Draft Articles Research Articles

The Law of International Customs in the International Law

The area of legal regulation related to customs norm formation isn’t clearly designated and sufficientlyexamined in the doctrine of international law. Also, there is no unified point of view on its title. A varietyof terms can be met in scientific studies. The author proposes to entitle this area of international lawas “law of international customs” - the most accurate term, corresponding to its content. The articlereveals the role and place of the law of international customs in the international legal system. The differencesand similarities of this institute of international law in relation to the law of treaties are shown.Scientific doctrines on the content and development of this institute of international law are also considered.The author shows which rules are lying on the basis of customs norm-formation and substantiateshis position on this issue. The object and the subject of regulation of the law of international customsare clarified. The question of norm-formation and its stages is examined. The article reveals influenceof treaty rules, decisions of judicial and other international bodies on the process of custom normformation.Questions over necessity of the codification of this process, development of appropriatecriteria relating to the formation of international custom and its norms are risen. The author proposesto develop relevant draft articles, adopting them as a UN resolution, and then to sign a Convention onthe Law of international customs, which should fix currently established customary rules of internationallaw, and also new treaty rules aimed to streamline the custom norm-formation, giving it more rigorous,systematic view. The state of scientific researches in this area and the ways of their further developmentare shown. Separate formulations of the law of international customs are presented. The authorgives definition of the law of international customs, which is proposed to be understood as the instituteof international law, including a set of customary rules of international law regulating interstate relationsin the questions of international custom establishment, its validity, amending and termination of existence,the conceptual apparatus in this area.

The Enigma of Hostile Takeovers in Japan: Bidder Beware

For over two decades, Japan has had all of the essential elements that leading academics and sophisticated investors have assumed to be sufficient for a country to develop an active market for hostile takeovers (i.e., dispersed shareholder ownership, depressed share values, and a United Kingdom or United States inspired regulatory framework). This has not gone unnoticed. For decades, leading academics and prestigious pundits have repeatedly predicted the imminent arrival of a wave of successful hostile takeovers in Japan. Based on the same prediction, but with much higher stakes, sophisticated investors have risked billions of dollars. History has consistently proven this prediction wrong — leaving a cadre of bewildered academics, embarrassed pundits, and bitter investors in its wake. How could so many leading academics, prestigious pundits, and sophisticated investors be so terribly wrong (for decades) about Japan’s market for hostile takeovers? This is the enigma of hostile takeovers in Japan, which we seek to explain in this Article.We argue that, in applying abstract theories derived from the Anglo-American experience, Western observers have neglected to account for local, idiosyncratic, Japanese factors that have stifled the market for corporate control in Japan. First, Japan transcends and complicates the conventional dispersed/concentrated shareholding dichotomy, as shown by the presence of dispersed stable-shareholders who have consistently rallied in support of incumbent management against hostile acquirers. Second, a corporate and shareholder culture that remains dominated by lifetime employee controlled corporate boards adds to the resilience of Japanese companies against hostile takeovers. Third, contrary to the belief of Western scholars, Japan’s law on defensive measures cannot be easily compared to the US or UK hostile takeover regimes, as it has developed idiosyncratic features through judicial precedent and corporate practice that have a distinctively anti-takeover flavour. Ultimately, the story of the absence of hostile takeovers in Japan is a cautionary tale to all comparative corporate scholars and foreign investors who underestimate the importance of context: apply Anglo-American generalizations without adequate local knowledge at your own peril.*A condensed and updated version of this draft Article will be published as: Dan W. Puchniak & Masafumi Nakahigashi, ‘The Enigma of Hostile Takeovers in Japan: Bidder Beware’ in Umakanth Varottil & Wan Wai Yee, Comparative Takeover Regulation: Global and Asian Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming).

