Barcelona Traction: The Jus Standi of Belgium

1971 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert W. Briggs
Keyword(s):  
General Rule ◽  
Foreign Company ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Power Company ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
Company Limited ◽  
International Court ◽  
Special Circumstances

In its Judgment of February 5, 1970, in the Case Concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (New Application, 1962, Belgium v. Spain, Second Phase), the International Court of Justice, by a vote of 15 to 1, rejected, for lack of jus stanai, a Belgian claim of a right of diplomatic protection of alleged Belgian shareholders in a Canadian company allegedly victim of a series of denials of justice by Spanish authorities. Essentially, the Court’s decision denies the existence of any general rule of international law or of any special circumstances or considerations of equity which confer a right of diplomatic protection of national shareholders in a foreign company where the acts complained of were directed by authorities of a third state against the company rather than against any legal rights of the shareholders as such. The opinion of the Court is, for the most part, soundly reasoned and comes after thorough argument of the precedents and brilliant presentation of opposing contentions of law and fact by distinguished counsel. Attorneys may safely advise clients that the Court’s opinion sets forth the existing law and that any special protection of shareholders as such in a foreign company must be based on treaty stipulations or special agreements.

The Protection of Shareholders' Interests in the Light of the Barcelona Traction Case

1973 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Mann
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Power Company ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Company Limited ◽  
International Court ◽  
Special Circumstances

Professor Briggs’ summary of the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company Limited fairly recapitulates the principal reasons which led the Court to deny “the existence of any general rule of international law or of any special circumstances or considerations of equity which confer a right of diplomatic protection of national shareholders in a foreign company where the acts complained of were directed by authorities of a third state against the company rather than against any legal rights of the shareholders as such.”

International Court of Justice

1960 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-459
Keyword(s):  
Time Limit ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Power Company ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Company Limited ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Government

Case concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain): Preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company were filed in the Registry by the government of Spain on May 21, 1960, that is, within the time-limit fixed for the filing of the Spanish counter-memorial. In consequence of the filing of the objections, proceedings on the merits of the case were suspended.

International Court of Justice

1962 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-600 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Power Company ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Company Limited ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Subject

Case concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain): On June 19, 1962, the Belgian government filed with the Registrar of the Court an application instituting new proceedings against Spain on the subject of the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited. This claim, the subject of which is reparation for the damage caused to a number of Belgian subjects by organs of the Spanish state, had been the subject of earlier proceedings brought before the Court. Because of the possibility of negotiating the issue, the Belgian government had informed the Court that it did not wish to continue proceedings, and the Court on April 10, 1961, had removed the case from its list. The negotiations, however, failed, and the Belgian government had instituted new proceedings.

Settlement of Disputes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denza Eileen
Keyword(s):  
General Rule ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Optional Protocol ◽  
International Court ◽  
Diplomatic Immunity ◽  
Settlement Of Disputes

This chapter considers the Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes as discussed in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. As a general rule, disputes over the interpretation or application of the Convention must be resolved speedily by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other authorities of the receiving State in determining whether criminal proceedings may be brought, by national courts when diplomatic immunity is pleaded, or by governments in deciding on whether a member of mission should be recalled or more generally on the level at which they wish to maintain diplomatic relations. According to the protocol, disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the Convention shall lie within the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and may accordingly be brought before the Court by an application made by any party to the dispute being a Party to the present Protocol.

The Juridical Expression of the Sacred Trust of Civilization (1971)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Alexandrowicz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
Mandate System

This chapter examines the principle of the sacred trust of civilization in nineteenth-century international law. The establishment of the principle of the sacred trust of civilization is strictly connected with the transfer by the African communities of their territory, their sovereignty, and their destiny to the European Powers, which, through the relevant transactions, assumed the role of guardians of these communities. The chapter looks at the International Court of Justice’s decision in the second phase of the South West Africa Cases (Ethiopia v. South Africa and Liberia v. South Africa) on 18 July 1966. It also considers participation by the United States in the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885. Such an examination enables a critical discussion of the restrictive view expressed by the International Court of Justice to the effect that the mandate system is the sole juridical expression of the principle.

The Inaugural Manfred Lachs Memorial Lecture

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
Edward McWhinney
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Memorial Lecture ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
South West ◽  
International Court ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
South West Africa

In this, the inaugural Manfred Lachs Memorial Lecture given at the seat of the International Court of Justice, we celebrate the judicial life and learning, and also the judicial wisdom of the longest-serving judge of the Court and its sometime President, who died on January 14th, 1993. Manfred Lachs came to the Court in February, 1967, having been elected in October, 1966, in the first elections following the Court's politically and, in some elements at least (judicial recusation, as example)legally controversial decision in South West Africa, Second Phase1 which had been rendered only two months before the UN Security Council and General Assembly regular triennial balloting on renewal or replacement of one third of the Court's membership.

Judge Vereshchetin: A Russian Scholar at the International Court of Justice

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 719-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
SERGEY PUNZHIN ◽  
NATHALIE WILES
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Judicial Process ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Icj

There are three topics within the body of Vereshchetin's academic work which deserve special attention: the law of the sea, space law, and the theory of international law. Vereshchetin's contribution as a judge to the practice and theory of international law can be appreciated through his individual opinions and declarations, in which he dealt with various issues of international law and the international judicial process: self-determination, countermeasures, diplomatic protection, and questions which concern the functioning of the Court (the role and powers of the ICJ, non liquet, bases for the revision of decisions, declarations accepting the Court's jurisdiction and reservations to them, and so on).

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