Controversies Regarding the Status of the Natural Person in International Public Law

Abstract

International public law is, by its very nature, an area of controversy. Some are more easily resolved, others seem, at least for the moment, to be unresolved to such a manner that all divergent opinions could be reconciled. And the issue to be addressed has stirred up strong controversies and complex arguments, both on one side of the barricade and on the other. The question remains without an unanimous answer, and the literature presents us with several opinions. Is the natural person a subject of public international law or not? The controversial subjects of public international law are the natural persons, the legal persons and the non-governmental organizations. The literature calls them limited and subsidiary subjects of international public law. The old international public law recognizes only the state as its subject. In the evolution of international relations, however, a series of regulations regarding the natural persons appeared, which made it possible for them to become subjects of international law. The debate over this issue developed especially in the 1920s, after the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice and later, after the Second World War, and at present new arguments have been added.