Technologies of Reading and Writing: Transformation and Subjectivation in Digital Times

Technologies of Reading and Writing: Transformation and Subjectivation in Digital Times

Crowdsourcing the Egyptian Constitution

Drawing on empirical evidence from online citizen feedback on the 2012 Egyptian Constitution, we demonstrate that despite normative skepticism about implications of participatory constitution making, citizen participation matters. Using data of more than 650,000 online votes and comments on the constitution, we find that draft provisions with higher public approval are less likely to change and those with lower approval are more likely to change. We also find that Articles related to rights and freedoms are more likely to change based on online public input. Finally, following the boycott of the Constituent Assembly by non-Islamists, changes in draft Articles based on public feedback drop sharply. These findings highlight the conditions under which participatory constitution making becomes more effective. First, consensus among citizens over the most salient issues increases the probability that those issues would be successfully incorporated in the constitution. Second, without ex ante elite agreement over the design of the constitution, it becomes difficult to account for citizen proposals amid political clash between elites.

Turning your dissertation into a publishable journal article

The dissertation and a peer reviewed journal article are rather different entities, and although there are similarities, each has their own requirements and audiences. This paper provides guidelines to assist a doctoral candidate to write up and publish journal articles based on their doctoral dissertation. The task of doing so requires thought and structured preparation to ensure that the draft article is in the appropriate format and is ready to be considered for publication in a peer reviewed journal. There are multiple benefits for publishing peer reviewed journal articles. Apart from making a scholarly contribution to the collective body of knowledge, it represents the possibility of making public and celebrating the voice of the research participants and/or service users, and so influencing practice and, potentially, affecting service provision. In addition, within a highly competitive job market, there may be potential employability advantages of having evidence of your work contributing to theory development or to practice in your chosen profession or specialism. A range of recommendations and suggestions are offered here to assist with the transition from an academic thesis to a journal ready, publishable paper. These relate to the preparation required in advance of writing the journal paper (an area which is often ignored), as well as issues relating to selecting an appropriate journal, decisions about which parts of the thesis may constitute the paper, and a variety of other issues associated with the writing up and the publication processes.

قراءة نقدية في تقنين أحکام الفقه وصياغتها تطبيقاً على مسودة مشروع قانون الأسرة البحريني – الشق السني

لم تبزغ شمس القرن الثالث الميلادي إلا وأکثر القضايا تتحول من ولاية الدولة القطرية إلى ولاية النظام العالمي الجديد ، الذي استخدم آليات القانون الدولي لفرض رؤيته في الحياة والسلوک ، وتکاثرت دواعي التغيير في مناح شتى يلفتنا منها بوجه خاص التغيير القانوني في مجال الأحوال الشخصية، في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، التي شهدت ثورة حقيقية في مصدرية الأحکام والحقوق وتنظيمها ، فلم ينتصف العقد الأول من القرن الجديد إلا ودول المجلس ، عدا المملکتين ، قد تحولت عن مصدرية الفقه والعرف إلى التشريع المکتوب ، ولا شک أنه أحفظ للاستقرار ، وأبعد عن الاضطراب ، وأدعى إلى اعتبار الأمثل من الأحکام شريطة أن تغلب اعتبارات التشريع الحقيقية على کافة الاعتبارات الأخرى ، ولا يتأتى ذلک في الواقع إلا بمراعاة أصول وضع وصياغة التشريعات ، في إطار الحفاظ على ثوابت المجتمع دون إغفال للمتغيرات والمستجدات. ومملکة البحرين وإن لم تسن بعد تشريعا للأحوال الشخصية إلا أنها تبغي ذلک في القريب ، وقد تصدت غير جهة من جهات المجتمع المدني إلى تقديم أفکار قانونية ، وتأمل کل جهة منها أن تجد من أهل الاختصاص من يتبنى فکرتها کاقتراح أو مشروع قانون ، إلا أن المسودتين اللتين أفصح عنهما في نوفمبر 2005 مثلتا أبرز ما وضع من أفکار في هذا الخصوص ، لذا فقد اخترت المسودة السنية ، وهى إحدى المسودتين، لتکون مثلا تطبيقيا أبرز من خلاله الآثار العملية لأصول تقنين وصياغة الأحکام الأسرية ذات الأصل الإسلامي، وأقيم ما وضع في صورة مواد ، فاقترح تبني ما ترجحت صحته ، وأرجو إعادة النظر فيما تبدى وجه ضعفه ، بعد أن أبرهن عليه ، وقد قسمت الدراسة إلى ثلاثة فصول أولها أخصصه للمسودة محل التطبيق وظروف وضعها ، والثاني أعالج فيه أصول وضع وصياغة القوانين، مع ذکر أمثلة لبيان أوجه الخلل التي تعتري القوانين التي لم ترع أصول الوضع والصياغة ، وفي الفصل الثالث أتناول مواد المسودة بالتقييم مقتصرا على إبراز مظان التميز الواضح ، أو أوجه الخلل الظاهر . Summary of search Search Title: Rationing provisions of Islamic jurisprudence and formulating then applying on a draft of the first section of the Bahraini family bill critical study The sun of the third century AD, had not emerged till the most cases turned from the state of Qatar to the mandate of the new world discipline, which used the mechanism of international law to impose his vision of life and behavior. The need of change has increased in various aspects mentioned in particular way the legal change in personal circumstances, in Gulf cooperation Council countries, which has seen a real revolution in of source in Rights and Judgments and its organizing. The first decade of the new century has not middel till the states of GCC have been transformed from a source of custom and Fiqh to the written legislate except for the two Kingdoms. There is no doubt that will be memorized stability and further from the turmoil, and arrogated to optimal consideration of provisions provided the overcome of real legislation on all other considerations. This will not be taken in fact without taking into account the basics of the formulating and applying legislations in the Franc of maintaining the principles of the society without omission the developments and changes. Although the Kingdom of Bahrain has not adopted legislation concerning personal status yet, It wishes so in the near. Many of civil society actors have provided legal ideas, and every one hopes to find specialists who adopted its idea as a suggestion or as a bill, but the drafts which have been disclosed in November 2005 represented the highlight of the ideas set in this regard. So, I choosed the Sunni draft. It’s one of the two drafts, to be applied as a practical example which represents practical figures of the basics of rationing and the formulation of family provisions of Islamic origin and I evaluate what is held in the form of articles. I suggest adopting what is supposed to be right and I hope to reconsider showing the face of weakness after proving that. This study is divided in to three chapters : The first chapter for the draft application and its setting conditions. The second chapter within it I treat the basics and formulation of the law by stating setting examples to show the faces of deficit which permate the law that didn’t consider the setting and the formulating basics. The third chapter I treat the draft articles by evaluation limited to show clear excellence doubts or aspects of the apparent deficit

