International Community Of States Research Articles

Irreversibility in nuclear arms control and disarmament law?

Abstract While irreversibility of nuclear arms control and disarmament measures can be supported by compliance with applicable legal norms, the existing treaty regulation has serious gaps: pertinent treaties are not universally applicable; limitations on missiles as important carriers of nuclear warheads have been abrogated; the strategic doctrines of nuclear weapons powers are not fully transparent, and while the latter may strengthen the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence, it also raises questions as to compliance with fundamental obligations to refrain from a threat or use of force and to settle international disputes by peaceful means. There are certain principles of general international law that can and should be used in international cooperation to overcome nuclear crisis situations and strengthen international security: fundamental norms regarding the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament under strict and effective international control have an erga omnes character and are accepted and recognized by the international community of States as a whole. Furthermore, general rules of international responsibility are fully applicable in the law of nuclear arms control and disarmament. It is in this sense that irreversibility in nuclear arms control and disarmament is served by legal principles and rules, which require States to comply with existing obligations and to cooperate for the maintenance of peace and security.

Мотивні основи формування й активізації державотворчого патріотизму нації на засадах стратегіології розвитку держави

The purpose of the article is to allocate and systematize scientific views on the motives that become an effective strategiologic trend in the formation and development of the State, synthesized and manifested through the State-Creating Patriotism of the Nation (SCPN) with its dominants: qualitative; and quantitative (tax-based). It is emphasized and substantiated that the motives have their own characteristic hierarchy within the system of manifestation of both SCPN and strategiology of development, since they are oriented towards a particular person or the international community of States in general. It is emphasized that in order to select and analyze in detail the manifestation of characteristic motives as to the considered issues of creation of the State and their further activation, it is necessary to carry out a gradation regarding the classification of citizens according to the fundamental provisions of sociology, in particular, through subcultures (i. e., groups of people who recognize a certain system of values and are united are united according to certain social characteristics). It is substantiated that the SCPN represents all that the people in general and every citizen in particular do in the interests of creating an independent, sovereign, civilized State. It is noted that taxes are a quantitative feature and a measure of the motive-actual SCPN to specify the real participation (current and future) of taxpayers in the formation of the financial component of life provision and further development of the State. The author emphasizes that a taxpayer does not just pay taxes, but by doing so, creates his/her own civilized State - for himself/herself and the descendants. It is through a purposeful strategiologic activation of the motiveness of SCPN, changing only by 1% the level of shadowing of the world economy, that it is possible to provide up to $ 350 billion of additional tax revenues to the States’ budget. The motive-based mechanism for activating the process of creation of the State based on the paradigm of the SCPN and the strategiology of the State development is highlighted. The motivational fundamentality of activating the quantitative approach of the SCPN as an effective strategiologic direction of development of each State ensures, in particular: growth of budget revenues; reduction of both the level of the shadow economy due to the both activation of patriotic sentiments of taxpayers and the costs of tax administration; accumulation of more effective opportunities for the State to resolve and ensure the constitutional rights of citizens.

Analysing the Practice of State Recognition as an Exclusionary Mechanism from the International Community of States: A Case for the Republic of Somaliland

Analysing the Practice of State Recognition as an Exclusionary Mechanism from the International Community of States: A Case for the Republic of Somaliland

Analysis on the Legal Definition of Jus Cogens Provided in Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is a fundamental treaty providing rights and obligations that states assume in the conclusion and implementation of treaties. Some of the provisions of the Convention, however, continue to divide the legal scholarship. One of them concerns the legal definition of jus cogens provided in Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The international community, particularly the International Law Commission, has exerted strenuous efforts for a long time to reach a consensus on jus cogens. Nevertheless, the legal definition of jus cogens is still open to varying interpretation among different countries and international publicists. In this light, the article analyses the legal definition of jus cogens in three aspects. First, the connotation of the concept ‘peremptory norms of general international law’ is assessed in terms of particular, general and universal international law. Second, it analyses some problems arising in understanding the non-derogability from and modifiability of jus cogens. Finally, the article discusses some issues regarding ‘acceptance and recognition’ of jus cogens by the ‘international community of states as a whole’.

Nursing associations and the war in Ukraine

. Nurses' associations and war in Ukraine. The tragic irruption of war with all its scenarios of horror and destruction in the heart of Europe has documented the depth of the absence of a culture of peace in the international community of States, which have not be willing nor capable to propose a credible platform leading to a diplomatic solution of a conflict where all big powers are complice. While the strictly health related impacts represent a direct and specific interest and challenge for the nursing profession, it is clear that we are facing a future where a new awareness of being citizen of a world which requires a different culture and commitment must become part of our training and strategies of presence in the society. A survey of the positions assumed by the nursing organisation at international level, together with few model reflections on the broader implications of what we are living, is proposed as a first expression of a long term commitment and interest.

