Customary international law

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Customary international law

• Lecture 11
• February 6

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ASSIGNMENT -

• Monday, Feb. 9
• Customary International Law
• Jus Cogens (hand out)
• Prosecutor v. Furundzija
• Michael Domigues Case
• PLUS General Principles of Law Recognized by
  civilized nations
• AMS Case
• Midterm, March 2 EKLCE 1B20
• Wednesday, March 4 Guest Speaker
• Adjunct Professor David Akerson
• TODAY
• DEADLINE FOR TOPIC FOR RESEARCH PAPERS sign-up
  sheet on my desk
• The Texaco/Libya Arbitration

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Researching international lawJane Thompson at CU
Law School Library

• ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for
  International Law http//www.asil.org/resource/h
  ome.htmElectronic Information System for
  International Law (by topic) http//www.eisil.or
  g/Georgetown E.B. Williams Library Research
  Guides International Law http//www.ll.georgeto
  wn.edu/intl/guides/intlaw/ (Also, they have a
  site on topics in international law
  http//www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/intl.html
• Legal Research on International Law Issues Using
  the Internet http//www.lib.uchicago.edu/llou/f
  orintlaw.html

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Researching international law-2

• LLRX International Law Guides
  http//www.llrx.com/international_law.htmlU. of
  Chicago Law Library, Foreign and International
  Law Research http//www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/law/i
  ntl.htmlUniversity of Colorado Law Library,
  Foreign and International Resources
  http//www.colorado.edu/Law/lawlib/international.
  htm

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Lotus - 4. Issue

• Is there a principle of international law
  prohibiting one state from exercising criminal
  jurisdiction over a foreign national who commits
  acts outside a states national jurisdiction?
• UNCLOS Art.97 collision cases only the flag
  state or the national state of the accused may
  prosecute.

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Case Texaco/Libya Arbitration

• 1. Court
• 2. Sources
• 3. Facts
• 4. Issue
• 5. Holding and Decision
• 6. Reasoning
• 7. Significance of case

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Case Texaco/Libya Arbitration

• Case Texaco/Libya Arbitration
• I. 1962 - Resolution 1803 Permanent Sovereignty
  over Natural Resources
• _____________
• II. More recent resolutions
• 1) Res. 3171 1973 on sovereignty over
  natural resources
• 2) Res. 3201 1974 Declaration on the
  Establishment of the New International Economic
  Order (NIEO)
• 3) Res. 3281 - 1974 - Charter of Economic Rights
  and Duties of States
• Substantial differences betw. Res.1803 and the
  other 3 resolutions as regards the role of
  international law in the exercise of permanent
  sovereignty over natural resources.
• The tribunal had to consider the legal validity
  of the resolutions and the possible existence of
  a custom resulting from them.

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Case Texaco/Libya Arbitration

• De lege lata what the law is, existing law
• Res. 1803 (codification of the law)
• De lege ferenda what the law should be
• Introducing new principles
• Res. 3171, 3201, 3281 (progressive development of
  the law)

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Case Texaco/Libya Arbitration Issue

• Can the legal value of UN resolutions be
  determined under the circumstances under which
  they were adopted and the analysis of the
  principles they state?
• ______________
• Look at the concession agreement
• Did the decrees of 1973 and 1974 breach Libyas
  obligations under the Deeds of Concession?

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Customary international law

• Background information
• CONVENTION ON THE SETTLEMENT OF INVESTMENT
  DISPUTES BETWEEN STATES AND NATIONALS OF OTHER
  STATES 1966
• http//www.jurisint.org/pub/01/en/doc/105_2.htm
• Widely used in commercial cases. By 2002 132
  states had ratified it.
• CONVENTION ON THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF
  FOREIGN ARBITRAL AWARDS
• 1959 (entered into force) 125 Parties
• http//www.jurisint.org/pub/01/en/doc/152_1.htm

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How can a state avoid being bound by a rule of
international law

• A. Not being a party to the treaty w/the rule
• B. Claiming the rule has not become customary
  international law (CIL)
• C. Persistent objector after the development of
  the CIL
• D. All of the above
• E. Both A. and B.

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Jus Cogens Part of Customary International Law

• (Hand-out available on class website)
• Peremptory norms of general international law
• Vienna Conv. on the Law of Treaties Art.53 no
  derogation permitted
• - prohibition of slavery, piracy, genocide
• - sovereign equality of states
• - principle of self-determination