Multiple sclerosis: Looking at mainstay and pioneering treatments

Nurse PrescribingVol. 14, No. 3 NewsMultiple sclerosis: Looking at mainstay and pioneering treatmentsAysha MendesAysha MendesSearch for more papers by this authorAysha MendesPublished Online:14 Mar 2016https://doi.org/10.12968/npre.2016.14.3.110AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Action Medical Research (2015) Multiple sclerosis. http://tinyurl.com/jggcyps (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarMultiple Sclerosis Society (2016a) What is MS? http://tinyurl.com/gwrf4xn (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarMultiple Sclerosis Society (2016b) Disease-modifying therapies. http://tinyurl.com/jhqjept (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarMultiple Sclerosis Society (2016c) Vitamin D. http://tinyurl.com/zltpa68 (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarMultiple Sclerosis Society (2016d) MS treatment to feature on Panorama. http://tinyurl.com/hygbcaz (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarMultiple Sclerosis Trust (2016) MS Trust welcomes Panorama stem-cell report, announces to audit stem cell services. http://tinyurl.com/htmqbdv (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarNational Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2014) Multiple sclerosis in adults: Management. CG186. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg186 (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarNHS Choices (2014) Multiple sclerosis—Symptoms. http://tinyurl.com/33ymxuo (accessed 17 February 2016) Google ScholarRamagopalan SV, Dyment DA, Cader MZ et al. (2011) Rare variants in the CYP27B1 gene are associated with multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol 70(6): 881–6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.22678 Crossref, Google ScholarStrickland K, Baguley F (2015) The role of the community nurse in care provision for people with multiple sclerosis. Br J Community Nurs 20(1): 6–10. doi: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjcn.2015.20.1.6 Link, Google ScholarWalsh F (2016) Cancer treatment for MS patients gives ‘remarkable’ results. http://tinyurl.com/hk9p5av (accessed 17 February 2016) Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byAcne drug offers hope for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisAysha Mendes13 July 2017 | Nurse Prescribing, Vol. 15, No. 7From Theory to Practice: Exploring the Relevance of the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (DARIO)—The Responsibility of the WTO and the UN6 March 2019 | German Law Journal, Vol. 13, No. 5 2 March 2016Volume 14Issue 3ISSN (print): 1479-9189ISSN (online): 2052-2924 Metrics History Published online 14 March 2016 Published in print 2 March 2016 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

