International cooperation
- Also called:
- public international law or law of nations
- Related Topics:
- conflict of laws
- force majeure
- space law
- asylum
- terra nullius
States have opted to cooperate in a number of areas beyond merely the allocation and regulation of sovereign rights.
High seas and seabed
Traditionally, the high seas beyond the territorial waters of states have been regarded as open to all and incapable of appropriation. The definition of the high seas has changed somewhat since the creation of the various maritime zones, so that they now are considered to be those waters not included in the exclusive economic zone, territorial sea, or internal waters of states or in the archipelagic waters of archipelagic states.
The high seas are open to all states, with each state possessing the freedoms of navigation and overflight and the freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines, to conduct scientific research, and to fish. On ships on the high seas, jurisdiction is exercised by the flag state (i.e., the state whose flag is flown by the particular ship). Nevertheless, warships have the right to board a ship that is suspected of engaging in piracy, the slave trade, or unauthorized broadcasting. There also is a right of “hot pursuit,” provided that the pursuit itself is continuous, onto the high seas from the territorial sea or economic zone of the pursuing state in order to detain a vessel suspected of violating the laws of the coastal state in question.
The international seabed (i.e., the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction), parts of which are believed to be rich in minerals, is not subject to national appropriation and has been designated a “common heritage of mankind” by the Declaration of Principles Governing the Seabed (1970) and the Law of the Sea treaty. Activities in the international seabed, also known as “the Area,” are expected to be carried out in the collective interests of all states, and benefits are expected to be shared equitably.
Outer space
Outer space lies beyond the currently undefined upper limit of a state’s sovereign airspace. It was declared free for exploration and use by all states and incapable of national appropriation by a 1963 UN General Assembly resolution. The Outer Space Treaty (1967) reiterated these principles and provided that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried out for the benefit of all countries. The Moon Treaty (1979) provided for the demilitarization of the Moon and other celestial bodies and declared the Moon and its resources to be a “common heritage of mankind.” A number of agreements concerning space objects (1972 and 1974) and the rescue of astronauts (1968) also have been signed.
Antarctica
The Antarctic Treaty (1959) prevents militarization of the Antarctic continent and suspends territorial claims by states for the life of the treaty. Because it provides no mechanism for its termination, however, a continuing and open-ended regime has been created. There also are various agreements that protect Antarctica’s environment.
Protection of the environment
Because the rules of state responsibility require attributions of wrongful acts to particular states—something that is difficult to prove conclusively in cases of harm to the environment—it was recognized that protecting the environment would have to be accomplished by means other than individual state responsibility. Instead, an international cooperative approach has been adopted. For several kinds of pollutants, for example, states have agreed to impose progressively reduced limits on their permissible emissions.
The Stockholm Declaration (1972) and the Rio Declaration (1992), which was issued by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, enjoined states to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction do not cause environmental damage to other states or areas. Other agreements have addressed the need for early consultation on potential environmental problems, notification of existing problems, and wider use of environmental-impact assessments. Supervisory and monitoring mechanisms also have been established by several of these agreements, including the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (1979), the Law of the Sea treaty, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985), the amended Convention on Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources (1986), the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (1991), the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), and the Kyoto Protocol (1997).
Nonstate actors in international law
Individuals
Historically, states were the only subjects of international law. During the 20th century, however, a growing body of international law was devoted to defining the rights and responsibilities of individuals. The rights of individuals under international law are detailed in various human rights instruments and agreements. Although references to the protection of human rights appear in the UN Charter, the principal engine of the process was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948; UDHR). The UDHR has been supplemented by an impressive range of international treaties, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). With the exception of the convention on genocide, these agreements also have established monitoring committees, which, depending on the terms of the particular agreement, may examine the regular reports required of states, issue general and state-specific comments, and entertain petitions from individuals. The committee against torture may commence an inquiry on its own motion. The broad rights protected in these conventions include the right to life and due process, freedom from discrimination and torture, and freedom of expression and assembly. The right to self-determination and the rights of persons belonging to minority groups are protected by the convention on civil and political rights. In addition, the UN has established a range of organs and mechanisms to protect human rights, including the Commission on Human Rights (replaced in 2006 by the Human Rights Council).
