International Legal Personality Research Articles

Beyond the machinery metaphors: Towards a theory of international organizations as machines

Abstract This article builds upon the common metaphor of international organizations as the ‘machinery’ of international law to present a theoretical exploration of these institutions. This metaphor has remained unexamined, a reflection of the paradoxical status of international organizations as objects lacking theoretical attention. By tapping into the metaphor’s full theoretical potential and expanding it into a theory of international organizations as machines, this article introduces a new conceptualization of their role and operation. This is accomplished by applying a particular machine concept from social theory, as developed in the work of Felix Guattari and his collaboration with Gilles Deleuze. The proposed machinic perspective enables the casting of the relation between international organizations and states in a new light, building on the classical concerns with these entities’ attributed powers and granted international legal personality. It presents an image of these institutions as agents focused on the production of connections and links with external ideas and forces, in order to produce unforeseen powers and capacities.

International and European Institutions and Catalan Nationalism

AbstractThe exercise of public power by substate entities poses a challenge for international law. Although such entities lack international legal personality, their actions can have international significance and, because they are state organs, must always adhere to the international obligations assumed by the state. In Spain, the autonomous communities exercise broad powers, which, in the case of Catalonia (via the Generalitat), include education, healthcare, prisons and police. Research shows that the Generalitat has exercised – and, to some extent, continues to exercise – some of its powers in disregard of certain constitutional and legal obligations. This action by public authorities in disregard of the law can have international consequences, and various international organizations have expressed positions on it through their bodies. This paper examines these positions on the Generalitat’s actions in connection with the secession process and other related policies, including both those that have been critical of this behaviour and those that have expressed direct or indirect support for it. The practice of the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the UN Human Rights Council through its Special Rapporteur on minority issues is analysed.

The Division of Greater Armenia by the Roman Empire and Sasanian Ērānšahr: The Problem of International Legal Personality in 387 AD

The Division of Greater Armenia by the Roman Empire and Sasanian Ērānšahr: The Problem of International Legal Personality in 387 AD

The Status of Emperor Magnus Maximus in the Context of Roman Concepts of International Legal Personality (383-388 AD)

The Status of Emperor Magnus Maximus in the Context of Roman Concepts of International Legal Personality (383-388 AD)

Legal considerations on a regional security organization for planetary defence

Under the UN-Charter system, the maintenance of international peace and security is traditionally the primary responsibility of the UN Security Council as set forth in Chapter VII. Since the Security Council's competence for dealing with matters of international peace and security is not exclusive, other international bodies may take a role in addressing threats emanating from outer space. A regional security organization for planetary defence can be established under Article 52 UN-Charter and may provide for an alternative forum to decide upon the necessary steps for Near Earth Object (NEO)-deflection missions. The international legal personality of an international organization for planetary defence leads to the capacity of entering into treaties, the international responsibility for acts and omissions attributed to it and the enjoyment of privileges and immunities. Such organization can also declare acceptance of the UN Space Treaties.

Legal Personality in International Migration: the Personological Aspect

The article examines the legal nature and content of legal subjectivity of international migrants using the cutting-edge methodology of international legal personology. The relevance of the research topic is the need to apply the personology methodology to the study of the personal component of the international legal system, especially in the context of Russian aggression which poses a threat to the lives of Ukrainian refugees. The purpose of the article is to determine the legal nature and content of international migration legal personality of a person using the latest methodology of international legal personology. The methodological basis of the study is an interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach which made it possible to formulate the conceptual framework of international migration legal personality of a person with due regard for the modern doctrine and practice of international law. The work uses a number of general theoretical and special scientific methods: objectivity; dialectical; historical and legal; formal and logical; special legal; systemic and structural; comparative legal; sociological; the person-centered method was developed by the author specifically for the study of the problems of the subject of law in general and the subject of international law in particular. It posits that the 1948 mistranslation of the traditional legal concept of “legal personality” (person before the law) as “legal subjectivity” in Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has had negative methodological consequences for domestic studies of personative legal reality. In their research, the scholars typically focused on the legal status, rights and duties of the legal subject rather than legal personality per se. The study of specific qualitative traits of legal personality (such as personative capacity, under the umbrella term of “legal capacity”, or negative capacity, in the narrow framework of criminal capacity) has been fragmentary, sporadic, and categorically vague. Only when legal personology cohered as an academic approach did it became possible to use an adequate person-centric methodology to study the personative element of any legal system. A personological analysis of the traditional concept of “legal capacity” identified three aspects: 1) normative: the capacity of a social actor to bear a legal status, possess rights and duties (normative capacity before the law); 2) personative: the capacity of a social actor to be a subject of law, a legal personality, a bearer of a personative legal form of a physical, legal or sovereign person (personative capacity before the law); 3) communicative: the capacity of a social actor to take part in legal communications, to be a party of legal relations (communicative capacity before the law). Further personological study of international migration law found that a person bears all the features of an international legal personality that possesses the corresponding sectoral personative capacity and active capacity at the universal, regional, and particular level. Meanwhile, a significant number of environmental (climate), anthropogenic and political migrants remain outside the purview of international legal regulation at the universal level, where they are conventionally referred to by the rather restrictive term “refugee”. At the regional and especially at the bilateral level, there is a risk that the generally recognised rights and fundamental freedoms of forced migrants during accelerated readmission, which underscores the necessity of academic scrutiny of this relatively new institution of international migration law.

