous dimension of attributability issues in international law vis-à-vis municipal law. Last, it illustrates the distinction between issues of attribution, on the one hand, and issues of jurisdiction and of State immunity, on the other.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Johanis Leatemia

Orderly international community and international law are determined by a national court. Essentially, the national court must be competent to maintain the balance between the national interest which based on the national sovereignty as well as the provisions of international law within the framework of peaceful coexistence. This article reviews the role of national courts in creating and developing the customary international law. As it turns out in practice, however, it has certain weaknesses, particularly in view of the accountability and legitimacy aspects of its establishment. This purpose could be achieved if national courts were able to maintain a balance between the national interest based on the sovereignty of State on the one hand and the provisions of international law on the other. The function of the national court was to maintain a balance between international law and national law.


AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 474-478
Author(s):  
Ashley S. Deeks

Megan Donaldson's The Survival of the Secret Treaty: Publicity, Secrecy, and Legality in the International Order recounts the ways in which lawyers played an important but complicated role in governmental decisions about whether and when to register secret agreements. On the one hand, these lawyers urged their governments to comply with the League of Nations and UN Charter registration processes. On the other hand, these same lawyers used their drafting and interpretive skills to enable their governments to employ secrecy where necessary, while helping their clients minimize the fact and size of any legal violations that occurred. They thus urged legal compliance on the front end and reduced the extent of noncompliance on the back end.


Etyka ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 53-82
Author(s):  
Roman Tokarczyk

Among the most interesting ideas of New Left in the US is a search for authenticity in human personality, or investigation of the place and role of the contemporary man when he is found in the setting: man-group-society-state. Finding such authenticity non-existent on the American scene the ideologists of New Left trace back the causes of this situation, characterized by deformation of personality deprived of the ego, and depict an authentic man who accepts himself both with respect to his ego and as a part of a social group in which he lives. Surreptitious emphasis of the value of the individual and of his unique personality points to the individuality of man as a central category of this line of thought. In the consequence of coexistence of various personalities, variety is the main feature of the new American society postulated by New Left. Individuality and variety imply freedom as a key concept of that thought. Variety of human individualities enjoying freedom will enable the quest for the authentic ego and abolish the manifestations of alienation which do not exist within the real interpersonal community. Community as a structural form of social coexistence is based on close, often intimate, interpersonal relations and allegedly enables unconstrained search for individuality, showing a new way from the present atomization of the American society. The key values of that thought are potentially conflicting: on the one hand there is a set of ideas: individuality, variety, freedom; on the other, there is the concept of community. The two counterparts may easily stand in conflict or mutually limit their application. In such cases it is postulated to detect the causes of conflict and eliminate them.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1561-1569
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ijaz Latif ◽  
Muhammad Tayyab Zia

Indian Ocean, along with its chokepoints and Sea Lanes of Communications, is considered to be the significant strategic maritime arena. The area has remained under the influence of the US. India, being a largest littoral state of the said ocean, has a strong say here. Sino- Pakistan strategic collaboration and convergence over the construction of Gwadar and CPEC would not only serve the commercial interests of both of the states, rather it would also strengthen their strategic and defense position in the region. On the Beijing’s part, China would, to a considerable extent, neutralize its “Malacca Dilemma”. And on Islamabad’s part, it would serve to be a deterrent to any aggressive design of her arch rival India. It is because on the one hand it would enhance the strategic depth of Pakistan, and on the other hand integrity of Pakistan would be indispensible for China. And any attempt to destabilize Pakistan could provoke China, so Pakistan’s integrity would be sine qua non for China.


Prawo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 330 ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
Mateusz Szymura

Some remarks on the origins and role of the Court of Session in the Kingdom of Scotland (1532–1707)The purpose of this article is to illustrate the origins and evolution of the central court of the Kingdom of Scotland from its inception in 1532 until the end of the Kingdom as an independent entity of international law following its establishment in 1707 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The analysis of the structure of the court is based on the laws of the old Scottish Parliament, and the main thesis of the study is the evolutionary nature of the provisions constituting the Court of Sessions which, on the one hand, were a continuation of the King’s previous jurisdictional powers and, on the other hand, were part of a wider trend towards separation of central courts from the royal councils in European monarchies. Einige Bemerkungen zur Genese und Bedeutung von "Court of Session" im Königreich Schottland (1532–1707)Gegenstand dieses Beitrages ist die Darstellung der Genese und der Evolution des zentralen Gerichtes im Königreich Schottland in der Zeit von seiner Entstehung im Jahre 1532 bis zum Ende des Königreiches als ein unabhängiges Subjekt des internationalen Rechtes, infolge der Entstehung im Jahre 1707 des Vereinigten Königreiches von Großbritannien. Grundlage der Analyse der Struktur des Gerichtes stellen die Gesetze des ehemaligen schottischen Parlamentes und die wichtigste These der Bearbeitung stellt der evolutionäre Charakter der Lösungen dar, die zur Gründung von Court of Session geführt haben. Diese stellten einerseits die Fortführung der früheren Befugnisse des Königs im Bereich Jurisdiktion, andererseits aber waren sie in den europäischen Monarchien ein Teil der umfassenderen Bewegung der Aussonderung der Zentralgerichte aus der Institution der königlichen Räte.


