Host States’ Due Diligence Obligation Towards Foreign Investors in the Context of Rebellions and Civil Wars

Based on an analysis of State practice and case law, this article examines one basic principle of international law embodied in Article 10 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on State responsibility. In the context of an unsuccessful insurrection or civil war, the host State is responsible for its own failure to discharge its due diligence obligation to protect foreign investors in relation to acts committed by rebels, i.e. to make all efforts within its capacity to suppress an insurrection and to take all reasonable measures to prevent injurious conduct by rebels and damages from occurring. This article examines the scope and content of this ‘duty to protect’ obligation, the applicable ‘test’ and the relevant circumstances to determine whether any breach of the obligation has been committed in light of recent investment awards analysing the full protection and security clause in the context of Libya’s civil war.

Art.14 Liberty and Security of the Person

This chapter examines Article 14 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which deals with the fundamental right to liberty and security. It traces the legislative history of Article 14 and, in an analysis of its provisions and interpretations, seeks to understand its application in light of these complexities. The right to liberty of person and the right to security of person have been described as two aspects of the same right, physical liberty being the substantive aspect and security the means of protection or the procedural aspect. The ‘liberty and security’ clause of this article empowers the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ‘to question governments on a broad range of potential violations, including civil commitment proceedings, compulsory medical treatment, and conditions inside medical and detention facilities’.