International law, Sixth edition
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International Law MALCOLM N. SHAW
The International Law Commission and the Future of International Law (eds. M. R. An-
derson, A. E. Boyle, A. V. Lowe and C. Wickremasinghe), London, 1998; International Law on the Eve of the Twenty-first Century: Views from the International Law Commission, New York, 1997; S. Rosenne, ‘The International Law Commission 1949–59’, 36 BYIL, 1960, p. 104, and Rosenne, ‘Relations Between Governments and the International Law Commission’, 19 YBWA, 1965, p. 183; B. Graefrath, ‘The International Law Commission Tomorrow: Improving its Organisation and Methods of Work’, 85 AJIL, 1991, p. 597, and R. P. Dhokalia, The Codification of Public International Law, Manchester, 1970. 120 i n t e r nat i o na l l aw Many of the most important international conventions have grown out of the Commission’s work. Having decided upon a topic, the Inter- national Law Commission will prepare a draft. This is submitted to the various states for their comments and is usually followed by an interna- tional conference convened by the United Nations. Eventually a treaty will emerge. This procedure was followed in such international conven- tions as those on the Law of the Sea in 1958, Diplomatic Relations in 1961, Consular Relations in 1963, Special Missions in 1969 and the Law of Treaties in 1969. Of course, this smooth operation does not invariably occur, witness the many conferences at Caracas in 1974, and Geneva and New York from 1975 to 1982, necessary to produce a new Convention on the Law of the Sea. Apart from preparing such drafts, the International Law Commission also issues reports and studies, and has formulated such documents as the Draft Declaration on Rights and Duties of States of 1949 and the Principles of International Law recognised in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal of 1950. The Commission produced a set of draft articles on the problems of jurisdictional immunities in 1991, a draft statute for an international criminal court in 1994 and a set of draft articles on state responsibility in 2001. The drafts of the ILC are often referred to in the judgments of the International Court of Justice. Indeed, in his speech to the UN General Assembly in 1997, President Schwebel noted in referring to the decision in the Gabˇc´ıkovo–Nagymaros Project case 212 that the judgment: is notable, moreover, because of the breadth and depth of the importance given in it to the work product of the International Law Commission. The Court’s Judgment not only draws on treaties concluded pursuant to the Commission’s proceedings: those on the law of treaties, of State succession in respect of treaties, and the law of international watercourses. It gives great weight to some of the Commission’s Draft Articles on State Responsibility, as did both Hungary and Slovakia. This is not wholly exceptional; it rather illustrates the fact that just as the judgments and opinions of the Court have influenced the work of the International Law Commission, so the work of the Commission may influence that of the Court. 213 Thus, one can see that the International Law Commission is involved in at least two of the major sources of law. Its drafts may form the bases of 212 ICJ Reports, 1997, p. 7; 116 ILR, p. 1. 213 See www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/SPEECHES/Ga1997e.htm. s o u r c e s 121 international treaties which bind those states which have signed and rat- ified them and which may continue to form part of general international law, and its work is part of the whole range of state practice which can lead to new rules of customary law. Its drafts, indeed, may constitute evidence of custom, contribute to the corpus of usages which may create new law and evidence the opinio juris. 214 In addition, it is not to be overlooked that the International Law Commission is a body composed of eminently qualified publicists, including many governmental legal advisers, whose reports and studies may be used as a method of determining what the law actually is, in much the same way as books. Download 7.77 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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