United Nations Activities

The present paper discusses the work of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) during its sixty-seventh session (2015) regarding the topic ‘Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts’. First, it sketches out a summary of the debate that took place in the plenary session of the ILC with respect to the issue at hand. Then, the paper moves on to analyze the draft articles provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee, offering at the same time some critical remarks.

Содержание международно-правовой ответственности в праве ВТО: общие принципы и подходы

The present article discusses the main features of the content of international legal responsibility of the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Analysis of the concept of “content” of international legal responsibility is based on the Draft articles on responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts, prepared by the UN International Law Commission in 2001, as well as the differences in the conceptual underpinnings of the responsibility, which is held on the various speakers’ issue. The author shares the view that the specificity of the institute of responsibility in WTO law in comparison with the general international law (Draft of UN International Law Commission), can be explained in terms of the fact that WTO law serves a lex specialis in relation to general international law. Review and comparison of the provisions of the Draft of UN International Law Commission and the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the WTO has allowed to conclude that the philosophy of the basic principles of the content of the international responsibility in these documents are very close to or even in the ground is the same. The article investigated the basic concept of a “violation of obligations” in WTO law and obligations of the members of the organization to terminate the offense. It is concluded that in spite of the individual features of the implementation requirements to provide “assurances and guarantees” prohibiting further violations of the WTO agreements, in general, WTO law ensures compliance with the obligation to cease the wrongful conduct.

Consent and the use of force: an examination of ‘intervention by invitation’ as a basis for US drone strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen

Drone strikes are becoming a key feature of the United States' global military response to non-state actors, and it has been widely adduced that these strikes have been carried out with the consent of the host states in which such non-state actors reside. This article examines the degree to which assertions of consent (or ‘intervention by invitation’), provided as a justification for drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, can be said to accord with international law. First the article provides a broad sketch of the presence of consent in international law. It then analyses in detail the individual elements of consent as provided by Article 20 of the International Law Commission Draft Articles of State Responsibility. These require that consent should be ‘valid’, given by the legitimate government and expressed by an official empowered to do so. These elements will be dealt with individually, and each in turn will be applied to the cases of Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Finally, the article will examine the breadth of the exculpatory power of consent, and the extent to which it can preclude the wrongfulness of acts carried out in contravention of international law other than the prohibition of the use of force under Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations.

3. Transboundary Environmental Cooperation

On 13 December, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution A/RES/71/141 and took note of the draft articles on the topic ‘Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters’ contained in Chapter IV (Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters) of the report of the UN International Law Commission (ILC) (see Report of the International Law Commission, sixty-eighth session (2016), UN Doc. A/71/10 <http://legal.un.org/ilc/reports/2016/> at 12–73). It consists of a draft preamble and eighteen draft articles, together with their commentaries (see the Eighth Report on Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, UN Doc. A/CN.4/697 (17 March 2016)). At the fifty-ninth session of the ILC held in 2007, this topic was included in its program of work, and Eduardo Valencia Ospina (Colombia) was appointed as a special rapporteur. These draft articles apply to the protection of persons in the event of disasters (Article 1), and the key term ‘disasters’ is defined as ‘a calamitous event or series of events resulting in widespread loss of life, great human suffering and distress, mass displacement, or large-scale material or environmental damage, thereby seriously disrupting the functioning of society’ (Article 3(a)). Naturally, the definition is solely for the purpose of the draft articles, and this term has various theoretical and practical implications (see Daniel Farber, ‘Disaster Law in the Anthropocene’ in Jacqueline Peel and David Fischer (eds), The Role of International Environmental Law in Disaster Risk Reduction (Brill/Nijhoff, 2016) at 51–4). The draft articles are meant not to be applicable in the situations governed by international humanitarian law (Article 18(2)). Importantly, draft Article 9(1) provides that ‘[e]ach State shall reduce the risk of disasters by taking appropriate measures, including through legislation and regulations, to prevent, mitigate, and prepare for disasters,’ and the report of the secretary-general suggests that this article represents a critical contribution to the development of normative frameworks for disaster risk reduction (see UN Doc. A/71/230 (29 July 2016) at 6, para. 16). To elaborate a future convention on this topic, the UNGA invited governments to submit comments on the draft articles.

