The ILC and State Responsibility

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Rosenstock
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
International Community ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Occam’S Razor ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Multilateral Treaty ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Law Commission

The handling by the International Law Commission (ILC) of state responsibility, hazardous activities, and strict liability reveals in many ways the Commission’s strengths and limitations. This work also tells much about the development of international law and the extent to which there is—or is not—an international community. The Commission’s work on state responsibility in particular also illustrates the validity of Holmes’s immortal statement about logic and the life of the law, the utility of Occam’s razor, and the value of William James’s pragmatism. Even if Philip Allott were close to the mark—as he often is—in calling the draft articles, as they then were, “bland gruel,” it is hard to ignore the need for the articles or their contribution to the unification of international law. Both are witnessed by tribunals’ eagerness to cite the Commission’s texts even before their formal adoption. While this practice has upset some as premature, it reflects the symbiotic process that has evolved over time as both the Commission and courts and tribunals labor to clarify existing law. Codification of lex lata may be no less effective if contained in a paragraph of a report rather than in an article of a multilateral treaty.

The Forty-Seventh Session Of The International Law Commission

1996 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Robert Rosenstock
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Draft Code ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
State Succession ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission of the United Nations held its forty-seventh session from May 2 to July 20, 1995, under the chairmanship of Pemmaraju S. Rao of India. The Commission continued its work on existing topics and considered aspects of the Draft Code of Crimes against die Peace and Security of Mankind, state responsibility, and liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law. The Commission began work on the two new topics of “state succession and its impact on the nationality of natural and legal persons” (“nationality“) and “the law and practice relating to reservations to treaties” (“reservations“) and made a recommendation as to two additional topics for its future agenda.

scholarly journals The League of Nations and the International Law of State Responsibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 331-362
Author(s):  
Antal Berkes
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Law ◽  
Set Up ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

Abstract The League of Nations set up The Hague codification conference that focused, among three specific agendas, on the responsibility of states for damage caused in their territory to the person or property of foreigners. Scholarship has dominantly ignored or considered the work of the League of Nations in the law of state responsibility as a failure, starting the story of the codification with the International Law Commission. This article proposes to rethink the dominant view and claims that the League of Nations’ codification process not only initiated, but substantially contributed to the codification of the law of state responsibility, leading to lasting methods, concepts, principles and norms that have been integrated in the contemporary canon of the rules of state responsibility.

scholarly journals Invocation of State Responsibility for Violation of Obligations Owed to the International Community as a Whole

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu. V. Shchokin
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Jus Cogens ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The article discusses the features of the application of paragraph 1 (b) of Art. 48 of the Draft Articles on State Responsibility, developed by the UN International Law Commission and taken into consideration by the UN General Assembly by its resolution 56/83 of December 12, 2001. The norm of this article enshrines the right of any state that is not a victim to call to international legal responsibility state that has committed a breach of an obligation owed to the international community as a whole. This rule contributes to the establishment in modern international law of the ancient Roman theory of actio popularis, according to which any citizen could file a claim in the public interest. The UN International Law Commission is considering paragraph 1 (b) of Art. 48 of the 2001 Draft Articles on State Responsibility as a result of the progressive development of International Law. This is manifested primarily in a new approach to the interpretation of concepts such as “the international community as a whole” and “obligation owed to the international community as a whole”. The article notes that the concept of "the international community as a whole" should no longer be considered as a community of sovereign states, since it already presupposes a more active participation in maintaining international legitimacy of all participants of international relations – subjects of international law. In addition, attention is drawn to the fact that the concept of “obligation owed to the international community as a whole” is a new category proposed by the International Law Commission as a part of the progressive development of the theory of erga omnes and jus cogens norms. The author compares these types of obligations and points out a number of problems that may arise while interpreting this concept in order to apply this rule in practice.

The ILC Articles on State Responsibility: The Paradoxical Relationship Between Form and Authority

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 857-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Caron
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Arbitral Tribunal ◽  
Undue Influence ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Multilateral Treaty ◽  
Law Commission

The adoption by the International Law Commission (ILC) in 2001 of its articles on state responsibility is an achievement that presents a paradox. This essay is about the form and authority of the articles, and the paradox that they could have more influence as an ILC text than as a multilateral treaty. The essay addresses the questions of the appropriate authority to be given an ILC text, why undue influence may be attributed to an ILC text (particularly by arbitral tribunals), and how an arbitral tribunal should approach interpreting and applying the articles on state responsibility.

Procedures for Establishing the Invalidity or Termination of Treaties under the International Law Commission’s 1966 Draft Articles on the Law of Treaties

1967 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 976-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert W. Briggs
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Official Organ ◽  
Draft Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law ◽  
Intensive Work ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The 1966 Draft Articles on the Law of Treaties, drafted over a period of five years of intensive work by an official organ of the international community—the International Law Commission of the United Nations—is more comprehensive and more reflective of community consensus than any previous draft prepared by international lawyers on the law of treaties. In contrast with the excellent Draft Convention on the Law of Treaties completed by the Harvard Eesearch in International Law in 1935, preparation of the Commission’s draft had the advantage of participation by members representative of all continents and of the views of states which were not in existence in 1935.

The Thirty-Fifth Session of the International Law Commission

1984 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. McCaffrey
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Draft Code ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Liability ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The 35th session of the International Law Commission was held in Geneva from May 3 to July 22, 1983 under the chairmanship of Ambassador Laurel Francis. The Commission considered all seven substantive items on its agenda: state responsibility; jurisdictional immunities of states and their property; status of the diplomatic courier and the diplomatic bag not accompanied by diplomatic courier; the Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind; the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses; international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law; and relations between states and international organizations (second part of the topic). The Drafting Committee, which met a record 30 times, reported out a total of 15 articles concerning three of the above topics (jurisdictional immunities, state responsibility and the diplomatic courier and bag), all of which were provisionally adopted by the Commission. The entire session is dealt with in some detail in the Commission’s 1983 report to the General Assembly. Only the highlights will be covered here.

Case Analysis: The Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Case: The Law of Treaties

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Unilateral Termination ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The subject-matter of this article are the issues of treaty law as expounded in the Judgment in the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros case. The following problems are discussed: unilateral suspension and abandonment of obligations deriving from the binding treaty; the principle of fundamental change of circumstances; unilateral termination of a treaty; applicability of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in this case; legal status of so-called ‘provisional solution’; impossibility of performance and material breach of treaty; the application of the principle of ‘approximate application’; and the principle pacta sunt servanda. The issues arc discussed at the background of the Drafts of the International Law Commission.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document