Samenvatting Internationaal recht
Week 1
Definition public international law
International law is the totality of legal rules concerning the (sovereign) relations amongst
States, international organizations and other subjects of international law, including the rights
and duties of individuals that are relevant to the international community (or part thereof).
Features of international law
- Sovereign equality of States
Each state is a big black box and in the box there is territory, people and politics. Each
state has their own. Other states may not interfere with the sovereignty (black box) of
another state.
It also means formal equality: that every country has one vote.
- Relatively little organization
There is no universal/global executive, no parliament, no court and no police. We have a
horizontal system with the UN.
- Legal practice (consent) matters for understanding the law (praktijk is van belang)
- Universal character in tension with legal cultural differences (het universele karakter kan
in strijd zijn met de culturele verschillen van andere landen)
- Tension between law and politics
International law depends on politics. International law isn’t politically innocent. The
states care about the distinctions. They choose to have their own explanation.
- Move from co-existence to cooperation
Now they want to use international law to work together. In the 1900’s there was an idea
of co-existence next to each other.
Subjects of international law
Actors: any individual, body or entity that has an impact on international relations > they
are impacting international relations. Like Trump, ISIS. > wel een deelnemer op
internationale speelveld. De uitlatingen bijv. van Trump hebben invloed. Geen rechten en
plichten maar hebben wel invloed op rechten en plichten. > they derive their legal
personality from states.
Subjects: an individual, body or entity possessing international rights and duties under
international law (smaller group). > those to whom the international legal system gives
the capacity to hold rights, powers and obligations.
You have to look if the person or organization has international rights and duties. When
the answer is yes, they are international subject. If the answer is no, it is an actor.
Capabilities of subjects varies: Reparations Advisory Opinion, ICJ (1949), 179:
Legal subjects “are not necessarily identical in their nature or in the extent of their rights, and
their nature depends upon the needs of the community.”
Full international legal personality > States create international law and they decide what to
want to achieve through international law and how to best achieve it. They decide who can
enjoy rights and duties under international law. That is why states are full subjects of
international law.
> States are full subjects of international law > they don’t have to prove they have rights and
duties.
Partial legal personality > – international organizations (example: UN), individuals, multi-
national corporations, insurgents etc. > they have to prove to you, me, state that they are
partial subjects. They have to point to the international law with their rights/duties (zij moeten
aantonen dat ze überhaupt een subject zijn in international law, van landen daarentegen
wordt het veronderstelt.)
,NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) are private entities which do not generally have
international legal personality. (Example: Amnesty International)
International organizations have the rights and obligations accorded to them by states.
Individuals possess those rights and obligations that states bestow on them.
What is a state?
States: Montevideo Convention (1933) - threat, article 1:
If these elements are present, we have a state
a) a permanent population; - een vaste bevolking, hoeft niet veel te zijn. It means
someone has made the territory its home.
b) a defined territory; een duidelijk afgebakende grens van land, een territorium en de
grenzen hoeven niet helemaal vast te liggen. Geen maximum of minimum
oppervlakte.
c) government; and - een onafhankelijke regering. – it has to be effective control. It is
not necessarily to be able to exercise its authority throughout the entire territory.
d) Capacity/ability to enter into relations with other states – legal is more important than
political or economic independence. The state must have the ability to act without
legal interference from other states > de capaciteit om zelfstandig mee te doen met
andere staten. Bijvoorbeeld schotland voldoet wel aan a t/m c, maar omdat ze geen
eigen rechtsorde hebben, kunnen ze geen relaties aan gaan met andere staten.
UN membership is not a requirement for statehood.
Declaratory/constitutive approaches to statehood
- Declaratory approaches to statehood: we have 4 requirements (Montevideo Convention)
and if you satisfy them you’re a state, and if you don’t satisfy them you are not a state. No
matter what other states think. In international law there is a declaratory approaches to
statehood. So in the declaratory theory the existence of a state depends on the facts and
whether the criteria of statehood are satisfied. In this theory a state may exist without
being recognized as a state by other states.
- Constitutive approaches: absolutely matters whether other states recognize you or not.
Yes, we have legal definition, but what really matters is whether states recognize you.
The act of recognition by other states confers international legal personality. Even though
all the criteria are fulfilled, it is difficult to exercise rights and duties if the state isn’t
recognized by other states. Problematic, how many states must recognize an entity for it
to become a state? Is the recognition of some states more important than that of other
states?
Why care about recognition? They reflect that other states believe that an entity fulfils
the conditions for statehood.
If it already is a state, you don’t have to test it, because it is already a state then. But this is
relevant
for recognition of new states.
Why is it important to be recognized as a state?
