Personality and Recognition Flashcards
Describe the Subjects of International Law
An entity that possesses international rights and obligations. It must be capable of maintaining those rights by bringing claims and must be responsible for breaches of obligations.
Who are the established legal persons in International law?
States, entities legally proximate to states, entities recognised as belligerents, international administration of territories prior to independence, international organisations.
What are the requirements for Statehood?
Permanent population
Defined Territory
Government
Capacity to enter into relations with other States (independence)
Where do the requirements for Statehood come from?
Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention
Is the Montevideo Convention generally accepted?
Some argue that it is no more than a basis for further investigation. Not all the conditions are necessary.
How can States be recognised?
Constitutive Theory, Declatory Theory
What is the Constitutive Theory?
States become states through recognition only.
What is the Declaratory Theory?
States are subject to rights and obligations as soon as they meet the criteria for Statehood.
What is Secession?
The process by which a group seeks to separate itself from a State and become a new, independent State.
What is the right to self determination?
It states that peoples, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and fair equality of opportunity, have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no interference.
Chagos Islands Advisory Opinion
1965- Chagos group of islands outside Mauritius used by Britain as USA airbase
1968- Mauritian independence
2019- ICJ advise that the separation of the Chagos Islands from Mauritius was unlawful and UK must end administration ASAP, as there was a right to self determination by 1965
General Assembly Resolution 1514 in 1960 crystallised the right to self determination.
Namibia Advisory Opinion
In 1971, ICJ found that South Africa’s continued occupation of Namibia was unlawful. State members of the UN were under an obligation to find the presence unlawful as well.
Western Sahara Case
Two Questions before the Court:
Was the Western Sahara ‘Terra Nullius’ when it was colonised by Spain?
No
What were the legal ties between this territory and the Kingdom of Morocco and the Mauritanian entity?
Western Sahara Case
Two Questions before the Court:
Was the Western Sahara ‘Terra Nullius’ when it was colonised by Spain?
No
What were the legal ties between this territory and the Kingdom of Morocco and the Mauritanian entity?
The court also concluded that Morocco and ‘the Mauritian entity’ did not have links with the ‘local peoples’ of a kind that gave rise to territorial sovereignty, which would then have been subject to the application of the principle of self-determination in resolution 1514.
Reparation for Injuries
ICJ in 1949 gave opinion that UN could bring claim against a State for injuries caused whilst on UN business. This was because the State broke an obligation to the UN. ICJ said the U.N has sufficient legal personality to demand reparations and reparations were paid.
