Law Notes Public International Law Notes
Public International Law notes fully updated for recent exams at Oxford and Cambridge. These notes cover all the major LLB aspects and so are perfect for anyone doing an LLB in the UK or a great supplement for those doing LLBs abroad, whether that be in Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong or Malaysia (University of London). See if you like them by referring to the samples below. We've also included our previous years' authors free of charge, to give you some extra materials to refer to for the tricky topi...
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Public International Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
Generally
Definition: State’s legal power to subject persons, objects & events to its regulation
Higgins: allocation of competence b/w states key question: whether particular state has competence
Absolute Nature
Jurisdiction of state within its territory is complete & absolute
rationale: state sovereignty + its existence as int. person
Can be modified by the state = freely undertaken obl.
dipl. immunity; public vessels of other states
Concurrent Jurisdiction
Priority dependent solely on custody
Types of Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction to prescribe – state’s power to apply the law
Virtually unlimited, except where ltd by specific int. obl.
2 broad approaches:
Prohibitive rule – state has gen. entitlement to prescribe unless specific rule prohibits it
Permissive rule(*general rule!) – there needs to exist a specific rule entitling state to exercise jurisdiction
Approach significant for burden of proof + position adopted in absence of rules
Types of Permissive Rules
Territoriality
Nationality
Protective principle
Passive personality
Universality
Jurisdiction to enforce – state’s power to induce/compel compliance & punish incompliance
territorial: state may not exercise powers in territory of another state unless a permissive rule exists to the contrary (Lotus Case)
Jurisdiction to adjudicate – state’s power to subject persons to proceedings in court
Territoriality
State has prescriptive jurisdiction over all matters arising in its territory
Issue: when an act has “taken place” in state’s territory significance reduced by:
Objective territoriality – state has jurisdiction over offences completed in its territory, even if some constituent element took place abroad
Lotus Case – collision b/w French & Turk. ships, 8 Turk. crew members died, held: Turk. had jurisdiction b/c, although crime initiated on Fr. vessel, it was completed on Turk. vessel (constituent element)
NB: current approach to ships/aircraft: jurisdiction acc to flag
Subjective territoriality – state has jurisdiction over all offences & affairs which commence in its territory, even if completed abroad
Crim. Justice Act 1993 –Engl. Courts exercise jurisdiction over certain crimes when constituent element occurs in UK + intent to commit offence in UK.
S59 Terrorism Act 2000 – jurisdiction over incitement to commit terrorist offences in UK, even if crime occurs elsewhere
Harvard Commission Draft – proposal to combine both
Nationality
State can prescribe rules over its nationals abroad
Possible to have more than one nat.’l –grant depends on state’s domestic law (birth, nat.’l of parents etc.)
Whether state will seek extradition of national depends on:
Domestic approach
Nature of the offence
Common law has a more restricted approach than civil law jurisdictions
NB: subsidiaries of companies = different legal entities (jurisdiction based on its own incorporation, not that of parent company (Barcelona Traction Case)
Protective Principle
State can exercise jurisdiction over acts committed abroad by non nations when they are contrary to its national security and/or vital interests
Some writers merge it with effects doctrine = but should keep separate
Protective principle – protection of national security interests
Effects doctrine – protection of economic interests
But could merge = e.g. state A counterfeits currency of state B to cause inflation = economic attack which doctrine applies....
Covers any matters which produce a delirious effect on the state/are harmful, irrespective of where/who commits them = covers any matter harmful to the state
Contrast w/ universal jurisdiction, which covers only certain offences
Yousef v US – US had jurisdiction to prosecute people who conspired to plot bombs on place bound for Philippines as a practice run for attack on US/
Joyce v DPP – US nat.’l fraudulently applied for UK passport, broadcasted propaganda on German radio, UK prosecuted for treason, since act harmful to UK.
AG of Israel v Eichmann – E, Head of Gestapo, resp. for Final Solution (murder of 600,000 jews). Abducted by Israeli agents from Argentina w/out consent. Prosecuted in Israel for war crimes: protective principle (‘linking point’: crime intended to exterminate Jews = implied jurisdiction)
Difficult to see how Israel’s “vital interests” were harmed since not a state at the time
Linking Point Doctrine (Mann) – state has legislative jurisdiction if its contract w/set of facts is so close, substantial, direct & weighty that legislation re them is in harmony with IL – mere political, economic, commercial, social interest in themselves are insufficient
Easily politicized...
Passive Personality
State’s jurisdiction on the basis of nationality of the victim (all crimes committed against its nationals, regardless of nationality of perpetrator & location of the crime)
Primarily ground for crim. jurisdiction – possible extension to duty type situations (tort, trusts)
Cutting Case – Mexico sought jurisdiction over US nat.’l for crim. libel which happened in US, b/c V was Mexican; US disagreed
Lotus Case– discussed it but no conclusion as to validity
NB: court equally divided (happened 2 times in ICJ history – + Nuclear Weapons Case)
NB: principle omitted from Harvard Draft Convention
Recent acceptance in some contexts – HR/Terrorism Treaties (Art 5 Conv. against Torture)
US v Yunis (No2) - D, Lebanese, hijacked Jordanian airline @Beirut airport, 2 US nat.’l abroad, blew it up; arrested by FBI onboard a yacht in int. waters, convicted in US court for hostage taking + piracy; jurisdiction = Hostage Taking Act & Anti Hijacking Act + passive personality + universality.
Pinochet Case– Spain sought extradition of P from Chile on the basis of passive personality
Lotus Case– US (US Terrorist Prosecution Act) & France (Art 113-117 French Penal Code)used to object but now accepts passive personality
Most states refrain from...
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Public International Law Notes.
Public International Law notes fully updated for recent exams at Oxford and Cambridge. These notes cover all the major LLB aspects and so are perfect for anyone doing an LLB in the UK or a great supplement for those doing LLBs abroad, whether that be in Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong or Malaysia (University of London). See if you like them by referring to the samples below. We've also included our previous years' authors free of charge, to give you some extra materials to refer to for the tricky topi...
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