Tutorial-2

paper-1 General Principles of International Law I

1.International Organizations (page-17/18)
2.Nature of a state under international law(page-20)
(1) International Organization
Although the states remain by far the most important subjects of international law,
since, they alone have all the attributes of territorial and jurisdictional sovereignty, they
are no longer the only subjects of international law. International practice has in recent
years extended the range of subjects far beyond that of states only. A new type of
international legal person, namely the public international organizations, has been
emerged.
The International Court of Justice has expressly held in the "Reparation for
Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations" (1949, ICJ, Reports) that the
United Nations in as international person.
Altogether, seven agents of the United Nations had been killed in Palestine during
their official observations of the troubled armistice between Arabs and the Jews. The
culmination, on 17 September 1948, was the deaths of Count Folke Bernadotte, the
United Nations Mediator and a national of Sweden, and Colonel Seret, a U.N Observer
and a national of France. (Mangone, Gerard J, The Elements of International Law).
Under international law, states have the right to bring claims on behalf of their
nationals.
But could the United Nations bring a claim for injury to one of its agents? This
was the question before the General Assembly.
On December 3rd, 1948, the General Assembly adopted the following resolution'
" The General Assembly decides to submit the following legal questions to the
International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion;
1. In the event of an agent of the United Nations in the performance of his duties
suffering injury in circumstances involving the responsibility of a state, has the United
Nations as an organization, the capacity to bring an international claim against the
responsible de jure or de facto government with a view to obtaining the reparation due in
respect of the damage caused:
(a) to the United Nations,
(b) to the victim or to persons entitled through him?
In its advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice international claims. Here are
the words of the World Court:
In the opinion of the Court, the Organizing was intended to exercise and enjoy,
and is in fact exercising and enjoying, functions and rights which can only be explained
on the basis of the possession of a large measure of international personality and the
capacity to operate upon an international plane."
" Accordingly, the Court has come to the conclusion that the Organization is an
international person. That is not the same thing as saying that it is a state, which certainly
is not, or that its legal personality and rights and duties are the same as those a state.
What it does mean is that it is subject of international law and capable possessing

international rights and that it has capacity to maintain its rights by bringing international
claims."
Under the authority of the dictum of the World Court, now it is an establish
principle that the United Nations is a subject of international law. But it is difficult
decision whether other international organizations are subjects of international law or not.
It has become customary for most of the international organizations to insert their
constitutions or charters some reference to their legal status. For instance, the
Constitution of the F.A.O provides.
" The organization shall have the capacity of a legal person to perform any legal
act appropriate to its purpose which is not beyond the powers granted to it by the
Constitution."
However, the Constitution of an international organization, only rarely, we
provide an express answer to the question whether or not the organization is endowed
with international personality. Therefore, the question can only be answered by inference
from the type of powers, functions, immunities and privileges provided by the Charter or
Constitution of the organization concerned.

(2) Nature of a state under International Law

States are the principal subjects of international law. According to the
"Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States" 1933, the state as a person of
international law should possesses the following qualifications:
(a) a permanent population;
(b) a defined territory;
(c) a government; and
(d) a capacity to enter into relations with other states.
So far as international law is concerned, the fourth qualification is the most
important. A state must have the capacity to enter from lesser units such as members of a
Federation or protectorates, which do not manage their own foreign affairs. They are not
recognized by other states as full-fledged members of the international community.