Jurisdictional Countermeasures Versus Extraterritoriality in International Law

Sovereignty is the reason why States seek to apply their jurisdictions. All States like to extend their jurisdictions as far as they can, so some of them have adopted extraterritorial policies in exercising their jurisdictions. In this manner the United States has approved several extraterritorial Laws in respect of competition law and sanctions, causing some coercion to non-target states. In response to this long-arm jurisdiction by the U.S., some countries, such as the U.K., Canada, Australia, Mexico etc., as well as the E.U., took actions of their own in order to nullify these extraterritorial laws. These measures, which are mostly applied to the jurisdictional field, could be described as jurisdictional countermeasures. They can be divided into prescriptive, adjudicative and executive measures, which include blocking statutes, claw-back statutes, non-recognition, procedural restrictions, non-execution and retaliatory measures. Not all of these measures are prohibited by international law and some can be viewed as a just retorsion against that State. However, where the application of these measures is prohibited by international law – in cases such as the non-recognition of foreign judgments and other jurisdictional regulations in international treaties like mutual judicial assistance agreements – they are countermeasures. If these actions are in response to an illegal extraterritorial law, they should comply with the conditions for countermeasures as cited in the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts 2001 as approved by the International Law Commission.

The Guarani Aquifer Accord

The Guarani Aquifer Accord of 2010 represents a plan for the multiple, sustainable, equitable and reasonable use of the water of the Guarani Aquifer System and a pledge to prevent significant harm to this vast natural resource in South America. Based on good science and good international law, this regional agreement was reached by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, acknowledging the environmental, economic and geopolitical importance of the underground water linking the four states known as the “Guarani Aquifer System.” The Guarani Aquifer Accord (“Acordo sobre o Aquífero Guarani” or “Acuerdo Aquífero Guarani”) is the first regional treaty to be modeled after the International Law Commission Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers of 2008, which address “confined” aquifers that are outside the scope of the United Nations Watercourses Convention of 1997. This article explores the Guarani Aquifer Accord’s provisions for exchanges of scientific and technical information, notification and consultation, direct negotiations, referral to a joint commission to be created once the Accord enters into force for evaluation and recommendations in case of a dispute, and the option of a subsequent arbitration protocol to be negotiated in future. Taken together, procedural requirements and the provisions in the Accord in favor of diplomatic and political resolution of future disputes over the use and protection of the water may forestall the need to resort to litigation in international courts or tribunals. This article concludes that, even absent an additional protocol for arbitration of disputes and absent the establishment of a joint commission to facilitate information exchange, convene regular meetings and build trust as contained in the agreement, the Guarani Aquifer Accord provides a framework for regional cooperation designed to avoid or resolve conflicts.

Euthanasia: legalization and criminal liability

The article is devoted to criminal liability for euthanasia. By analyzing the international experience and the current Russian legislation, the author comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to legalize voluntary euthanasia for adult citizens in the Russian Federation. The regulation of the procedure of euthanasia at the legislative level and the establishment of criminal liability for the violation of the procedure of euthanasia turn out to be reasonable. The author gives his own understanding of this procedure and provides a draft article of the Criminal code.

The Identification of Customary International Law and Other Topics: The Sixty-Seventh Session of the International Law Commission

The International Law Commission held its sixty-seventh session in Geneva from May 4 to June 5, and from July 6 to August 7, 2015, under the chairmanship of Narinder Singh (India). Notably, the Commission’s drafting committee completed a full set of sixteen draft conclusions on the topic of “identification of customary international law,” paving the way for those conclusions with commentaries to be approved by the Commission on first reading in 2016. Additionally, the Commission provisionally adopted with commentaries initial draft guidelines on “protection of the atmosphere” and initial draft articles on “crimes against humanity,” as well as one further draft conclusion with commentary on “subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties.” Progress was also made in developing draft principles on “protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts,” draft articles on “immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction,” and draft guidelines on “provisional application of treaties.” The Commission completed its work on the topic “the most-favored-nation clause” and decided to add a new topic of jus cogens to its agenda.

