scholarly journals A Critical Analysis of Western Intervention in Foreign Nations: A Case Study of Ukraine and Venezuela

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-72
Author(s):  
Joseph Lutta
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Concrete Body ◽  
Elected Leaders ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
United Nations Charter

The end of the Cold War triggered the spread of multiparty politics across the global south and the former Soviet Union. The western democracies argued this form of governance would ensure the rule of law, human rights and constitutionalism. However, in the recent past a worrisome trend has emerged where these global powers support opposition leaders in order to oust legitimate but antagonistic elected leaders in foreign. More often than not, this political change is engineered in wanton disregard of the country’s constitution and the relevant provisions of international law. This geopolitical conundrum is portrayed by the purported ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine in 2014 and most recently President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Despite being the duly elected leaders of their respective countries, they were illegitimately ousted opposition leaders supported by western powers. In the same vein, these political changes usually initiated using force contrary to the relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter and other relevant principles of international law. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has established a concrete body of jurisprudence on this subject matter though the same is yet to be codified in international law. Broadly speaking, this paper argues this practice is unequivocally illegal and equivalent to infringement upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of these countries.

Internal Self-Determination and the Role of Territorial Autonomy as a Tool for the Resolution of Ethno-Political Disputes

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
International Court ◽  
Quality Stability ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
External Actors

Since the end of the Cold War, autonomy arrangements have been increasingly perceived and used as tools for resolving ethno-political conflicts as well as part of the affirmation of indigenous claims and self-determination struggles. One important reason for this is that the all-or-nothing dichotomy of statehood and external self-determination seems to have sustained conflict at least as much as having resolved conflict. However, the theoretical underpinnings of territorial autonomy have not yet been elaborated in international law. While the Canadian Supreme Court started formulating some requirements of what it takes to have a “meaningful access to government” in the Reference re Secession of Quebec case, the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice seems to pull international law back into the perennial discussion of secession, this time dubbed “remedial”. Territorial autonomy as an institution is about more than the division of competences between centre and periphery; it is about creating comprehensive structural solutions and processes of representation, accountability and decision-making. International law needs thus to engage seriously with the conditions influencing the quality, stability and adaptability of territorial autonomy arrangements. Among those are issues of timing; responses to the traumas of conflict; the quality of democratic involvement and institutional design; as well as the influence of external actors.

scholarly journals Assessing the Role of Resolutions in the ilc Draft Conclusions on Identification of Customary International Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossana Deplano, PhD
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
State Practice ◽  
International Law Commission

On 30 May 2016, the International Law Commission (‘ilc’) adopted a set of 16 Draft Conclusions providing a methodology on how to identify customary international law. Although largely based on the two elements approach set forth in article 38(1)(b) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the ilc study pushes the boundaries of the formal sources of international law beyond the realm of state practice by recognising that the practice of international organizations (‘ios’) as such may be constitutive of custom. This article critically examines the ilc Draft Conclusions concerning the role of ios in the process of custom creation. It examines the concept of resolution adopted by the ilc and assesses the coherence of the interpretive methodology devised by the ilc using the un General Assembly resolutions as a case study. The findings show that the Draft Conclusions fall short of expectation in providing authoritative guidance to scholars and practitioners alike.

The application of declassified KH-7 GAMBIT satellite photographs to studies of Cold War material culture: a case study from the former Soviet Union

Antiquity ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (317) ◽  
pp. 714-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J.F. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Shed Light

Forty years after they were originally acquired for intelligence purposes, declassified US photographs from the KH-7 GAMBIT photo reconnaissance satellite programme, together with contemporary declassified intelligence reports, are being used to shed light on Cold War sites in the former Soviet Union. The method should have a great future for understanding the changes to the landscape in Europe over the last 60 years. The material impact of the Cold War was no less fundamental than other wars hotter in nature.

The Relationship between the International Court of Justice and the Security Council in the Light of the Lockerbie Case

1994 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Gowlland-Debbas
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

The relationship between the International Court of Justice and the Security Council may be approached from the perspective of the United Nations Charter and the way it delimits competences between two principal UN organs and regulates the exercise of their concurrent powers. The Court, however, has a dual, ambivalent role. It is not only the principal judicial organ of the United Nations under Article 92 of the Charter; it is also an autonomous adjudicative body with the function, under Article 38 of its Statute, of applying international law to such disputes between states as are brought before it. Viewed in the light of Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention Arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie, the relationship between the judicial and political organs raises some fundamental questions of general international law that go beyond UN constitutional issues.