Research on the Theory and Practice of International Legal Personality

Research on the Theory and Practice of International Legal Personality

The issues of international legal personality of the individual and human rights

The issues of international legal personality of the individual and human rights

The concept of the international legal status of an individual in modern legal thought: historiography of the problem

The article is dedicated to defining the content and features of the category of international legal status of an individual in modern domestic and foreign historiography (late ХХ – early ХХІ century). The paper provides an analysis of the scientific views of Ukrainian and foreign scientists on the concept of the legal status of an individual as a fundamental category of law. The scientific positions of lawyers regarding the structural elements of the system of legal status of a person are considered. The question of the relationship between the concepts of the legal status and the legal position of a person in modern legal thought is highlighted. The existence of discrepancies in the understanding of the content of the category of international legal status of an individual in the historiography of the investigated issues of the late ХХ – early ХХІ century is emphasized. Consideration peculiarities of the concept of the international legal status of persons by domestic and foreign scientists in the context of debates about the legal personality of individuals in international law are described. The possibility of the existence of a category of international legal status of a person without the need for recognition of international legal personality of an individual is indicated. Emphasis is placed on the peculiarities of the concept of the legal status of an individual in international law as a result of the adoption of international legal norms regarding the status of natural persons. The existence of a set of scientific views regarding the international legal status of an individual as a system of rights and freedoms, duties and responsibilities of a person established at the international level is revealed. The article notes that the mentioned broad understanding of the category of the international legal status of an individual is not given sufficient attention in modern domestic and foreign historiography on the studied issues. The uncertainty of the list of structural elements of the category of the international legal status of a person is underlined. Finally, the unity of scientific positions of legal scholars regarding the rights and freedoms of a person recognized by international community as the main structural element of a complex system of the international legal status of an individual is established.

Migration Law and Issues in Sports

The international migration of athletes has become an essential feature of sports competition. These days foreign travel is often the name of the game. The purposes and duration of such migration range from participation in single events to long-term, even permanent relocation involving professional transfers. Each purpose or duration may generate a different body of law and regulations. Varying national visa, residence and other requirements for territorial entry of noncitizens are of course essential. Regional, especially European Union law may also be foundational as it was, for example, in defeating a practice within the EU of transfer payments between clubs in different member states that impeded freedom of movement. Also applicable is international law, notably that of the several institutions within the Olympic Movement insofar as it is one of the very few NGOs vested with international legal personality. Supporting that legal authority or extending beyond it are bilateral treaties of friendship and cooperation. More broadly, international human rights law applies, particularly in reinforcing the rights of athletes to be free of political discrimination against their participation in international competition.

