Volkenrecht
1 Foundations and structure of
international law
1.1 Introductie
Internationaal recht
o recht ‘tussen’ landen
o individuen ontlenen er ook rechten en verplichtingen aan
o heeft geen legislative or executive branch (domestic legal system wel)
o no mandatory procedure for the settlement of legal disputes decentralized legal system
(legal subjects must create, interpret and enforce the law)
• voornaamste ambitie = stabiliteit creëren door samenwerking (post WOII)
o Soevereiniteit = ‘elke staat heeft hoogste gezag binnen zijn grenzen’
o Soevereine gelijkheid = ‘geen staat mag macht uitoefenen over een andere’
A. INTERNATIONAAL PUBLIEKRECHT
= rechtssysteem dat de relatie tussen soevereine staten reguleert, evenals hun onderlinge
rechten en verplichtingen
B. INTERNATIONAAL PRIVAATRECHT
= nationale wetten die privaatrechelijke betrekkingen met buitenlandse elementen regelen
omdat er dan een ‘conflict of law’ optreedt
1. internationale bevoegdheid
2. toepasselijk recht
3. erkenning en uitvoerbaarheidverklaring
4. administratieve en gerechtelijke samenwerking
1.2 Basis
1.2.1 Geschiedenis van internationaal recht (20e
eeuw)
1.2.1.1 Interwar period
• 1919: League of Nations: organisatie de wereldvrede moest behouden
,• 1928: Treaty of Paris: obliged parties to refrain from going to war as a means of settling their
international controversies and as an instrument of national policy
• °permanent court of international justice (nu: international court of justice (ICJ))
1.2.1.2 Na WWII
1.2.1.2.1 UN
• League of Nations replaced by the UN international peace and security & cooperation
• UN: respect for equal rights, self-determination & sovereign equality
• D2 Charter of the United Nations (1945)
o “Organization is based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its members” (A. 2(1))
o “Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in
matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state” (Article 2(7))
Principal organs UN
• Security Council: ban on the use of force authorize forceful measures if needed
o functioneert pas na de Koude Oorlog vb:
Irak uit Kuweit verdreven na dreiging Security Council (1990)
D10: stevige waarschuwing van Kuweit naar Irak die conflict wilde uitlokken met IS
zodat andere landen met overwegende moslimbevolking zouden meedoen MAAR niet
gebeurd
Iraq refused to comply with its obligations, but one last chance from UN
• General Assembly: all member states represented (consultative role - raises concerns)
• International Court of Justice” (Article 7)
1.2.1.2.2 Other international organisations
• IMF: exchange stability & make resources available to states with balance of payments difficulties
• World Bank: provides loans to developing countries
• GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade): liberalize world trade by reducing tariffs & other
barriers to trade (recenter: wereldhandelsorganisatie (WTO))
• 1949: NATO
• Council of europe: strenghten intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary cooperation
• Regionale organisaties (EU, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation etc)
Voornaamste ambitie = stabiliteit creëren door samenwerking
1.2.1.2.3 Lotus akkoord/arrest (France – Turkey)
• botsing tussen Frans en Turks schip
,• Turkije vervolgde Franse officier Frankrijk betwistte dit kreeg ongelijk
• Het Permanent Hof van Internationale Justitie oordeelde dat staten vrij zijn om hun
bevoegdheden uit te oefenen, tenzij expliciet beperkt door internationaal recht
• benadrukt soevereiniteitsbeginsel, waarin staten veel vrijheid hebben zolang er geen duidelijke
regels zijn die dit verbieden
Instemming
o bindt de staat enkel aan regels mits het met vrije wil is
o restricties op de vrije wil zijn niet verondersteld
1.2.2 Structures of international law
1.2.2.1 A society of sovereign nation states
• international society is a society of individual national states
• IL is a supplement to national law
• only when an issue is of interest to more than one national sovereign = IL
• two substantive structures of international law
1. IL OF CO-EXISTENCE: CONTENT
2. IL OF COOPERATION: FORM
1.2.2.2 International law of coexistence
• CONTENT
• = general international law
• two or more states have colliding interest in the substance of the issue
• horizontal: concerned with the manner sovereign states interact with – & between – each other
• stable, not subject to much change
• eg: recognition of new states, immunity, territory, use of force, neutrality, …
1.2.2.3 International law of cooperation
• FORM
• involved states have agreed in a treaty to turn the issue into one of int. character
• how sovereign authority is excercised within states
• optional: states are free to turn a matter previously dealt with by national law into IL
1.2.3 The basis of international obligation
• difficult to reconcile state sovereignty and international obligation
, • it is only by limiting how sovereign states exercise their sovereignty that international society can
ensure respect for the sovereignty of all states
• Staten discussiëren niet of ze gebonden zijn door intern.l recht, wél over de interpretatie ervan
o A6: anarchistisch systeem: landen doen hun eigen zin maar met wat restricties die iedereen
erkent wat is de interpretatie?