The notions of “peoples”, “nations” and “mankind” in International Law

Today the competition among states to promote their international legal policy is intensifying and there is evident need for convincing interpretation of the core notions provided in the UN Charter and other universal treaties, yet not defined in these instruments. In light of this political and legal background, the present article explores the international law scope of the terms “nation” and “people” and whether all states are considered as “nations” under the terms of the UN Charter. The authors also investigate the concept of “mankind” from the standpoint of the law of treaties concluding that such a concept is not legally identical to the term “international community of states”.

The ‘Grotian Style’ in International Criminal Justice

Abstract This article envisages how one might conceptualize the ‘Grotian Style’ in international criminal justice as a practice of adaptation spearheaded by international judges rather than as actual changes occurring in the international system. It foregrounds the emblematic career of Antonio Cassese at the ICTY as epitomizing the trajectory of a scholar on the bench intent on seizing a historic opportunity to reframe the law. The contours, origins, and prospects but also limitations of the ‘Grotian style’ are then discussed. The problem with the Grotian style is not primarily that it runs roughshod over defense rights, but that it appropriates a law-making authority which, in the international system, is better understood as primarily vested in states. In the process, it risks exposing its hubris and shallowness, especially when deciding on normatively intractable issues. In a context where international criminal justice is increasingly being normalized, the time may have come to reconceptualize judges’ role along more global constitutional lines as rooted in an ongoing dialogue with the international community of states and an emerging separation of powers.

The Politics of Competence in Global Health: The European Commission’s Global Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

What was the European Commission’s (EC) global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how did it use the crisis to claim competence in the area of global health? This article explores the EC’s global coronavirus response. In so doing, it suggests studying the crisis response in terms of how the EC struggled to be recognized as a competent player in the international community of states and institutions. In particular, the article shows how the EC utilized the crisis unleashed by the pandemic to engage in geopolitical positioning in relation to World Health Organization (WHO) funding and the vaccine race, and by using its financial clout to struggle for mastery as a global health actor. The article responds to the challenge of understanding differentiation in the broader field of European foreign, security and defence policies. By treating informal practices by the EC on the world stage in and of themselves, the article shows how the constant struggle for competence plays into the politics of European integration and considers its potential for being instantiated in formal transfers of competence in the area of global health. (This article is an output of the EUFLEX project, which has been funded by the Research Council of Norway (project number 287131). European Commission, COVID-19, Global health policy, competence, practice

Международные антикоррупционные стандарты и УК РФ

This article describes history and contemporary status anti-corruption standards in the international community of states, universal and regional. There is analysis about execution of Russian Federation it’s international obligations on against corruption in this article. Considerable changes in Criminal Code about responsibility for corruption crimes are made after ratifi cation Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. Russia is successfully executed three evaluation rounds of GRECO on anti-corruption legislation. The aggravating circumstances of petty bribery are made by author in the article. Moreover, it is necessary to eliminate the error in article 291.2 regarding imposition of punishment in the form of correctional labour, made when imposing sanctions for petty bribery.

Pandemic: Building a Legal Concept for the Future

No legal definition of a ‘pandemic’ is enshrined in any binding international law instrument. Instead, the official explanation of the term is found in non-binding guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), and remains vague at best. This circumstance is partially the result of a lack of consensus amongst the medical and public health communities on common denominators. Considering the resonance of declaring a ‘pandemic’, the absence of a clear-cut definition arguably hampers the reactions by the international community of states. The current analysis addresses the definitional gap in a broader context, by examining past attempts to introduce clear-cut yardsticks for determining when a ‘pandemic’ actually begins. The paper argues that a legal definition of ´pandemic´ with both descriptive and normative elements would greatly benefit the international community by guiding action to counteract future health emergencies. To this effect, the contribution posits a series of basic considerations for future conceptual debates on when a ‘pandemic’ is occurring, and whether legal obligations for states and international institutions ought to follow.

Status of the Southern Kurils: Issues of History and Problems of Ensuring Russias National Interests