The European Union’s Legal Personality in International Law – Character, Structure, and Scope

In this paper, the author considers the issues of one’s legal personality in international law in general, with emphasis on the international legal personality of the European Union. The focus of discussion is on the character and structure of the European Union’s international legal personality and its peculiarities as a unique, juridical person. Special attention was given to the notion of the EU as a sui generis subject of international law, along with its scope of activities and supranational elements. As pointed out in this paper, these issues are numerous. Firstly, the issue of the European Union’s status within the international legal order is analysed and, further on, the character and the elements of its legal personality and the scope of the EU’s legal capacity as a juridical person in international law is also looked at. By conducting this discussion, conclusions were reached regarding the determination of the EU’s international legal personality (primarily regarding its current character and structure), which undoubtedly exists within the framework of the international legal order, but as a specific and unique personality in many respects.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СУБ`ЄКТІВ МІЖНАРОДНОГО ПРИВАТНОГО ПРАВА: КРИТЕРІЇ ВИЗНАННЯ ФУНКЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ПРАВОСУБ’ЄКТНОСТІ ТРАНСНАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ КОМПАНІЙ

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of subjects of international private law, namely transnational companies. Attempts to regulate the activities of transnational companies are carried out both by individual states and groups of states or through international organizations. The general provision is the principle enshrined in the Charter of Economic Rights and Responsibilities of States, despite the fact that transnational companies have an international nature of activity, are legal entities, but the procedure for their creation and activity is regulated by the national legislation of each country. The article defines the essence of the peculiarities of the subjects of private international law in general, namely, it is established that they are characterized by a certain type of legal personality. Also, in relation to transnational companies, the legal nature of international agreements concluded between states and transnational corporations was investigated. The author states that the representatives of transnational companies are - enterprises that were created in accordance with the procedure provided by the legislation of a certain state; those that produce goods or provide separate services; those that carry out their activities outside the country of their main place. In addition, transnational companies have international contractual legal capacity, while others, on the contrary, emphasize the opposite statement that they have such legal capacity. The main problematic aspects of determining the international legal personality of transnational companies include: firstly, the absence of a unified view of scientists on the concept and content of "international legal personality", secondly, the legal definition of the term "transnational corporation", as in the international, as well as national legislations, which, in turn, does not provide an opportunity to know the legal nature of this subject and to unanimously attribute it to the circle of subjects of international or national law.

The Burden of Recognition in the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Kosovo

Fourteen years after its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), Kosovo is not still an international legal personality. The major challenge that Kosovo has is neither recognition nor non-recognition but the withdrawal of recognition (WR) by countries that hitherto recognised it after the UDI. Evidently, the recognition of Kosovo has not only stagnated but it is retarding because of WR by some states. On 13 May 2022, Serbian Foreign Minister declared that there is WR by four additional countries bringing the total number of WR to twenty-two. The specific objective of the study is to evaluate the circumstances that precipitated the UDI of Kosovo and the reasons why its recognition is retarding. Accordingly, the study is guided by four research questions. The constitutive theory of statehood is the theoretical framework of the study. The study adopted the quality research methodology. The quagmire generated by the UDI of Kosovo compelled the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to seek the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). There are a couple of reasons why the recognition of Kosovo is stagnating. The most important reason is to forestall a dangerous precedent for other secessionist movements. Some states still hold tenaciously to the illegality of Kosovo’s UDI despite the ICJ’s ruling. On 30 July 2022, the Prime Minister of Spain declared that the UDI of Kosovo is a violation of international law. The study recommends that the United Nation should clearly spell out the conditions for secession and recognition of States.

International legal personality ideas in the political power system and normative acts of Emperor Constantine the Great

International legal personality ideas in the political power system and normative acts of Emperor Constantine the Great

Uticaj nevladinih organizacija na međunarodno pravo zaštite životne sredine - posledice po međunarodnopravni subjektivitet države

Non-governmental organizations have achieved significant success in the development of international environmental law during the last decades. Their activities such as lobbying, attracting public attention and media campaigns have contributed the development of certain environmental issues. International and regional agreements provide various forms of participation and cooperation with NGOs. The author considers whether the growing influence of NGOs in the development of environmental law has consequences for the state as a subject of international law. Through their activities, NGOs had acquired certain elements of international legal personality and had entered the domain which traditionally belongs to the state. This phenomenon raises the question of the potential transformation of the concept of the international legal personality, as well as the readiness of international law for flexibility regarding this issue. The author concludes that, despite the growing importance of NGOs in the development of environmental law, the concept of international law is not ready for transformation. In overcoming this problem, states should make the best by using the role and existence of NGOs, and, in the area of environmental law, with joint efforts, continue the development of this branch of law.

