Progressive Development Of International Law Research Articles

The Work of The International Law Commission on “Relations between States and International Organizations” Discontinued: an Assessment

The UN General Assembly has recently decided to delete from the agenda of the International Law Commission the topic ‘Relations between States and International Organizations’.Over a period of 31 years, fourteen Reports by two successive Special Rapporteurs studied the topic in two parts. The First part of the topic (1963–1975) dealt with the privileges and immunities of representatives of states to international organizations, and resulted in a Convention, that has, however, not yet entered into force; the Second part of the topic (1976–1992) concentrated on the legal status and immunities of organizations themselves.The author analyzes the Draft Articles that have been submitted in the course of the ILC's study of the Second part. This is done by way of a three-step application of the functional necessity concept of organizational immunities:(1) Status, dealing with an organization's functions, legal personality and capacity-(2) Selection, defining a scale of organizational immunities for which an organization may be eligible - and (3) Scope, determining the extent of selected immunities. Finally, the author employs the two statutory functions of the ILC -the codification of international law and the progressive development of international law- to assess the contribution by the ILC to this field of international institutional law.

Is General International Law Customary Law Only?

Is general international law customary law only? At first glance this problem seems to be of purely academic interest However this is not so. It is gratifying that the twentieth century has seen enormous leaps forward in international law. However, these gains far from satisfy the needs of the international community for legal regulation. The decade of international law proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly testifies that die international community is aware of an urgent need for further progressive development of international law, and that measures need to be taken to ensure its effectiveness. This means first of all the further development of general international law, which is die foundation of the whole system of international law. The problem is whether we should rely on the development of general international law by custom only, or if it may also be achieved by multilateral treaties. The second important problem is whether, in attempting to create a new world order based on the rule of law, we should exclude the possibility of an international treaty becoming a kind of constitution of the international community. It is hoped that these two questions suffice to illustrate that the problem I am going to discuss is also of great practical political importance.

Code of Peace: Ethics and Security in the World of Warlord States

Is it possible, in our world of differing beliefs and diverse cultures, to find an ethical framework that can guide actual international relations? In Code of Peace, Dorothy V. Jones sets forth her surprising answer to this perplexing question: Not only is a consensus on ethical principles possible, but it has already been achieved. Jones focuses on the progressive development of international law to disclose an underlying code of ethics that enjoys broad support in the world community. Unlike studies that concentrate on others think that states ought to do, Code of Peace analyzes what states themselves consider proper behavior. Using history as both narrative and argument, Jones shows how the existing ethical code has evolved cumulatively since World War I from a complex interplay between theory and practice. More than an abstract treatise or a merely technical analysis, Jones's study is grounded in the circumstances of war and peace in this century. Treaties and agreements, she argues, are forging a consensus on such principles as human rights, self-determination, and cooperation between states. Jones shows how leaders and representatives of nations, drawing on a rich heritage of philosophical thoughts as well as on their own experiences in a violent world of self-interested conflict, have shaped their thought to the taming of that world in the cause of peace. That is the striking thing about this code: states whose relations are marked by so frequent a recourse to war that they can fairly be called warlords have created and pledged themselves to a code of peace. The implications of Code of Peace for establishing a normative foundation for peace are profound. Historically sound and timely, impeccably researched and elegantly written, the book will be of immediate and lasting value to anyone concerned with the stability of the modern world.

The Emerging Customary law of marine zones: State practice and the Convention on the law of the sea