2020 ◽  
pp. 253-262
Author(s):  
Maria Jelda Doria

The study presents the freedom of the arts and sciences and the principles regarding the protection of intellectual property, and it is aimed at analyzing the complex balance between the former and the latter. In order to thoroughly understand this relationship, it is first necessary to clarify what the two elements of this balance are: on the one hand, the freedom of the arts and sciences, which is intimately related to the individual right to access to scientific, artistic and cultural developments, and, on the other, intellectual property regimes. Secondly, it is essential to examine the possible interferences of the protection of one of the two elements under discussion on the other element. Finally, it is fundamental to discuss how different jurisdictions have approached this issue. The whole contribution is conducted in a Comparative and International Law perspective: Italian, European and International Law will be examined. Besides, there will be some interesting hints about the solutions adopted in the US legal system, which are particularly interesting.


Author(s):  
Iryna Rusnak

The author of the article analyses the problem of the female emancipation in the little-known feuilleton “Amazonia: A Very Inept Story” (1924) by Mykola Chirsky. The author determines the genre affiliation of the work and examines its compositional structure. Three parts are distinguished in the architectonics of associative feuilleton: associative conception; deployment of a “small” topic; conclusion. The author of the article clarifies the role of intertextual elements and the method of constantly switching the tone from serious to comic to reveal the thematic direction of the work. Mykola Chirsky’s interest in the problem of female emancipation is corresponded to the general mood of the era. The subject of ridicule in provocative feuilleton is the woman’s radical metamorphoses, since repulsive manifestations of emancipation becomes commonplace. At the same time, the writer shows respect for the woman, appreciates her femininity, internal and external beauty, personality. He associates the positive in women with the functions of a faithful wife, a caring mother, and a skilled housewife. In feuilleton, the writer does not bypass the problem of the modern man role in a family, but analyses the value and moral and ethical guidelines of his character. The husband’s bad habits receive a caricatured interpretation in the strange behaviour of relatives. On the one hand, the writer does not perceive the extremes brought by female emancipation, and on the other, he mercilessly criticises the male “virtues” of contemporaries far from the standard. The artistic heritage of Mykola Chirsky remains little studied. The urgent task of modern literary studies is the introduction of Mykola Chirsky’s unknown works into the scientific circulation and their thorough scientific understanding.


Author(s):  
Ксения Ивановна Голубцова

Статья посвящена рассмотрению проблем профилактики преступлений оперативными подразделениями исправительных учреждений (далее - ИУ). Автор, раскрывая роль оперативных отделов ИУ в общей профилактике правонарушений, указывает на ее двоякость, поскольку, с одной стороны, рассматриваемые подразделения обладают значительным преимуществом перед другими службами учреждения в выявлении негативных факторов (негласный метод получения оперативно значимой информации), с другой стороны - далеко не все условия, которые способствуют совершению преступлений в ИУ, можно устранить оперативным путем. Изучение специальной литературы позволило выявить в деятельности начальников ИУ определенные проблемы, связанные с оценкой состояния оперативной обстановки в ИУ, сложившейся ситуации; с отсутствием прогноза развития криминогенной ситуации в ИУ, а также с профессиональной некомпетентностью руководителей, неумением объективно оценивать результаты деятельности структурных подразделений. Автор особое внимание уделяет анализу статистических данных о совершенных и предотвращенных преступлениях лицами, находящимися в местах лишения свободы. The article is devoted to the consideration of problems of crime prevention by operational units of correctional institutions (hereinafter referred to as IA). The author, revealing the role of the operational departments of the IA in the general prevention of offences, points to its twofold. On the one hand, the units under consideration have significant advantages over other services of the institution in identifying negative factors (these are tacit methods of obtaining promptly meaningful information). On the other hand, not all conditions conducive to the commission of crimes in IA can be eliminated by operational means: For example, shortcomings in the activities of other departments and services (security department, duty shift, etc.). The study of special literature has made it possible to identify problems in the activities of heads of correctional institutions in the sphere of implementation of solutions in case of lack of objective and complete information on the state of the operational situation in IA, the current situation, the results of the activities of structural subdivisions; No forecast of the development of the crime situation in IE; Professional incompetence of managers, inability to objectively assess the results of activities of structural subdivisions. The author pays particular attention to the analysis of statistics on crimes committed and prevented by persons in detention.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Oldroyd

This article examines the role that correspondence played in the accounting systems of Tudor merchants. Merchants relied heavily on letters as a means of controlling their businesses at a distance by making agents accountable. Written accountability, as well as information for business decisions, was encouraged by agency relationships in mercantile enterprises. The system could be undermined by the breakdown of communication through the negligence of a factor or the lack of involvement by the principal. The time delays between the sending and the receipt of letters, on the one hand, and the procurement and conveyance of goods, on the other, were additional problems.


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