- “Human beings are not subjects of International Law.“
Discuss.
A subject of international law an entity which possess an international legal personality, one who is capable of exercising international rights and duties while having the capacity to act on certain actions on an international law level. States are the original and most significant area on international law, firmly situated in the Westphalia peace treaty of 1648. Their legal personalities sourced and outline the very nature of the international system. However, while this area of the law is relatively clear there is another younger area which is causing a large amount of discussion amongst legal academics of this field. Namely whether individuals are specifically bound by international …show more content…
As for this discussion I shall focus on whether Human beings are subjects of international law or not. With non-state actors playing an ever growing role in international politics we find a similar pattern for international law as they are difficult to separate . The notion that only States or International organisations are subject to the law disables individuals to mere objects who constitute a source of a dispute between states . As stated this was the early 20th century school of thought formulated by Lassa Oppenheim ‘States solely and exclusively are the subjects of international law This quote further enforces the notion that individuals and their international legal personality is a very recent development and one which is still developing to catch up with the current social perspective of …show more content…
Here we find the highly controversial but governmentally accepted principle of certain individuals being rendered above the law, so to speak . Specifically Diplomatic immunity, here we find to forms of immunity; 1. Ratione Personae, which is the immunity by reason of his person. This is where an acting head of state enjoy total immunity from foreign criminal prosecution, regardless of whether these acts were committed during or not of ones tenure in office . 2. Ratione materiae, which gives ‘representatives of the state acting in that capacity’ may enjoy immunity for these actions. As far reaching as substantive values venture, there can be little dispute that there is a quarry for greater accountability and it seems that this notion of immunity may hinder that goal. Here we see that individuals are not always subject to international law. As outlined some have the power to evade the grasps of even the most determined legal system with the aid of immunity. This was brought to the publics eye in the case of Omar al-Bashir where a former head of state was challenged for grave breaches of the Geneva Convention including Genocide and war crimes. However owning to his high ranking position these charges were merely walked away from it scot free and according to the Guardian ‘Bashir has not escaped justice
Discuss.
A subject of international law an entity which possess an international legal personality, one who is capable of exercising international rights and duties while having the capacity to act on certain actions on an international law level. States are the original and most significant area on international law, firmly situated in the Westphalia peace treaty of 1648. Their legal personalities sourced and outline the very nature of the international system. However, while this area of the law is relatively clear there is another younger area which is causing a large amount of discussion amongst legal academics of this field. Namely whether individuals are specifically bound by international …show more content…
As for this discussion I shall focus on whether Human beings are subjects of international law or not. With non-state actors playing an ever growing role in international politics we find a similar pattern for international law as they are difficult to separate . The notion that only States or International organisations are subject to the law disables individuals to mere objects who constitute a source of a dispute between states . As stated this was the early 20th century school of thought formulated by Lassa Oppenheim ‘States solely and exclusively are the subjects of international law This quote further enforces the notion that individuals and their international legal personality is a very recent development and one which is still developing to catch up with the current social perspective of …show more content…
Here we find the highly controversial but governmentally accepted principle of certain individuals being rendered above the law, so to speak . Specifically Diplomatic immunity, here we find to forms of immunity; 1. Ratione Personae, which is the immunity by reason of his person. This is where an acting head of state enjoy total immunity from foreign criminal prosecution, regardless of whether these acts were committed during or not of ones tenure in office . 2. Ratione materiae, which gives ‘representatives of the state acting in that capacity’ may enjoy immunity for these actions. As far reaching as substantive values venture, there can be little dispute that there is a quarry for greater accountability and it seems that this notion of immunity may hinder that goal. Here we see that individuals are not always subject to international law. As outlined some have the power to evade the grasps of even the most determined legal system with the aid of immunity. This was brought to the publics eye in the case of Omar al-Bashir where a former head of state was challenged for grave breaches of the Geneva Convention including Genocide and war crimes. However owning to his high ranking position these charges were merely walked away from it scot free and according to the Guardian ‘Bashir has not escaped justice