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SUBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

SUBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. Cekli Setya Pratiwi, SH.,LL.M. Apakah definisi dari subyek hukum internasional? Bagaimanakah karakteristik dari international personality? Apakah hubungan antara subyek hukum internasional dengan international personality?

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SUBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

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  1. SUBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Cekli Setya Pratiwi, SH.,LL.M.

  2. Apakah definisi dari subyek hukum internasional? • Bagaimanakah karakteristik dari international personality? • Apakah hubungan antara subyek hukum internasional dengan international personality? • Apakah “negara” adalah satu-satunya subyek Hukum Internasional?

  3. Subject of International Law is an entity capable of possesing international rights and duties and having the capacity to maintain its rights by bringing international claims. (ICJ, 1949).

  4. What is the meaning of having capacity to maintain its rights? • Capacity to make claims in respect of breaches of international law • Capacity to make treaties and aggreements valid on international plane • The enjoyment of immunities and privileges from national jurisdiction

  5. National Law: legal personality, legal person, subject of the law. • The concepts of international personality

  6. 1. National Law: legal personality, legal person, subject of the law. Legal personalityisprimarilyan‘Legalacknowledgement that an entity is capable ofexercising certain rights and being subject tocertain duties under a particular system of law. Subjects of the law are the persons to whom thelaw attributes rights and duties.Therefore, the term ‘subject of the law’ issynonymous with the term ‘legal person’.

  7. Characteristic of international personality: An entity has international personality if it hasrights and duties under international law. Thefollowingaregenerallyacceptedascharacteristics of international personality: (1) Rights and obligations under internationallaw; (2) Treaty-making capacity; (3) Capacity to make international claims; and (4) The enjoyment of privileges and immunitiesfrom national jurisdictions.

  8. These are also known as ‘indicia ofinternational personality’. In practice, it isonly States and certain internationalorganizations like the United Nations thathave all of these capacities to the fullestdegree. “Subjects of international law” are thosewho possess “international personality”.

  9. Are state the only subject of international law? In the 19th century, States were the onlysubjects of international law. Oppenheim emphatically stated: “Sincethe law of nations is based on the commonconsent of States, and not of individualhuman beings, States solely andexclusively are subjects of internationallaw”. HOWEVER: In the present day, it is not true.

  10. While States remain the predominant actors ininternational law, the position has changed. After the Second World War, new actors haveemerged on the international plane, such aspublic international organizations established byStates (IGOs), non-governmental organizations(NGOs) created by individuals, multinationalcorporations and even individual human beings.They are now recognized as possessing some,although limited, international personality.

  11. 4. States as a subject of International law States are the subjects of international law parexcellence. It is, therefore, important to have a clear idea ofwhat a State is for the purposes of internationallaw. Professor Oppenheim defines ‘State’ in theseterms: “A State is in existence when the peopleis settled in a country under its own sovereigngovernment.

  12. Four requirements of statehood in Oppenheim’s Oppenheim’sense • People: who live together as a community inspite of the fact that they may belong todifferent races or religions, or of differentcolours • Country : there must be a country in which thepeople have settled down. • Government • Sovereignty: ‘Sovereignty’ means the supremeauthority above which there is no other higherauthority. Sovereignty denotes ‘independence’all round within and without the boundary of astate.

  13. Criteria of statehood underinternational law Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention onRights and Duties of States 1933 provides asfollows:The State as a person of international law shouldposses the following qualifications: • A permanent population; • A defined territory(stable political community and this must be control of a certain area); • Government; and • Capacity to enter into relations with otherStates.

  14. (1) Defined Territory For a State to exist, there must be a definedterritory. The control of territory is the essence ofa State. This is the basis of the central notion ofestablishing the ‘territorialsovereignty’,exclusive competence of the State to exercisesovereign authority within that territory. But absolute certainty about a State’sboundaries is not required; many states haveout-standing frontier disputes.

  15. (2) Permanent population • There must be people linked to a specificterritory on a more or less permanent basis andwho can be regarded as its inhabitants.Wandering tribes do not qualify to be a State. • In the Western Sahara case (1975) ICJ Rep. 12,the territory of the Western Sahara is populatedby nomadic tribes who go freely across thethe territory is such that they may be regardedas its ‘population’.

  16. (3) Government • To be a State there must be agovernment. The government must be‘effective’ within the defined territory andexercise control over the permanentpopulation. The mere existence of agovernment in itself does not suffice, if itdoes not have ‘effective control’.

  17. Aaland Island Case • The main question in this case was the date onwhich Finland became a state. Finland had beena part of the Russian Empire until the RussianRevolution. The Finnish Parliament declaredFinland’s independence on December 4, 1917.But there was opposition within Finland by thosewho rejected the idea of independence. As aresult, violence broke out and for a time thegovernment of the new state was able tomaintain order only with the help of the Soviettroops. • Held: Only in 1918, Finland became a state.

  18. (4) Capacity to enter intorelations withother States • When the Montevideo Convention refers to‘capacity to enter into relations with otherStates’, it is referring to “independence” in lawfrom the authority of other States. • In Austro-German Customs Union case, (1931)PCIJ Reports, Series A/B, No. 41, Austria andGermany, by a Protocol of 1931, reached anagreement on a customs union establishing freetrade between the two States.

  19. Judgment ofJudge Anzilotti: “Independence may also be described assovereignty by which is meant that the state hasover it no other authority than that ofinternational law. • It also follows that the restrictions upon aState’s liberty, whether arising out of ordinaryinternational law or contractual engagements, donot as such in the least affect its independence.As long as these restrictions do not place theState under the legal authority of another State,the former remains an independent Statehowever extensive and burdensome thoseobligations may be.

  20. Federal States • A federal State is a union of several sovereign States. The union is, first, based on an international treaty of the member states, and secondly on a subsequently accepted constitution of the federal State. • In the view of Professor Wade, federation pre- supposes a desire for some form of union among independent States, which, though they desire union for some purposes, nevertheless wish to preserve their identity and some measure of independence.

  21. A distinctive feature of a federal State is that in foreign policy it acts as a single subject of international law. Thus a federal State is said to be a real State and an international person. • On the other hand, the international position of the member states is not so clear.

  22. Units (member states) within a federal State may or may not be allowed by the federal constitution some freedom to conduct their own foreign affairs. • If, and to the extent that, they are allowed to do so, such units are regarded by international law as having international personality. • E.g., the Republics of the former USSR were all entitled in law to conduct their own foreign affairs and two of them – Byelorussia and the Ukraine - to a small extent did so.

  23. The Malaysian Practice • If we read together Articles 74, 76 and the Federal List of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, it is crystal clear that the federal Parliament and the Federal Executive (the Cabinet) have the exclusive power relating to “external affairs”, foreign affairs or international relations. No such power can be exercised by the component states. • The conclusion then is that in Malaysia international personality is vested in the Federal State and the component states possess no international personality whatsoever.

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