Chapter 3

Question 1

summarize the case of Estonia’s virtual war

Answer 1

spring 2007, Estonia moved bronze statue, which symbolized oppression for Estonians and freedom for ethnic Russians, to the edge of Tallinn. Ethnic Russians were upset about this relocation and political activist hackers cyberattacked Estonian government official sites, media, etc. Estonians blamed attack on Russia, however, Russia denied responsibility and blamed it on anti-Estonian individuals.

Question 2

when can the acts of government bodies and employees be attributed to a state?

Answer 2

a state is responsible for the acts of all its government bodies. As long as a government employee is acting within their capacity, a state is responsible for their cations, even if the employee is exceeding their authority

Question 3

what is an ultra vires act? How does it affect attribution?

Answer 3

ultra vires acts are acts that exceed an employee’s authority given by the states. Ultra vires acts do not exempt a state from taking responsibility for their employees, as long as employees are acting within their capacity.

Question 4

when can the acts of non-state actors be attributed to a state?

Answer 4

when a person/group is acting under the direction/instruction/control of the state

Question 5

what is the effective control standard?

Answer 5

effective control standards states that a state is only responsible for nonstate actors if the state had some control over the actions of the nonstate actors.

Question 6

what is the overall control standard?

Answer 6

overall control standards state that states are responsible for all their nonstate actors.

Question 7

which courts use which standard?

Answer 7

ICJ uses effective control standard. Intl Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) uses overall control standard.

Question 8

what is required under intl. law if a state is responsible for an ongoing violation?

Answer 8

the first obligation is to cease any ongoing breaches. the next obligation is reparation (restitution, compensation, satisfaction)

Question 9

what are the basic assumptions and arguments of the enforcement perspective?

Answer 9

states are rational actors, decision to follow intl. treaties and laws are based on cost-benefit analyzes of all possible alternatives. thus the create the punishment for noncompliance is, the more likely it is that states with comply.

Question 10

what are the enforcement perspective’s implications for state responsibility?

Answer 10

state responsibility should be under overall control standard because then punishment is increased, thereby decreasing potential to noncompliance.

Question 11

what are basic assumptions and arguments of the managerial perspective?

Answer 11

states are predisposed to compliance with intl. law. if they do break the law, its due to ambiguity about what the law requires, they lack capacity to fully comply, or they do not have enough time to change their politics to comply fully

Question 12

what are the managerial perspectives for state responsiblity?

Answer 12

states should not be held responsible for nonstate actors, rather than punishing states for breaches, they should be helped to overcome their obstacles

Question 13

what are the basic assumptions and arguments of the flexibility perspective?

Answer 13

punishment is important and state have valid reasons for breaking intl. law, economic/political pressures to comply with intl. law shift unexpectedly over time, states can opt-in and out of legal commitments, law should allow states to escape treaties without punishment (escape clauses)

Question 14

what is the flexibility perspective’s implications for state responsibility?

Answer 14

an intl. focus on remedial justice makes treaties far more stable as states are more likely to abide by their obligation.

Question 15

what is the importance of the 1982 CIA cyberattack on the USSR?

Answer 15

US conducted first cyberattack when CIA planted code into Canadian software that caused explosion of Soviet pipeline; shows hypocrisy of US criticism of cyberattacks

Question 16

what is the importance of the Chorzow case on the Permanent Court of Intl. Justice in 1920s?

Answer 16

Germany sued Poland for taking their nitrogen factory that was built during World War One on German land but which eventually became Polish land after World War One. Example of compensation being used in an instance where restitution is not possible

Question 17

what is the importance of the late 1990s La Grand case?

Answer 17

US violating Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. LaGrand brothers not told about their rights as foreign nationals. Germany sued US at ICJ. US responsible for employee actions.

Question 18

what is the importance of the Torrey Canyon incident of 1967?

Answer 18

Tori Canyon, Liberian ship transporting oil near British territorial waters, became damaged and caused a massive oil spill. in order to contain the oil spill the British government bombed the ship to burn the oil. this is an example of necessity because they were in a situation of extreme danger and all the other attempts to contain the oil failed.

Question 19

what is the importance of the France and US dispute over a 1946 bilateral agreement?

Answer 19

Example of a countermeasure. France and the US signed a bilateral agreement on Civil Aviation in 1946 but after a dispute over commercial flights France refused to allow passengers on Pan American flights and the US argued that France broke their agreement and responded by prohibiting French airlines from flying also violating the agreement. This countermeasure is valid because it was a response to France’s prior breach

Question 20

what is the importance of the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait?

Answer 20

Example of self-defense because Kuwait fought back Iraqi forces after Iraq invaded them in 1990

Question 21

What is the importance of the 1910 UK v. Vinayak Savarkar case?

Answer 21

Example of an injured state consenting to a breach of law; while England was transporting an Indian activist to England the activist jumped off the ship in France but a police officer from France captured him and returned him to the UK ship but then subsequently demanded that he be returned to French custody and the court of arbitration ultimately found that the UK had not violated French sovereignty because France had implicitly consented to his arrest by returning him to the UK boat

Question 22

what is the importance of the Tadic case in the ICTY?

Answer 22

Created overall control standard, the International Criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia argued that international courts can apply different attribution standards because each case is different. Also argued that states were just as responsible for the non state actors under their overall control even if they aren’t following explicit directions from the state

Question 23

what is the importance of the 1980s Nicaragua case?

Answer 23

created effective control standard, The US supported rebel groups that were challenging Nicaragua’s government; the ICJ determined that the US was responsible for the unilaterally controlled Latino assets (UCLAs), who were paid by and under the direct instructions of the US military, but not responsible for the rebel forces known as Contras.

Question 24

what is the importance of the Velasquez-Rodriguez case?

Answer 24

civilian tortured and honduras claiming they shouldn’t be held responsible for ultra vires acts of its employees

Question 25

what is the importance of 1993 Mexico v. Metalclad dispute?

Answer 25

local gov. restricting metalclad (us firm) operations even though national gov. gave metalclad permission, mexican natl. gov. responsible for its local gov.

Question 26

what is Attribution?

Answer 26

determining when a legal breach is considered an act of a state

Question 27

what is International arbitration?

Answer 27

a legal process in which individuals consider the facts and laws relevant to an
international dispute and then issue their findings

Question 28

what is Material injury?

Answer 28

an injury that negatively affects an individual’s physical or economic well-being

Question 29

what is moral injury?

Answer 29

an injury that negatively affects an individual conscience or mental well-being

Question 30

what is Restitutio in integrum?

Answer 30

Latin for “restoration to its whole”; legal principle that an injured state should be
made “whole” after a legal violation

Question 31

What is the importance of the Iran hostages case

Answer 31

Established the concept of acknowledgement protesters attacked The US embassy in Iran and I CJ ruled that Iran was not responsible for the attack itself because it was launched by private individuals however numerous Iranian officials expressed their support of the ongoing hostage crisis that the attack triggered and this acknowledgement made them responsible for these non state actors