The Peace of Nisibis (298 AD): the issues of international legal personality in the relations between the Roman Empire and Sasanian Iran

The Peace of Nisibis (298 AD): the issues of international legal personality in the relations between the Roman Empire and Sasanian Iran

International legal status of the Free City of Danzig (1920-1939)

The article is devoted to a little-studied page of the history of international law and international legal personality - the status of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk) in 1920-1939. The topic of such state entities with a special international regime of territory and subjectivity is a veryinteresting page of the international experience of settling territorial disputes between states. Unfortunately, their research in the Ukrainian international law (in particular, the international legal status of the Neutral Moresnet and the Free City of Krakow) began to appear only in recent years.
 The article examines the history of Danzig and the circumstances that actualized the issue of its statehood after the end of the First World War. It was emphasized that the decision to create the Free City was a compromise between the interests of Poland and the residents of Danzig on the one hand, and the interests of various victorious states on the other.
 The main sources of the international legal status of the Free City of Danzig are highlighted. The peculiarities of the international legal personality of Danzig in the context of relations between the Free City and Poland and the League of Nations are analyzed. Special attention is paid to various aspects of legal personality, in particular: external relations and membership in international organizations; economic issue; guarantees of the security of the Free City. It is substantiated that, despite the special regime of the territory and the limitation of sovereignty, Danzig was an independent state in the international context.
 The reasons that led to the end of the history of the Free City of Danzig are singled out, in particular: permanent conflicts with Poland; the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations as a key guarantor of the security of the Free City; the coming to power of the Nazis in Danzig and their policy of rapprochement with Nazi Germany. It is shown that in the future the use of such formats for the resolution of international disputes is impractical due to the impossibility of considering the entire set of circumstances.

CRITICAL ASSESSING THE PRINCIPLE ACCORDING TO WHICH INDIVIDUALS CANNOT BE REGARDED AS SUBJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

This study aims to analyze and interpret the clause under which individuals are not the subject of international law, so it studies their position under international law. This study looks into the origin and evolution of the state as the subject of international law. It studies the related theories associated with the emergence and acceptance of the state as the subject of international law. The next aspect of this study is to analyze and discuss the international legal personality doctrine. State recognition is the cornerstone in the study of international law, and this aspect forms a vital part of the discussion on state sovereignty and legal personality.

Information terrorism as a threat to the global security system of the 21st century

The purpose of the research is information terrorism as a threat to the global security system of the 21st century. The problem of combating information terrorism requires the analysis of the structure of terrorism itself as a phenomenon that has come a long way of evolution from lone suicide bombers, to huge terrorist organizations that commit destructive acts and cause the death of a large number of people, also using the dissemination of information to intimidate a significant number of people. The methodological basis of the research is presented as comparative-legal and systematic analysis, formal-legal method, method of interpretation, hermeneutic method, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis. It is concluded that, one of the main threats to information security is presented by computer terrorism as a form of destructive influence aimed at manipulating or intimidating the population or causing harm to the society, the state or individuals with the use of information technologies and with the purpose of forcing the authorities, an international organization, a natural or legal person (group of persons) to commit a certain action (or refrain from committing it).

The Award in Waste Management v Mexico (No 2) and Its Influence on the Minimum Standard of Treatment

Abstract Judge Crawford’s contributions to public international law were immense and covered a vast field, including State responsibility, international criminal law, State immunity, international legal personality, the law of the sea, and the protection of human rights. The focus of this essay is on Judge Crawford’s work in the field of international investment law, to which he made substantial contributions as a scholar, as an arbitrator, and as counsel, at a time when the field of international investment law was in a relatively embryonic stage of development. The contribution focusses in particular on the award of the tribunal constituted under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (‘NAFTA’) in Waste Management v Mexico (No 2) (‘Waste Management (No 2)’), in which Judge Crawford was appointed by the ICSID Secretary-General as the presiding arbitrator. The award contains an important dictum on the content of the minimum standard of treatment under Article 1105 of NAFTA, which has been highly persuasive within the NAFTA context, in other investment treaty claims, and in the subsequent treaty practice of States. The Waste Management (No 2) tribunal brought much-needed rigour to a field in which ad hoc tribunals were adopting broad interpretations of treaty obligations and imposing onerous obligations on States.