Economic Sanctions Against the Russian Federation Are Illegal under Public International Law

In response to the Russian Federation’s purported ‘annexation’ of Crimea and the conflict between separatists in the Donbass region and the central government of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Australia, the principal countries, have imposed economic sanctions upon Russian officials, firms, and private individuals. The economic sanctions imposed upon the Russian Federation violate public international law on three grounds: 1) lack of authorisation under the United Nations Charter; 2) inapplicability of Art. XXI GATT (‘Security Exceptions’); and 3) lack of legal authority based on the International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts. Fidelity to the ‘rule of law’ requires an immediate withdrawal of all economic sanctions. By contrast, the international community ‘ought to’ condemn Ukraine’s indiscriminate killing of innocent citizens living in the Donbass region and support the efforts of the Russian Federation to provide humanitarian aid to the region.

Self-Defence as a Circumstance Precluding the Wrongfulness of the Use of Force

Roberto Ago, the International Law Commission’s second Special Rapporteur on the topic of state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, defined self-defence as a faculte of a state to use force in response to an act of another state through which a breach of the principal obligation under Article 2(4) Charter is committed. On this basis, he then inserted a provision in Chapter V to Part One of the Draft Articles on State Responsibility expressing self-defence as a specific factual circumstance precluding the wrongfulness of the use of force which constitutes a response to state aggression. This conception of self-defence, although misunderstood from the onset, remained in the backdrop of the study of the law of state responsibility for a considerable period. It was only dismantled during the reign of the last Special Rapporteur on the topic of state responsibility, James Crawford. The last Rapporteur, at the onset, submitted that it is not the function of the Draft Articles to specify the content of the primary rules, including that referred to in Article 51 Charter. He then redefined the function of the circumstance of self-defence as that of precluding the wrongfulness of non-performance of certain obligations other than the general prohibition insofar as such non-performance is connected with the exercise of the right under Article 51 Charter. This contribution first scrutinises this paradigmatic shift and finds it to be symptomatic of the conviction on the part of Crawford that the notion of self-defence could also encompass the use of force against speculative threats of state origin as well as actual threats that emanate from individuals or groups which are disconnected from the organisation of any state. It then uses this finding as a springboard towards the examination of the controversy surrounding the notion of self-defence under international law. In that connection, it first outlines the findings of the World Court on the requirements of armed attack and attribution and describes the points of criticism which those findings have elicited. Next, it argues that state practice is unable to settle the controversy concerning the scope of the concept of self-defence and that the question whether or not valid invocation of Article 51 Charter must be preceded by a state’s breach of the general prohibition can be conclusively answered only as part of efforts geared to devising an explanatory account of self-defence which accurately translates its normative origins and which preserves its logical relations with the other, more ordinary but fundamental legal concepts. The study’s conclusion is that respect for such criteria demands that the notion of self-defence under international law be defined in line with Ago’s proposition, i.e. in terms of a de facto situation, recognised by a secondary rule, whereby the principal obligation under the primary rule contained in Article 2(4) Charter is pushed into abeyance to the detriment of a state which conducts itself in breach of that very same obligation in respect of another state; or, correlatively, in terms of a factual circumstance precluding the wrongfulness of the use of force which constitutes a riposte to an unlawful armed attack of another state.