States have the most far-reaching set of rights and obligations under international law, e.g.:
The right to sovereign equality
The right to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over territory, which comes with certain
privileges and immunities (week 3)
The obligation not to intervene in the affairs of any other state (week 4)
The obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force (week 4)
The right to self-defence against an armed attack by another state (week 4)
International treaties can be concluded only between actors with international legal
personality (i.e. states and international organizations)
, Statehood is usually required to become a member of an international organization.
(Palestine/Vatican > both have non-member status in UN) – allowed to participate but not
to vote, they are kind of a state but don’t have the full rights, it is a in-between situation.
If you’re not a person under international law, you can’t bring a claim before an
international court!
o Only states may be parties to cases before the International Court of Justice.
o Only states may be parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court. (Palestine is exceeded)
Difference between a state and a government! The state has the legal entity under
international law and the government represents and acts on behalf of the state.
Sources of international law
Statute of the International Court of Justice (1945), article 38(1):
‘1. The Court…shall apply:
a. international conventions/treaties (Verdragen)…
b. international custom (gewoontes/gebruiken)…
c. the general principles of law… (algemene rechtsbeginselen)
d. …judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists – expert
in the field as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.’ > if you want to
know if its treaty, custom or general principles >> geen bron, maar interpretatie van a-
c, hulpmiddel.
Judicial decisions and teaching are NOT sources, you can use them to figure out if
something is a convention, custom or general principle.
a-b-c are law creating because they create (new) rights and obligations, whereas the latter
(d) two are law identifying since they merely apply or clarify the content of existing law.
The international legal system is a horizontal legal order. All legal sources generally carry
the same normative weight.
3 exceptions:
- Jus cogens: the concept of peremptory norms: superior value.
- Obligations erga omnes: they are not merely owed to another state but to the
international communicaty as a whole. = communitarian norms. It is a procedureal
designation of a set of obligations that all states can invoke.
- Obligations under the UN Charter > they prevail if they conflict with obligations under any
other international agreement.
Treaties
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) (VCLT), article 2(1)(a):
"Treaty" means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and
governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more
related instruments and whatever its particular designation;
You have to look at the content to know if it is a treaty.
The adoption of a convention/treaty (it is the same) is the most direct way for states to create
rights and obligations under international law and it is the only instrument available to two or
more states that want to enter into a formal relationship.
Bilateral treaty – a treaty concluded by two states > often governs a particular issue of mutual
interest.
Multilateral treaties – treaties between larger groups of states > often have general
application and possess ‘law-making’ features.
Constituent treaty – when a treaty establishes an international organization.
Law-making treaties/treaty-contracts
,- Law-making treaties: goal is universal – created by international organisations and the
court. A law-making treaty is a treaty that is binding to multilateral states and its goal is to
make the states follow these rules. A State can approve the binding of this treaty and join
the movement behind it. The goal is to get as many states as possible to ratify a treaty.
These treaties regulate literally everything, our lives are touched by these treaties, even
without us noticing.
Verdrag dat is opgelegd vanuit een hogere partij, bijv. de VN die legt iets op en daar
moeten landen zich voor inschrijven end at waarborgd algemene lijn van regels en
plichten. Bijv. EVRM. Het geldt voor iedereen die meedoet.
Doel is recht scheppen tussen meer subjects.
- Treaty-contracts: there you have a smaller number of states together to discuss
something that’s only between a little group of states (like use of a river, where we put the
boundary). Treaty-contracts are most likely to be made between a small group of states
to handle one particular issue.
Tussen 2 landen, bijv. Nederland-België en dat geldt alleen tussen hen.
Customary law (= gewoonterecht)
You need both of the 2 elements:
1) Subjective element; opinion juris (State acts performed with belief of States that it is
a legal obligation) – the states belief/accepted it as legally binding. The subjective
element is important when a state acts contrary to an existing customary rule.
2) Objective element; state practice: followed as a general practice among states. The
way things are done. This requires consistent repetition of a particular behaviour.
(ook dat ze daadwerkelijk handelen aan de hand van die uitspraken)
Three elements of state practice:
o Consistency: that the practice is reasonably uniform.
o Duration: may be for a longer period but also instant custom (very fast) > there is
no rule about how much time needs to pass for customary law to be established.
It can be established quite quickly. This
o Generality of the practice and the question of how widespread participation in the
practice must be. > practice should include the majority of states (but unanimity
isn’t required) > once a rule has come into existence, it can no longer be objected
to. New states are also bound by existing customary law.
Consequence? Binding upon all States – including those that have not taken part in the
formation of the practice.
