Unlawful Act Having a Continuing Character In the Context of State Responsibility

Abstract

Objective State responsibility is based on two legal aspects; first, committing an internationally unlawful act by a state contrary to an international obligation; and second, the unlawful act is attributable to the State concerned. Specific and concrete damages are not required for the allocation of international responsibility to a State. Given these elements, the present article entitled “Unlawful act having a continuing character in the context of State responsibility” deals with the legal issues concerning the question of a breach of an international obligation that is in a state of continuity since it began from the first place without coming to an end, using the legal analysis based on deduction. Characterization of a State act as being a continuing unlawful act is a very critical matter that has important legal implications and consequences on State responsibility. This work, however, is dealt with in Two Main Sections; while Section One discusses Unlawful Act as the Basis of Objective State Responsibility, Section Two is exclusively devoted to the discussion of the question of the Unlawful Act That Having a Continuing Character. In both sections, many legal issues were raised and dealt with. This work ends, however, with a conclusion that is not merely a summary of the results but also contains an analysis relating to the legal outcomes of characterizing an internationally unlawful act as having a continuing character, and the differences that such characterization makes if compared to the temporary unlawful act, or that having a continuing effect, without the act itself possessing the character of continuity.