1.2.4 The relationship between international law &
national law
• international law asserts its own supremacy over national law
o IL is NOT occupied with HOW a state lives up to international obligations up to each state
to decide how to implement its IL commitments
• two different approaches
A. monism
o internationaal recht en nationaal recht vormen één enkele rechtsorde
o = een set onderling verweven orders die geacht worden coherent te zijn
o IL can be applied directly in the national legal system
B. dualism
o internationaal en nationaal recht zijn 2 systemen die onafhankelijk opereren
o neither of the 2 legal systems creates rules for the other
o international law is translated into the national legal system
o a treaty should be formally incorporated into national law before it is given direct effect
incorporation can take two forms
1. by a short statute with the treaty as an annex
2. thorough reformulation and interpretation in new legislation
1.2.5 The issue of enforcement of international law
• lack of police force and a mandatory judicial system
• courts and tribunals to hear complaints about alleged breaches of IL do exist
• enforcement by the security council is rare role is not to enforce national law, but to uphold
intern. peace and security so more influenced by political & strategical considerations than by
law
• options if Council does take action:
o sanctions
o authorizing the use of force to uphold or restore peace
o peacekeeping operations (UN)
o criminal tribunals tasked with prosecuting serious internantional crimes
1 Foundations and structure of
international law
1.1 Introductie
Internationaal recht
o recht ‘tussen’ landen
o individuen ontlenen er ook rechten en verplichtingen aan
o heeft geen legislative or executive branch (domestic legal system wel)
o no mandatory procedure for the settlement of legal disputes decentralized legal system
(legal subjects must create, interpret and enforce the law)
• voornaamste ambitie = stabiliteit creëren door samenwerking (post WOII)
o Soevereiniteit = ‘elke staat heeft hoogste gezag binnen zijn grenzen’
o Soevereine gelijkheid = ‘geen staat mag macht uitoefenen over een andere’
A. INTERNATIONAAL PUBLIEKRECHT
= rechtssysteem dat de relatie tussen soevereine staten reguleert, evenals hun onderlinge
rechten en verplichtingen
B. INTERNATIONAAL PRIVAATRECHT
= nationale wetten die privaatrechelijke betrekkingen met buitenlandse elementen regelen
omdat er dan een ‘conflict of law’ optreedt
1. internationale bevoegdheid
2. toepasselijk recht
3. erkenning en uitvoerbaarheidverklaring
4. administratieve en gerechtelijke samenwerking
1.2 Basis
1.2.1 Geschiedenis van internationaal recht (20e
eeuw)
1.2.1.1 Interwar period
• 1919: League of Nations: organisatie de wereldvrede moest behouden
,• 1928: Treaty of Paris: obliged parties to refrain from going to war as a means of settling their
international controversies and as an instrument of national policy
• °permanent court of international justice (nu: international court of justice (ICJ))
1.2.1.2 Na WWII
1.2.1.2.1 UN
• League of Nations replaced by the UN international peace and security & cooperation
• UN: respect for equal rights, self-determination & sovereign equality
• D2 Charter of the United Nations (1945)
o “Organization is based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its members” (A. 2(1))
o “Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in
matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state” (Article 2(7))
Principal organs UN
• Security Council: ban on the use of force authorize forceful measures if needed
o functioneert pas na de Koude Oorlog vb:
Irak uit Kuweit verdreven na dreiging Security Council (1990)
D10: stevige waarschuwing van Kuweit naar Irak die conflict wilde uitlokken met IS
zodat andere landen met overwegende moslimbevolking zouden meedoen MAAR niet
gebeurd
Iraq refused to comply with its obligations, but one last chance from UN
• General Assembly: all member states represented (consultative role - raises concerns)
• International Court of Justice” (Article 7)
1.2.1.2.2 Other international organisations
• IMF: exchange stability & make resources available to states with balance of payments difficulties