Sources and the Hierarchy of International Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika de Wet
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Separate Source ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
Peremptory Norms ◽  
Different Sources

This chapter questions whether there is a hierarchy among the sources of international law and whether such a hierarchy is important for resolving norm conflicts stemming from the different sources of international law. It first examines whether the order between the sources listed in Article 38 (1) (c) of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Statute is an indication of a hierarchy in accordance with the order and form in which the sources are listed or moulded. Thereafter, the chapter examines whether peremptory norms represent a substantive hierarchy. It also questions whether peremptory norms can be categorized in accordance with the sources listed in Article 38 (1) (c), or whether they constitute a separate source in international law. The chapter further engages in a similar analysis of obligations under the United Nations Charter. It concludes that peremptory norms and obligations under the Charter are indicative of a substantive hierarchy in international law.

scholarly journals THE RIGHT TO DEMOCRACY ARRANGEMENT UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

Rechtidee ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-300
Author(s):  
Rika Kurniaty
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
International Court ◽  
Standard Textbook ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Global Agenda

In the historical context, during the Cold War, due to the tension of ideology between countries, the link between international law and the notion of democracy only received few discussions and interest by international law scholars. The fall of communism in the early 1990s has put liberal democracy - as the only legal system of government - back on the global agenda. The victory of democracy throughout the world quickly led to the claim that there is now a right to democracy in international legal instruments and the existence of democracy as a guiding principle in general international law. However, the word "democracy" does not appear in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Covenant of the League of Nations. There is no standard textbook on international law that contains chapters on democracy. The International Court of Justice does not base its decisions on applying the principles of democratic rule. If one does not look beyond the pillars of international law, one could conclude that democracy is irrelevant. In maintaining that all communities are entitled to democratic governance, this paper will examine arrangements for the right to democracy in international law, especially under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is recognized by the international community.

Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965; (Advisory Opinion)

2021 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 84-345
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
Chagos Archipelago

84International Court of Justice — Advisory jurisdiction — Article 65(1) of Statute of Court — Competence of General Assembly — United Nations Charter, 1945, Article 96(1) — Whether question submitted to Court of legal character — Alleged lack of clarity of terms of request — Whether having effect on legal nature of question — Whether depriving Court of jurisdictionInternational Court of Justice — Advisory jurisdiction — Discretion to decline to give opinion — Requirement of compelling reasons for Court to decline to give opinion — Whether questions raising complex and disputed factual issues unsuitable for determination — Whether Court having sufficient information and evidence — Requesting organ to determine whether opinion required — Whether advisory opinion would reopen findings of Arbitral Tribunal — Res judicata — Relevance of United Kingdom lack of consent to judicial settlement — Principle of consent to judicial settlement of disputes — Whether Court would be deciding a bilateral disputeStates — Decolonization — Independence — Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius — Whether process of decolonization of Mauritius lawfully completed — Relevant period — Applicable law — Right of self-determination — Whether self-determination customary law during relevant period — Territorial integrity — Whether detachment of Chagos Archipelago unlawfulInternational organizations — United Nations — General Assembly — Decolonization — Functions of the General Assembly regarding decolonization — Non-self-governing territories — Free and genuine will of people of a non-self-governing territory — MauritiusHuman rights — Self-determination — United Nations Charter, 1945 — General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) 1960 — Right erga omnes — Chagos Archipelago — Mauritius — Continued administration of Chagos Archipelago by United Kingdom — Consequences under international law arising from continued administration by United Kingdom of Chagos Archipelago — Whether continued administration constituting a wrongful act — Whether responsibility of United Kingdom engaged under international law — Whether United Kingdom obliged to put an end to any internationally wrongful act — Obligations upon all States under United Nations Charter and international law

scholarly journals Hybrid Warfare or Hybrid Threat – The Weaponization of Migration as an Example of the Use of Lawfare – Case Study of Poland

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Piotr Łubiński ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Hybrid Warfare ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Court Proceeding

This article aims to address the issue of alleged hybrid warfare attacks on Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. The scope of the article covers the Belarus operations conducted in 2021. Firstly, the author addresses the issue of pushing migrants from a descriptive perspective. Secondly, he debates whether Belarus operation was conducted within the scope of hybrid warfare, hybrid threat, and lawfare? The author concludes that the Republic of Belarus has operated lawfare falling within the hybrid threat spectrum. It means that the situation is not to be classified under the law of armed conflict from the perspective of international and non-international armed conflicts and ius ad bellum violation. Thirdly, the author claims that Belarus has violated international law, so certain legal redress is appropriate and justified. Belarus's actions may result in a court proceeding before the International Court of Justice and before other international institutions.

Introductory Note

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Merrills
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Introductory Note

In 2015 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave three judgments and made a number of orders. In various ways this jurisprudence, although modest in extent, contributed to the elucidation of international law on several procedural, as well as substantive matters. In that year no new cases were begun, but one case was discontinued. At the beginning of 2016 there were therefore ten cases on the Court’s docket. The Court’s work in 2015 demonstrates that through its decisions it continues to assist states to resolve their international disputes peacefully and at the same time to contribute to the clarification and development of international law.

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