Since the failure of the 1958 and 1960 Conferences on the Law of the Sea to provide for universally agreed outer limits of the territorial sea, international law has been faced with numerous claims on a seaward extension of coastal State jurisdiction. Such national claims have taken two different forms, either by making the claimed area part of the State territory, or by merely asserting certain exclusive rights and regulatory powers in given marine zones. The scope and content of such zonal claims vary considerably, according to the particular objective pursued. This development reached its peak between 1976 and 1979. In this four year period, 60 claims were made regarding territorial seas and 59 claims were made to establish exclusive economic zones. That phenomenon is, at least partly, the consequence of the negotiations of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea. In May 1975, following the second substantive session, the Conference produced its first negotiating text. It reflected a general consensus on, inter alia, a 12 mile extension of the territorial sea and the acceptance, in principle, of a 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Meanwhile the Convention on the Law of the Sea (CLOS) has been signed by 157 States and ratified by 31. Such a large number of States giving their assent to the Convention leads to the question of how far national claims to archipelagic waters, extended territorial seas, exclusive economic zones or extended continental shelf areas, are compatible with the Convention on the Law of the Sea. The message provided by such an analysis of State practice will be twofold. It firstly indicates whether the Convention on the Law of the Sea was successful in putting an end to the permanent extension of coastal State jurisdiction experienced in the past and whether it thus contributed to the reduction of potential conflicts concerning the distribution of the resources of the sea. In this respect the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea and its result, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, have to be subject to an appraisal against the background of Article 13 paragraph 1(a) UN Charter, according to which it is one of the functions of the General Assembly to promote and encourage the progressive development of international law as a means of maintaining international peace and security.

ICRC contacts with the United Nations International Law Commission

Since 1981, the ICRC has maintained regular contact with the United Nations International Law Commission, a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly. The Commission is composed of 34 members, elected from among the most eminent representatives of all the world's legal systems. Its mandate under the UN Charter is to work for the codification and progressive development of international law.

Progressive Development of International Law and the Package Deal

For centuries the law of the sea operated efficiently on the basis of customs that had developed through uniform and consistent state practice and that were considered, in most instances, to be obligatory. It was not until the late 19th century that the evolution of the international community suggested the wisdom of codifying the existing and emerging customary norms. Although the early codification efforts were conducted by learned societies established for such purposes, the resulting studies eventually led to several multilateral treaty negotiations, including the Hague Codification Conference of 1930 and the three United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea. The fruits of this evolution from the predominance of custom towards universal treaty law are found principally in the Geneva Conventions of 1958 and, more recently, in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.

Sea Boundary Delimitation Between States Before World War II

Despite the increasing significance of customary law in the delimitation of sea boundaries between states, the principles that evolved during the three centuries prior to World War II have generally been ignored. Although a comprehensive study in this field is needed, the studies that exist begin either with the Truman Proclamation of 1945 or the discussions of the International Law Commission in the early 1950’s. The Commission itself declared that there was no law on the matter and attempted to legislate rules in the interest of the progressive development of international law. This hasty and ambitious attempt left a gap between the conventional law and customary law, which later resulted in many disputes.

The Codification and Progressive Development of International Law: A Unitar Study of the Role and use of the International Law Commission

The Codification and Progressive Development of International Law: A Unitar Study of the Role and use of the International Law Commission

The Draft Code of Offences Against the Peace and Security of Mankind

At its session that ended in December 1980, the United Nations considered a subject that had been allowed to lie dormant for over a quarter of a century. It was first taken up in 1946, after President Truman called for the reaffirmation of “the principles of the Niirnberg Charter in the context of a general codification of offenses against the peace and security of mankind.” The General Assembly responded promptly by passing three resolutions in rapid succession on December 11, 1946, which created a Committee for the Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification, affirmed the Nuremberg principles, and declared that genocide was an international crime. The International Law Commission (ILC) was charged with preparing the desired Code of Offences after its establishment in 1947. Yet, 34 years after the General Assembly’s call for action, the refrain was still being heard: “The time is not yet ripe.” The question likely to face the United Nations when it reconvenes in 1981 will be: “If not now, when?”

Water Pollution and Related Principles of International Law

The Principles that have been collected in the following pages outline some of the problems raised by the codification and progressive development of international law on water pollution. These principles have been formulated with reference to international agreements mostly concluded since the adoption of the Helsinki Rules (1966) and having regard to the vast documentation recently produced on the subject by various international bodies.It is not difficult to select a limited number of principles as the most representative of the topic. The real problem is how to interpret them in terms of international legal rights and duties, because, either we rely on positive treaty law, and then are faced with the doubt that the provisions under inspection evidence the lack — not the existence — of a corresponding general principle; or we move from an abstract notion of water pollution that can only be defined by damage and whose legal implications cannot be appreciated except with reference to international responsibility, circumstances, and equity.