Unless: persistent objector (aanhoudende bezwaarmaker)
Exception: jus cogens/peremptory norm (dwingende norm) (e.g. slavery) - (dit geldt dus niet
voor absolute rechten waarvan iedereen het eens is dat het niet kan).
We use customary law for problems and situations that do not have treaties to fix that
problem, or when a state has not ratified a treaty, so the treaty cannot be applied.
When a treaty codifies customary international law, the parties to the treaty will be
bound by the treaty as well as customary international law. Non-parties of the treaty
are only bound by customary international law at that time.
Customary law can also arise between a limited set of states.
General principles of law (algemene rechtsbeginselen)
Legal principles existing in national legal systems that are so generally recognized that their
existence under international law must be assumed (e.g. pacta sunt servanda, good faith,
estoppel/abuse of rights, liability for damages)
- Useful for deciding cases that could not otherwise be decided (gap fillers)
- Need not survey all legal systems of the world but no consensus on generality
You have to look at the different states to determine whether something is a general
principle of international law. (not only the west)
,What is the relationship between sources?
1. Customary law prohibits torture but 2 countries sign a treaty agreeing to torture
suspected terrorists. Jus cogens = there is a general consent about this subject that
it is not done to do this) it is so fundamental that you cannot defy it. There are no
exceptions.
2. 3 countries sign a treaty of friendship, agreeing to do business. 2 of those States also
sign a treaty agreeing not to sell arms to one another. Lex specialis = if international
law is consent based, the more specific law has to rule over the general law). When
one treaty is specific and one is general, the specific treaty is more important. So
you cannot sell weapons to another.
3. A treaty entered into force in 2000 and defines child soldiers as children under the age of
15. A treaty entered into force in 2002 for the same States and defines child soldiers as
children under the age of 18. Lex posterior = the latest (recent) consent is legal
active. The law that comes later, replaces the first one. So the last law prevails over
the first one. It is more recent.
4. Rules for interpreting treaties are found in articles 31-33 VCLT. Is a State that has not
ratified the VCLT bound by these rules? Codification/crystallization v. without
prejudice – coexistence > You can have a treaty law and a customary law that are
identical. Yes, the state that hasn’t ratified the law is also bounded. The rules
inside it become customary.
Codification: Customary law that gets into a treaty is called codification. So the process
of taking unwritten custom law and putting it into a treaty that countries can sign on. > de
afspraken hebt schrijf je in verdrag. Dat is wat je doet: codificeren.
Crystallization: Consent in a treaty becomes a customary law. Je hebt zo vaak iets in
het verdrag afgesproken dat het gewoonterecht wordt. Dat je het niet iedere keer hoeft af
te spreken. Het is normal dat we instemmen. Dat is andersom. The content of the law
develops into customary law.
5. Customary law prohibits the use of weapons that are indiscriminate (random). A treaty
states it is a war crime to willfully cause great suffering or injury to the body or health of a
non-combatant. Is the willful use of indiscriminate weapons a war crime under this treaty?
Systemic integration (art. 31(3)(c), VCLT) > you have to take all the rules into
consideration. This is harmonization. (valt het in de context, kijk naar het hele
verdrag)
The right to self-determination of peoples: what about people who want to form a new
state. Do they have the right to do so?
All peoples have the right of self-determination. All peoples have a right to freely determine
their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development. (article 1
paragraph 1 of the two International Covenants on Human Rights) > this has an erga omnes
character.
Internal self-determination > about autonomy within the framework of an existing state.
Example: Friesland. Own language in education, government.
External self-determination (but: principle of territorial integrity) > it is about independence
of the mother state (example: Catalonia): only in the most extreme cases. If they have no
right to internal self-determination. A people may only invoke the right to external self-
determination in cases of extreme oppression such as colonialism. > an affirmed right to
external self-determination need not lead to a claim for secession (=afscheiding).
International court of justice Kosovo Opinion (2010): there is no right to declare
independence unilaterally, but international law does not preclude Kosovo from issuing a
unilateral declaration of independence.
The acquisition of new territory
, A state can acquire title to new territory in a number of ways
1. Cession > an agreement to resolve a border dispute between two or more states.
2. Accretion > new land is created gradually by nature. such additions require that the new
territory does not infringe on the rights of other states or that such states give their
consent.
Erosion > the opposite and refers to the gradual disappearance of territory caused by
natural forces.
Avulsion > sudden or violent changes to territory (result of a storm or natural disasters)
3. Occupation > stipulate that a state can obtain title to territory that has never been the
subject of any state (‘no-man’s land’).
4. Prescription that is obtains title to territory previously under the sovereignty of another
state. The
Since 1945 a state can no longer obtain title through conquest.
State succession
= the replacement of one state by another in the responsibility for the international relation of
territory ( = opvolging).