Introduction. After the end of World War II, a peace treaty between Russia and Japan was never signed. The reason for this lies in the dispute between the two states about the ownership of the Southern Kurils. The intensification of Russian-Japanese negotiations on this issue in recent years actualizes the topic of this study in the context of ensuring the interests of Russia and the inviolability of its territory. Methods and materials. In this paper, the authors use the following methods: interdisciplinary historical, formal-logical, formal-legal. The use of forecasting and modeling methods contributes to the formulation of the main conclusions of the study. The theoretical basis of the research is presented by monographs and scientific articles on the history of Russian-Japanese relations over the Southern Kurils. Analysis. The paper presents the experience of relations between Russia and Japan since the mid-19th century. The basic international treaties that laid the legal basis for the territorial affiliation of the Southern Kurils have been studied in detail. The current state of the Russian-Japanese relations over the Southern Kurils has been analyzed. Japans claims to the Southern Kurils have been assessed in terms of the territorial and economic aspects. Results. The authors conclude that the territorial belonging of the Southern Kuril Islands was recognized by the international community of states as a whole on the basis of provisions of treaties in force at the time of concluding the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan of 1956, which entails the nullity of paragraph 2 of clause 9 of this Declaration. The inclusion of provisions on the non-separability of Russian territories in the Russian Constitution requires legislative concretization of the inadmissibility of territorial concessions by Russia in case of the conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan. The conclusion of a peace treaty based on the results of the agreements reached during the negotiations is also possible under other conditions that are not limited to the transfer of the Southern Kurils to Japan. In particular, it is possible to follow the path of economic integration of the respective territories by both countries.

Emergence of Jus Cogens Principles in Outer Space Law

ABSTRACTInternational law concerning outer space is developing at a steady pace since humankind’s first step towards space exploration in 1958with the launch of Sputnik 1 and Explorer 1. Since then, space is a growing area of political and economic significance. While significant steps by the international community of states in the form of treaty obligations and principles in international space law are apparent, it is yet to be ascertained whether, and if at all, there are customary international laws or jus cogens principles in place regarding outer space and the issues of governance therein. This paper enumerates and discusses the different principles of outer space law and determines if these principles attain the status of jus cogens.

Humanitarian Intervention: Fairy Tale about One Swallow Which Made Summer?

Summary In its final report on aggression and the use of force, the International Law Association opined that the only way in which unilateral humanitarian intervention could possibly be seen as a legal exception to the prohibition of the use of force is if State practice and opinio juris were to be found establishing its status as an additional exception in customary international law. After the airstrikes conducted by the US, the UK, and France against Syria in April 2018, which took place in reaction to unprecedented usage of chemical weapons against civilian population by regime of Bashar Asad, some States and part of scholars argued that this permissive rule (exception) has already crystalized and humanitarian intervention became part of international law. The aim of this article is to assess whether these opinions are relevant or whether they are simply premature. The text is divided into three parts. Firstly, legality of humanitarian intervention is considered in the framework of the UN Charter and customary international law on the use of force based on evaluation of scholarly debates and the most prominent examples of State practice before 2018. Then, the article describes methodology that is employed in relation to the creation (modification) of customary international law in general and peremptory norm concerning the prohibition on the use of force in particular. This part analyzes how possible normative changes of jus ad bellum should be assessed. The third part evaluates justifications and reactions of States with respect to the use of force against Syria in April 2018 that were presented by the international community of States. The article concludes that the concept of humanitarian intervention remains still illegal even after the airstrikes against Syria from 2018, what conforms to the prevailing opinion presented in contemporary scholarly literature. Even though the positive echoes identified in State practice (and doctrine) are yet premature, they indicate that process of gradual normative change has already been triggered. At the same time, the expectations concerning crystallization of a new possible exception to the general prohibition on the use of force should not be too exaggerated.

‘The People, Year Zero’: Secessionism and Citizenship in Scotland and Catalonia

The article compares how secessionist elites in Scotland and Catalonia discursely and legally constituted the people that is the subject of their claim of self-determination in relation to immigrant and emigrant populations during their recent bid for independence (2012-2017). The results point to important similarities between the two cases, which privileged the territorial inclusion of immigrants over the ethnocultural inclusion of emigrants and embraced the principle of multiple nationality. The outcome is interpreted as a sub-set of a broader ‘independence lite’ strategy, serving the aim of reducing the prospective cost of independence in the eye of the population they seek support from, and of the international community of states they seek recognition from.

Die Rechtsnatur und Rechtsstellung des sogenannten „Islamischen Staates“ im Völkerrecht

The question of statehood of the self-proclaimed “Islamic state” has been of particular concern to academia, but less so to foreign ministries around the globe. The international community of States has simply ignored IS’s claim to statehood, ie it reacted with collective non-recognition due to the blatant illegality of the group’s public authority and manner of territorial acquisition. However, this broad-based rejection of IS’s statehood does not lead to its non-existence under public international law: as a de facto regime, the so-called “Islamic State” was and still is responsible under international law for the international crimes committed in its name.