Human rights protections also exist at the regional level. The best-developed system was established by the European Convention on Human Rights, which has more than 40 state parties as well as a court that can hear both interstate and individual applications. Other examples are the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, which has a commission and a court, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1982), which has a commission and is developing a court.
In addition to the rights granted to individuals, international law also has endowed them with responsibilities. In particular, following the Nürnberg Charter (1945) and the subsequent establishment of a tribunal to prosecute Nazi war criminals, individuals have been subject to international criminal responsibility and have been directly liable for breaches of international law, irrespective of domestic legal considerations. Individual responsibility was affirmed in the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols and was affirmed and put into effect by the statutes that created war crimes tribunals for Yugoslavia (1993) and Rwanda (1994), both of which prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced persons accused of war crimes. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which entered into force in 2002, also provides for individual international criminal responsibility.
International organizations
A major difference between 19th- and 21st-century international law is the prominent position now occupied by international organizations. The size and scope of international organizations vary. They may be bilateral, subregional, regional, or global, and they may address relatively narrow or very broad concerns. The powers and duties allocated to international organizations also differ widely. Some international organizations are legally recognized as international actors—and thus are liable for breaches of international legal obligations—while others are not.
Since the end of World War II, the leading international organization has been the UN. Although the General Assembly may pass only nonbinding resolutions, the Security Council can authorize the use of force if there is a threat to or a breach of international peace and security or an act of aggression. Since the end of the Cold War, the council has extended the definition of a threat to or a breach of international peace and security to encompass not only international conflicts but also internal conflicts (e.g., in Yugoslavia, Somalia, Liberia, and Rwanda) and even the overthrow of a democratic government and subsequent upheavals and refugee movements (e.g., in Haiti).
Other international organizations have developed significant roles in international relations. They include the World Bank, which provides aid to promote economic development, the International Monetary Fund, which helps countries manage their balance-of-payments problems, and the WTO, which supervises and regulates international trade. Regional organizations and agreements, such as the EU and the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, govern areas that traditionally have fallen within the domestic jurisdiction of states (e.g., trade, the environment, and labour standards). At the beginning of the 21st century, it was apparent that individuals and international organizations would play an increasingly vital role in international relations and international law.
Current trends
International law has been transformed from a European-based system enabling sovereign states to interact in a relatively limited number of areas to a truly international order with profound and increasingly cooperative requirements. Globalization has ensured that the doctrine of the sovereignty of states has in practice been modified, as the proliferation of regional and global international organizations demonstrates. In an increasing number of cases, certain sovereign powers of states have been delegated to international institutions. Furthermore, the growth of large trading blocs has underscored both regional and international interdependence, though it also has stimulated and institutionalized rivalries between different blocs. The striking development of the movement for universal human rights since the conclusion of World War II has led to essentially unresolved conflicts with some states that continue to observe traditional cultural values. The rules governing the use of force have focused particular attention on the UN, but violent disputes have not disappeared, and the development of increasingly deadly armaments—including biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons (so-called “weapons of mass destruction”)—has placed all states in a more vulnerable position. Particular challenges are posed when such weapons are possessed by states that have used them or threaten to do so. In 2003 the United States and Britain led an attack against Iraq and overthrew its government because they believed that the country continued to possess weapons of mass destruction in defiance of binding Security Council resolutions; the attack proceeded despite opposition from a majority of the council to a proposed resolution explicitly authorizing the use of force. Although terrorism is not a new phenomenon, the increasing scale of the destruction it may cause, as well as the use by terrorists of modern forms of communication such as computers and mobile phones, has raised serious new challenges for international law—ones that may affect the interpretation of the right of self-defense and pose a critical test for the UN.
Malcolm Shaw