Summary for number 8

International Community means countries of the world

Subjects of International Law

 Entities in possession of international personality are accordingly subjects of international law

 They enjoy benefits of which may be claimed and which, if denied, may be enforced to the extent
recognised by the international legal system

International Personality-The possession of international rights and duties and the

procedural capacity to seek redress for alleged violations thereof

States

 States are the primary and original subjects of international law

 All States possess full international legal personality

 Every State possesses the totality of rights and duties under international law

 The personality of states is original

 States can create and form international organizations (other international subjects)

Mavrommatis Palestine Concession Case (Greece v UK) (1924)

 It is true that the dispute was at first between a private person and a State – i.e.
between Mr. Mavrommatis and the UK. Subsequently, the Greek Government took
up the case. The dispute then entered upon a new phase – it entered the domain of IL,
and became a dispute between two States

 Once a State has taken up a case on behalf of one of its subjects before an
international tribunal, in the eyes of the latter the State is sole claimant (party to a
legal proceeding)

Requirements of Statehood

*Permanent population, A defined territory, A government, The ability to enter into relations
with other states

*No minimum population is required nor is there a prescribed geographical size and
boundaries need not be definitively established.

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 Need for effective government?

 Effective: Means independent and enjoying legislative and administrative competence

-International Committee of Jurists 1920, Report on the Status of Finland:

*The certainty of a sovereign Finnish state did not take place until a stable political
organisation has been created, and until the public authorities had become strong enough to
assert themselves throughout the territories of the State without the assistance of foreign
troops

 The absence of an effective regime does not negate statehood, e.g. Somalia

 An entity may have the capacity to enter into relations but may be denied the
opportunity if other states decline to have relations with it

Self-determination

Principle: The political future of a colony or similar non-independent territory is determined

in accordance with the wishes of its inhabitants.
Self-determination:A right, whereby all people can, freely determine their political status
and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development
Freely expressed will of peoples
Independence is to be attained in accordance with self-determination
All peoples have the right of self-determination
By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development
Self-determination: Legal right within the colonial context. Beyond that its nature is unclear
 The question before the Supreme Court of Canada was whether Quebec possessed a
right under Canadian Constitutional Law or international law to secede unilaterally
from Canada
 The Court denied the existence of such a right and held that self-determination could
only arise in limited circumstances and that there is not a right existing under
international law whereby entities within an existing State may secede
unilaterally.