World Energy Council’s Global Energy Scenarios to 2060

Since 1970, global energy consumption has more than doubled. Conventional resources, in particular oil, gas and coal, had a dominant share in supply and covered most of the growth in demand in the past. Even in 2015, these fossil fuels still accounted for more than 80% of global primary energy consumption. The contribution of renewable energies to the total electricity generation was 23% in 2015, the same share as in 1970. Developments in the coming decades will differ substantially, however. Total energy consumption will rise at a much more moderate pace than in the past, e. g. by up to one third by 2060. Electricity consumption will double during this period. But even this is a considerable slowdown in growth compared with the five-fold increase seen between 1970 and 2015. And, unlike in the past, the emerging rise in consumption will essentially be covered by renewable energy sources. This is true especially for the electricity sector. This comparison with developments in the past shows the extent of the global energy transformation that may be expected in future. These developments are reflected in three global scenarios, which were published by the World Energy Council in October 2016. The results of this flagship study World Energy Scenarios to 2060 are mirrored with the main findings of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook and the U.S. EIA’s International Energy Outlook. The most important challenge indicated by the results of the mentioned studies is: the transformation, which is expected in the covered scenarios is not sufficient, in order to achieve the target of limiting the global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels that was agreed by the international community of states in Paris at the end of 2015. It will be highlighted, which strategies could meet the requirement cost-efficiently—a prerequisite for its success.

“Test the West”: Reimagining Sovereignties in the Post-Soviet Space

With the incorporation of the Crimean Peninsula into Russian territory, the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the temporary formation of the confederation of Novorossiia (New Russia), the international community of states has been witness to complex processes of reimagining territories, boundaries, citizenship, and fragmented sovereignties in the post-Soviet space. In its foreign policy agenda, Russia conceptualizes all former Soviet republics as the ‘Near Abroad’, a special sphere of its interests and influence. This paper explores Russia’s use of the vocabulary of international law to legitimize its interventions in the Near Abroad, which is connected to the ‘Russkii Mir’ (Russian World), another foreign policy concept that resonates with ideas of Neo-Eurasianism and the Fourth Political Theory and with the creation of a Eurasian space as a counter-concept to the West. Russia and its conceptualized antagonist, the West, take positions on public international (legal) front lines, evoking counter-narratives concerning their understandings of the meaning of the vocabulary of international law and politics, the regulation of international relations, and the foundations of world order. These clashes leave observers wondering: Russia may instrumentalize and manipulate the vocabulary of geopolitics, international law, and politics, but what if these clashes are also rooted in different imaginaries of international law and politics? Against this background, this article aims to develop conceptual approaches to further investigate and gain a better understanding of the complex dimensions of the clashes between Russian and Western counter-narratives and discourses concerning the meanings and functions of basic principles of international law and politics as powerful societal regulative imaginaries.

THE MAXIM “LAW DOES NOT ARISE FROM THE VIOLATION OF LAW” AND THE MODIFICATION OF PEREMPTORY NORMS

Maxim “ex injuria jus non oritur” is not only a general legal, but also an international legal principle, which states that law doesn’t arise from the violation of law. However, peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens) are not something frozen. They develop, like international law in general, so the latter expressly provides for the possibility of their modification by subsequent norms of the same nature. This inevitably means that, in the period of changing such norms, the behavior of some states will contradict the previous peremptory norm until the emergence of a new peremptory norm is recognized by the international community of states. Does the change of imperative norms result in an exception to the abovementioned maxim? And how do you know whether the actions of the state or group of states have created a new peremptory norm of international law, or they are merely a violation of the already existing peremptory norm? Can moral considerations justify the state’s withdrawal from the maxim of “ex injuria jus non oritur” in the name of creating a new peremptory norm of international law? Or is such a deviation justified by the conformity of the state’s actions to any other norms? Having examined these issues, the author comes to the conclusion that, unlike the positive law, natural law does not know exceptions to the maxim. The author proves that the ground for the emergence of new peremptory norms of international law creates changes in natural law.

Neutrality, Objectivity and the Values of the International Community in the Law and Practice of State Recognition.

This paper analyses the notion of neutrality of international law in the process of creation of new States. It seeks to answer the questions of the neutrality of international law in the identification of full-fledged members of the international community of States. International practice is analysed, including the practice of de facto entities. This paper also seeks to identify the values promoted by the international community of States when granting recognition, and focuses on democracy, human rights and multi-ethnic statehood. The paper concludes with a defence of effective statehood as a way to realise those values.

Community Interests Across International Law: Introduction

The Introduction describes the term “community interests” for the purpose of exploring the extent to which states owe duties toward those who are affected by their actions and omissions. It argues that the relevant “communities” which are envisaged by the book extend beyond the “international community of states” to cover individuals and groups, even when their interests were not taken into account at the negotiation table or in policymaking bodies. The community can also be humanity at large, as reflected in the concept of crimes against humanity. As far as “community interests” are concerned, the Introduction explores questions related to the identification of these interests, the prioritization among them and their achievement. The Introduction outlines a typology of duties states might have toward others.