Public International Law Teaching Material Prepared by: Addisu Damtie & Mr. James Kruger Prepared under the Sponsorship of the Justice and Legal System Research Institute 2009 i Table of contents Chapter 1: Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Chapter 2: The State System --------------------------------------------------------------------5 2.1 State Sovereignty ---------------------------------------------------------------------12 Part A. Definition of Sovereignty and History-------------------------------12 Part B. Erosion of State Sovereignty------------------------------------------18 Part C. Theories of State Behavior--------------------------------------------28 2.2 State Formation and Self-Determination of Peoples -----------------------------43 Part A. Legal and Political Issues of Statehood------------------------------43 Part B. The Right of Self-Determination-------------------------------------58 Part C. State Territory and Borders--------------------------------------------79 2.3 State Succession ----------------------------------------------------------------------94 2.4 Recognition of Governments ------------------------------------------------------104 Chapter 3: International Organizations and Other International Actors-----------111 3.1 Characteristics of International Organizations ----------------------------------112 3.2 The Structure of the United Nations ----------------------------------------------118 3.3 A Note on the African Union------------------------------------------------------136 3.4 Other International Actors: NGOs, Corporations, and Individuals----------144 Chapter 4: International Customary Law-------------------------------------------------146 4.1 Background Principles and the Hierarchy of Sources in International Law-151 4.2 Customary Law: State Practice and Opinio Juris ------------------------------165 4.3 Local and Regional Customs ------------------------------------------------------185 4.4 Which States are bound by Custom?---------------------------------------------188 4.5 Treaties and General Assembly Resolutions as Evidence of Customs ------190 Chapter 5: International Law of Treaties--------------------------------------------------201 5.1 Treaty Formation------------------------------------------------------203 5.2 Interpretation of Treaty Terms ---------------------------------------------------208 5.3 Invalidity of Treaties and Treaty Termination ---------------------------------216 5.4 Treaty Reservations ----------------------------------------------------------------227 CHAPTER 6: State Responsibility----------------------------------------------------------237 6.1 Meaning of Sate Responsibility-------------------------------------------------238 ii 6.2 The nature of State Responsibility----------------------------------------------239 6.3 The Question of Wrongfulness-------------------------------------------------241 6.4 Immutability/Attribution--------------------------------------------------------243 6.5 Ultra vires acts-------------------------------------------------------------------248 6.6 State Control and Responsibility-----------------------------------------------249 6.7 Consequences of Breach and Reparation---------------------------------------251 CHAPTER 7: War and the Prohibition on the Threat or Use of Force--------------274 7.1 History of use of force: from the ‗Just War‘ to the United Nations-----------275 7.2 The UN Charter-----------------------------------------------------------------------278 7.3 Meaning of Force ---------------------------------------------------------------------279 7.4 The Phrase ‗Against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state -------------------------------------------------------281 7.5 Categories of Force--------------------------------------------------------------------282 7.6 The right of self-defense---------------------------------------------------------------284 7.7 Terrorism--------------------------------------------------------------------------------286 7.8 Anticipatory or pre-emptive self-defense-------------------------------------------289 7.9 Collective Security---------------------------------------------------------------------291 7.10 International Law and the Preemptive Use of Force against Iraq-------------294 Chapter 8: International Dispute Resolution----------------------------------------------309 8.1 Negotiation, Arbitration, and Mediation -----------------------------------------309 8.2 The International Court of Justice ------------------------------------------------311 8.3 Other International Tribunals------------------------------------------------------336 Chapter 9: National Courts and International Law Issues------------------------------342 9.1 Customs and Treaties as Part of the Law of Ethiopia --------------------------343 9.2 Bases of State Jurisdiction ---------------------------------------------------------344 9.3 Extradition----------------------------------------------------------------------------347 Reference Materials-----------------------------------------------------------------------------351 iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This text is meant for Ethiopian students studying public international law under Ethiopia‘s new curriculum. The first question for students may be, Do I really have to read this entire text in order to understand international law? The answer is, no. The instructor most likely will not be able to cover all the material in the span of one semester. It is recommended rather that the instructor use his or her discretion and give readings and assignments to suit his or her needs. The extra material is there, however, in the case that the student has a particular interest in some area of international law or needs some help starting research in some area. The next question for the student might be, What is public international law? The short answer to this question is that public international law is the law that applies to international actions, whether committed by States, international organizations, or even individuals. To start simply, however, the student may think of international law as the law that governs inter-State relations. (This is to focus on States, the primary international actors, rather than secondary international actors like international organizations and individuals.) As Brierly puts it in his celebrated book, international law is ―the body of rules and principles of action which are binding upon civilized states in their relations with one another.‖ (J.L. Brierly, The Law of Nations, 1963.) Public international law may be distinguished from private international law (otherwise known as ―conflict of laws‖), which concerns the situation in a nation‘s domestic courts when another nation is involved. Thus, a concern of private international law would be whether the law of Ethiopia or Kenya is more appropriate for a private lawsuit arising out of a contract entered into by two Kenyans living in Ethiopia. Public international law involves a super-legal system that operates between States and exists separate from domestic laws. International laws are not written down in one book like the Civil Code of Ethiopia. There is no international government that has authority to pass such laws. Rather, 1 international laws are the byproduct of actions – the actions of States and other international actors like the United Nations. If the majority of powerful States in the world decided to cancel all their international commitments, then international law would cease to exist and the rules in this text would be meaningless. This is not to say that international laws are weak; States are bound together rather tightly by good will and mutual interest. The point here is that international laws depend almost entirely on the States that create these laws. For this reason, public international law has a political aspect that is lacking in other legal subjects. It is unwise to think of international law as a list of rules that can be identified and written out and discussed. The rules are built on shifting ground; they change form as the ground underneath them moves, as nations push up against one another and attempt to negotiate for a better position. There are rules in the international system of course, but they are rules of a different type. The text is organized in such a way as to give the student a proper appreciation for the nature of rules in the international system. International law textbooks tend to be written in one of two ways. Either the text starts with the rules – the so-called ―sources‖ of international law – and downplays the role of international politics, or the text starts with some discussion of the activities of the rulemakers themselves – the States – and brings out their political interests. This text adopts the latter approach and starts with a discussion of the State system. In the first place this is more true to history, because the State system came first before the development of modern international laws and their ―sources.‖ More importantly, though, this approach will reveal the core structure of international relations first – in other words, the way States are constituted and the way States treat one another. This gives the student an idea of how the game of international politics is played. Only then will the student be introduced to the ―sources‖ of international law which often are subject to political pressure and negotiation. There are certain