• World Bank: provides loans to developing countries
• GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade): liberalize world trade by reducing tariffs & other
barriers to trade (recenter: wereldhandelsorganisatie (WTO))
• 1949: NATO
• Council of europe: strenghten intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary cooperation
• Regionale organisaties (EU, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation etc)
Voornaamste ambitie = stabiliteit creëren door samenwerking
1.2.1.2.3 Lotus akkoord/arrest (France – Turkey)
• botsing tussen Frans en Turks schip
,• Turkije vervolgde Franse officier Frankrijk betwistte dit kreeg ongelijk
• Het Permanent Hof van Internationale Justitie oordeelde dat staten vrij zijn om hun
bevoegdheden uit te oefenen, tenzij expliciet beperkt door internationaal recht
• benadrukt soevereiniteitsbeginsel, waarin staten veel vrijheid hebben zolang er geen duidelijke
regels zijn die dit verbieden
Instemming
o bindt de staat enkel aan regels mits het met vrije wil is
o restricties op de vrije wil zijn niet verondersteld
1.2.2 Structures of international law
1.2.2.1 A society of sovereign nation states
• international society is a society of individual national states
• IL is a supplement to national law
• only when an issue is of interest to more than one national sovereign = IL
• two substantive structures of international law
1. IL OF CO-EXISTENCE: CONTENT
2. IL OF COOPERATION: FORM
1.2.2.2 International law of coexistence
• CONTENT
• = general international law
• two or more states have colliding interest in the substance of the issue
• horizontal: concerned with the manner sovereign states interact with – & between – each other
• stable, not subject to much change
• eg: recognition of new states, immunity, territory, use of force, neutrality, …
1.2.2.3 International law of cooperation
• FORM
• involved states have agreed in a treaty to turn the issue into one of int. character
• how sovereign authority is excercised within states
• optional: states are free to turn a matter previously dealt with by national law into IL
1.2.3 The basis of international obligation
• difficult to reconcile state sovereignty and international obligation
, • it is only by limiting how sovereign states exercise their sovereignty that international society can
ensure respect for the sovereignty of all states
• Staten discussiëren niet of ze gebonden zijn door intern.l recht, wél over de interpretatie ervan
o A6: anarchistisch systeem: landen doen hun eigen zin maar met wat restricties die iedereen
erkent wat is de interpretatie?
1.2.4 The relationship between international law &
national law
• international law asserts its own supremacy over national law
o IL is NOT occupied with HOW a state lives up to international obligations up to each state
to decide how to implement its IL commitments
• two different approaches
A. monism
o internationaal recht en nationaal recht vormen één enkele rechtsorde
o = een set onderling verweven orders die geacht worden coherent te zijn
o IL can be applied directly in the national legal system
B. dualism
o internationaal en nationaal recht zijn 2 systemen die onafhankelijk opereren
o neither of the 2 legal systems creates rules for the other
o international law is translated into the national legal system
o a treaty should be formally incorporated into national law before it is given direct effect
incorporation can take two forms
1. by a short statute with the treaty as an annex
2. thorough reformulation and interpretation in new legislation
1.2.5 The issue of enforcement of international law
• lack of police force and a mandatory judicial system
• courts and tribunals to hear complaints about alleged breaches of IL do exist
• enforcement by the security council is rare role is not to enforce national law, but to uphold
intern. peace and security so more influenced by political & strategical considerations than by
law
• options if Council does take action:
o sanctions
o authorizing the use of force to uphold or restore peace
o peacekeeping operations (UN)
o criminal tribunals tasked with prosecuting serious internantional crimes