New Horizons in International Law

VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee , Seite 185 - 185

The International Law Commission: Its Approach to the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law

The International Law Commission: Its Approach to the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law

The International Law Commission: its Approach to the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law. By B. E. Ramcharan. [The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1977. xvi, 210 and (Bibliography and Index) 17 pp. Dfl. 57.50 net.

The International Law Commission: its Approach to the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law. By B. E. Ramcharan. [The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1977. xvi, 210 and (Bibliography and Index) 17 pp. Dfl. 57.50 net.

The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

This article is divided into four parts. The first aims to place the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in its historical context. The second describes some aspects of the first three sessions of that Conference (1973–1975). In the third an account of major specific interests and conflicts which have appeared in this Conference is given. Finally, some tentative conclusions are drawn—tentative, because the Conference has not yet completed its labours.During its first session (1949) the newly established International Law Commission, set up by the General Assembly in accordance with the provision of Article 13 of the Charter relating to the codification and progressive development of international law, included the topics of the régime of the high seas and the régime of territorial waters in its provisional list of fourteen topics selected for codification. It placed the régime of the high seas on its priority list, and appointed Professor J.P.A. François (The Netherlands) as special rapporteur. At the recommendation of the General Assembly in resolution 374 (IV) of 6 December 1949 the Commission in 1950 included the régime of territorial waters on its priority list, and in 1951 it initiated work on that topic, for which Professor François was also designated special rapporteur. The Commission was heavily occupied with both these topics until 1956.

Voting Procedures in United Nations Conferences for the Codification of International Law

The question of voting procedure in international conferences convoked to codify international law has been discussed for more than a hundred years, starting with the first Geneva Red Cross Conference in 1864. At the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 important departures were made from the unanimity rule in favor of near-unanimity or quasi-unanimity. Further steps toward a two-thirds rule were taken by the League of Nations in connection with the Hague Codification Conference of 1930. The question arose anew when the first United Nations conferences were held, and in particular as soon as the United Nations started its ambitious program for the progressive development of international law and its codification, pursuant to Article 13(1) (a) of the UN Charter.

Liability for Damage and the Progressive Development of International Law

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Selected Problems of the United Nations Program for the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law

Selected Problems of the United Nations Program for the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law

Codification and Development of International Law

The object of the present article is to survey the problems and to assess the achievements and prospects of the codification of international law within the United Nations in the light of the experience of the first five years of the activity of the International Law Commission. The Charter, in Article 13, imposes upon the General Assembly the obligation to “initiate studies and to make recommendations … for the purpose of encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification.” In pursuance of that article the General Assembly set up the International Law Commission and adopted a Statute regulating its functions and organization. The first session of the Commission took place in 1949. Since then, it has been meeting in yearly sessions lasting between eight and eleven weeks.

The General Assembly and the Progressive Development and Codification of International Law

The work which has been undertaken by the United Nations with regard to the encouragement of the progressive development and codification of international law finds its express origin in the duty given to the General Assembly by Article 13, paragraph 1 (a) of the Charter of the United Nations. It is therein laid down that: “ 1 . The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of: (a) promoting international cooperation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification.” At the Conference held at San Francisco, April 25 to June 25, 1945, at which the Charter of the United Nations wasdrawn up, the measures that should be taken for “revitalizing and strengthening” international law, shaken in the course of a quarter of a century by the upheaval of two World Wars, were considered by Committee II/2 of the Conference.

United Nations: General Assembly: Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification: Report of the Committee on the Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification; Report of the Sixth Committee

United Nations: General Assembly: Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification: Report of the Committee on the Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification; Report of the Sixth Committee