Section 1 - Legal actors of the contemporary international system Flashcards
What is legal personality
Refers to the capacity to have rights and obligations under international law.
What is Pacta sunt servanda
This hallowed legal principle requires that states respect and obey all treaty obligations.
Who has legal personality in IL?
States: The primary actors with full legal personality. No other actors have full legal personality
Non-State Actors: Include IGOs, NGOs, MNCs, individuals, insurgents, and terrorist groups. These actors have varying degrees of legal recognition.
Objects: some actors are only objects of international law rather than subjects. As objects, actors can receive the effects of international law including both benefits and sanctions
Subjects: Subjects have duties and rights including the capacity to appear before a panel of arbiters or an international court
what is state immunity
normal acts of state should be free from interference. Most importantly, a state’s government cannot be taken to court in another country without that state’s permission
Whats the difference between a subject and an object?
Objects: some actors are only objects of international law rather than subjects. As objects, actors can receive the effects of international law including both benefits and sanctions
Subjects: Subjects have duties and rights including the capacity to appear before a panel of arbiters or an international court
How does the Montevido Convention of 1933 define the criteria for statehood?
Defines the criteria for statehood, such as a permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter relations with other states.
What is state responsibility
The international law on state responsibility involves the circumstances under which a state is held responsible for a breach of an international obligation.
What happens under state succession, for instance when a state breaks into 2+ countries?
ie, Soviet Union
these have usually been handled on case-by-case basis, but not enough consistency to establish rules
1978 Vienna Convention on the Succession of States in Respect of Treaties and the 1983 Vienna Convention of States in Respect of State Property, Archives, and Debt can offer some guidance.
What are different ways to distinguish states?
political ideology
culture
economic differences
physical differences
population size
ethnic heterogeneity
What are the internal and external dimensiosn defining a state?
territory
population
central government
external: Capacity to enter into relations with other States.this implies recognition from others as state
is recognition a political or legal act?
political
Why did Kosovo seek independence from Serbia? Nato response?
Kosovo, a Serbian province, wanted independence, but Serbia resisted, leading to confrontations and human rights violations.
NATO intervened, urging Serbia’s president to end rights violations. When negotiations failed, NATO bombed Serbia, removed the president from Kosovo, and ended the confrontation.
What is UNSC Resolution 1244 (1999)? What role did UNMIK play in Kosovo?
A United Nations Security Council resolution establishing an interim administration in Kosovo, requiring respect for Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo. he United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) created a constitutional framework to govern Kosovo temporarily and build self-governance, without advancing toward full independence
How does the ICJ distinguish between contentious cases and advisory opinions?
Contentious cases resolve disputes between states, while advisory opinions provide legal interpretations without making political statements.
What was the ICJ’s 2010 ruling regarding Kosovo’s declaration of independence?
The ICJ ruled that general international law does not prohibit unilateral declarations of independence.
HOWEVER, The ICJ noted that the declaration was issued by individuals as representatives of Kosovo’s people, not as an official act of the interim administration, bypassing UNSC 1244 limitations.