The Process of International Law— Making: The Relationship Between the International Court of Justice and the International Law Commission

Abstract Article 38, para.1, of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) defines customary international law as evidence of general practice accepted as law, understood as State practice and opinio juris. However, by identifying certain norms as an international custom without referring to the traditional evidence of State practice and opinio juris, international courts and tribunals are contributing to the formation of customary international law. This paper presents an analysis of how the International Court of Justice contributes to the formation of customary international law by relying on the draft articles of the International Law Commission (ILC). Th e International Court of Justice, in “deciding in accordance with international law”, also authoritatively declares what the current international law is, while the International Law Commission, although constituted of highly qualified publicists from various States, is drafting only non-binding international instruments. By relying on the ILC draft articles and declaring them to be reflecting customary international law-although the draft articles may not be necessary the expression of the States’ practice and their opinio juris, the ICJ creates and generates the creation of customary international law. Interestingly, the ICJ tends to rely mostly on ILC draft articles that refer to the jurisprudence of either the Permanent Court of International Justice (“PCIJ”) or the ICJ itself. Th e paper presents research of approximately 70 ICJ decisions and individual opinions that cite to the work of the ILC. The author notes the evolution of the relationship between the ICJ and the ILC through three different time periods, and presents the findings on how, when and why the ICJ relies on the ILC draft articles. In addition, the author gives examples in which the ICJ rejected the reliance on the ILC’s work, mainly due to the divergent interpretation on the specific area of international law. The ICJ, by relying on the ILC draft articles that in turn refer to the jurisprudence of the ICJ or PCIJ, is not only generating norms of customary international law, but is also reaffirming the importance of its (and PCIJ’s) jurisprudence for the future of international law. Although ICJ decisions are binding only between the parties to the dispute (Art.59 ICJ Statute), the clarification of whether a norm is customary or not, affects the international community of States. Noting the present reluctance of States to adopt treaties, and- hence their potentially decreasing role in international law-making, this research offers an insight into an alternative venue of international law-making. As the international community, and the ILC itself, is regaining interest in the sources of international law, this paper aims to identify the mechanisms of international law-making, the understanding of which will contribute to international law’s needed predictability and a more uniform and reliable interpretation of international law.

Crowdsourcing for Coordination: The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Disaster Relief Preparedness and Response

This paper will look at the impact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the use of social media platforms have had on disaster relief preparedness and response. In the past 3-5 years, first responders and humanitarian aid delivering organizations have started using ICT and social media platforms and applications to gather data for the purposes of mapping the nature, extent and proportion of disasters as well in order to better streamline aid and humanitarian assistance delivery and response times. Section II of the paper accordingly contains a discussion on the growth of social media and other platforms is issues pertinent to disaster relief, as well as an overview of some of the organizations that work with ICTs during disaster and crises times. In Section III, the paper looks at some case studies of where modern ICT applications have been used to streamline aid efforts in face of sudden on-set disasters for e.g. the earthquake in Haiti and the floods in Pakistan and the recent typhoon in the Philippines. Finally Section IV of the paper discusses whether States have a compulsory obligation to implement ICT based mechanisms in its pursuit of disaster preparedness and response, and whether such an obligation could flow from international instruments pertaining to disaster relief, specifically the Draft Articles on Protection of Persons in Disasters.

Second Report of the Special Rapporteur on Crimes Against Humanity

In the field of international law, three core crimes generally make up the jurisdiction of international criminal tribunals: war crimes; genocide; and crimes against humanity. Only two of these crimes (war crimes and genocide) are the subject of a global treaty that requires States to prevent and punish such conduct and to cooperate among themselves toward those ends. By contrast, there is no such treaty dedicated to preventing and punishing crimes against humanity.Yet crimes against humanity may be more prevalent than either genocide or war crimes. Such crimes may occur in situations not involving armed conflict and do not require the special intent that is necessary for establishing genocide. Moreover, treaties focused on prevention, punishment, and inter-State cooperation exist for many far less egregious offences, such as corruption, bribery, or organized crime. While some treaties address offenses that under certain conditions might also constitute crimes against humanity, such as State-sponsored torture or enforced disappearance of persons, those treaties do not address crimes against humanity as such.At its sixty-sixth session in 2014, the U.N. International Law Commission decided to place the topic “crimes against humanity” on its program of work and to appoint a Special Rapporteur. The purpose of this First Report of the Special Rapporteur is to address the potential benefits of developing draft articles that might serve as the basis of an international convention on crimes against humanity. Further, this report provides general background with respect to the emergence of the concept of crimes against humanity as an aspect of international law, its application by international courts and tribunals, and its incorporation in the national laws of some States. Ultimately, this report proposes two initial draft articles for such a convention: one on prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity and the other on the definition of such crimes.