Lecture 4

Question 1

IL universalization

Answer 1

• IL universalization is inextricably linked with the spread of European empires, both formal and informal across the world. Non-western entities sovereignty was recognized in order for them to be able to conclude agreements which either extinguished or limited their sovereignty. IL regulated not only the conditions for the takeover of new territories, but also mediated conflicts between colonial powers.

Question 2

A westphalian system

Answer 2

o The 19th century saw the rise of the sovereign state/nation-state on the European model, but semi-sovereign and non-sovereign entitles abounded.
 Colonies, protectorates, condominiums, dominions, leased territories/concessions and suzerain/vassal.

Question 3

Standard of civilization

Answer 3

o A putative set of criteria states (usually non-western) had to meet before being admitted to ‘family of nations’(interesting implications, such as mutual recognition and kinship).
o Was it an objective set of criteria to be achieved (Gong)? Or a moving goal that could never be achieved (Anghie)? TWAIL was pioneer
o Non-western states which retained their legal sovereignty had an ambiguous position within international system (Abyssinia, Japan, China, Siam etc).
 Did they fit the western idea of civilization?
 What is the criteria?

Question 4

Codification treaties

Answer 4

o Utilitarians like Jeremy Bentham (founder of utilitarianism) pushed for codification of IL, in the belief that it would enhance its binding effect; “The happiness of the human race would be fixed, if it were possible to raise these 2 classes of laws to the rank of complete and organized laws.”

Question 5

New types of institutions

Answer 5

• The 19th century marked the beginning of new types of international legal institutions.
• This ran parallel with the shift from natural law to positivism - with more state practice to draw on, the positivist approach became more viable.

Question 6

IGO’s

Answer 6

o IGO’s are the first entities other than states to have a distinct legal personality.
 First IGO was the central commission for navigation on the Rhine in 1815.
 Other important IGO’s are International telegraph union (1865), universal postal union (1874) and the rise of permanent secretariats.
 International NGO’s too, the international committee of the red cross (1863)
o Growth in technology is an important impetus for the development of IGO’s.

Question 7

Codification landmarks that are important

Answer 7

o Congress of Vienna (1815); law on diplomatic agents and diplomatic missions.
o First Geneva convention (1864); treatment of wounded combatant and civilians.
o Hague conventions (1899 & 1907); permanent court of arbitration; laws of war; prohibition on use of certain weapons (aerial bombardment and gasses).

Question 8

Enormous destruction ww1

Answer 8

• The enormous destruction wrought by the WW1 fueled demands for a new type of international order with aims to ensure peace.
• The league of nations (1920) was created by the treaty of Versailles (1919) to maintain world peace through;
  o Disarmament, collective security and peaceful settlement of international disputes.

Question 9

Self determination after ww1

Answer 9

• Self-determination was the idea that people had the right to their own sovereign states, it became established after WW1.
  o Woodrow Wilson pioneered self-determination and was really, really racist.
  o Who is a people? How are boundaries drawn?
  o In practice, self-determination didn’t extend to non-western peoples, because they were not civilized enough.

Question 10

US declining to ratify treaty of Versailles

Answer 10

• The league was dealt a blow when US senate declined to ratify the treaty of Versailles (1919).
  o Members, were mostly sovereign states, though British dominions joined individually, as did British India.
  o With few exceptions (USA, Saudi Arabia and some micro-states), all internationally recognized sates were members at some point.
  o German colonies etc were taken under international trusteeship through LoN.

Question 11

LoN mixed record

Answer 11

• Mandates and the ‘sacred trust of civilization’.
• The league had a mixed record
  o On the one hand, it solved a number of international disputes, combatted epidemics and slavery, resettled refugees, strengthened IL, concluded disarmament treaties etc etc.
  o On the other hand, the collective security mechanisms never fully functioned because of political considerations and it was unable to prevent the outbreak of WW2.

Question 12

Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931

Answer 12

LoN appointed commission of investigation which found against Japan.
In reaction, Japan left the LoN

Question 13

Italian invasion of Abyssinia 1935

Answer 13

LoN imposed economic sanctions on Italy.
The sanctions were ineffective, enforced halfheartedly and soon dropped by most powers.

Question 14

Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939

Answer 14

In almost its very last act, the LoN expelled the USSR but by then it no longer mattered.

Question 15

Rise of international criminal justice

Answer 15

o Attempts had been made after WW1 to prosecute individuals for war responsibility and war crimes.
o But it was only after WW2 that international criminal law really came into being.

Question 16

Nuremberg and Tokyo

Answer 16

o Defendants in Nuremberg and Tokyo were prosecuted for crimes against humanity, crime of aggression (invading foreign countries) and war crimes.
o Genocide was created as crime only in 1948 at the genocide convention.

Question 17

New international treaties included

Answer 17

o Universal declaration of human rights (1948)
o Refugee convention (1951)
o General agreement on tariffs and trade (1947)

Question 18

Regional treaties include

Answer 18

o Treaty of Paris (1951) creating the European coal and steel community, trying to make war between European countries impossible.

Question 19

Key components for IL

Answer 19

o GA -> power to pass non-binding resolutions (soft law).
o Security council -> enforcement organ in cases of major breaches of IL.
o ICJ -> peaceful settlement of international disputes.
o International La commission -> progressive codification of IL.

Question 20

UN, decolonization and self-determination

Answer 20

o Much post war decolonization took place before the emergence of an international norm against colonialism.
o 1960 UNGA resolution 1514 -> declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.
o UN then became a platform for the third world to delegitimize colonialism and sovereign states became the only acceptable mode for self-determination.

Question 21

Guiding principle self-determination and decolonization

Answer 21

o Uti posseditis juris (as you possessed) was the guiding principle; colonies achieved independence within existing colonial boundaries, with possibility of partition at time of independence.
 This principle was meant to avoid civil wars, but still numerous wars were fought within post-colonial states as a result.

Question 22

Post cold war challenges

Answer 22

• The end of the cold war was supposed to remove the main remaining obstacle to a new, legalized and international system -cf the first gulf war.
  o Quickly, fissures began to emerge.
• Key areas of contention
  o Sovereignty/non-interference
   Increasingly viewed by many western countries as an obstacle to the spread of human rights and democracy.
   But remains a core principle of IL prized by non-western countries.
  o Key institutions of post war era
   Perception that they haven’t adjusted to the changes in the international order since their creation.