Concepts & Sources
What are the principal sources of international law?
International treaties, Customary international law, general principles of law
Who are the P-5 members of the United Nations Security Council and what can they do?
PR China, France, UK, USA, Russia
They can veto every decision of the Security Council.
Give an example for a unitary state and a federal state.
Unitary: France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain
Federal: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, USA, Russia
Name two instruments of International Human Rights Law, other than the UN Charter and the ECHR.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
etc.
What are the components of GATT 1994?
Gatt 1997 and Marrakesh Protocol
Explain the term opinio iuris.
Belief that a certain conduct is legally required under international law. Essential element for state practice to become customary law. (art. 38 para. 1 sec. b ICJ)
What are the requirements for statehood according to Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention of 1933?
1. Permanent population
2. Defined territory
3. Effective government
4. Capacity to enter into relations with other States
Explain the first-past-the-post election system and its main problem.
To win a seat, a party needs the highest number of votes in each constituency.
Problem: A party may win a majority of the seats with a minority of the votes.
When is it possible for a State to limit the freedom of assembly, according to the ECHR?
Art. 11 para. 2 ECHR
Interest of national security
Public saftey
Prevention of crime
Protection of health or moral rights and freedoms of other individuals
What are the basic principles of GATT 1994?
Most-favored-nation treatment (art. I): any advantage given to one contracting party shall be applied immediately to all other contracting parties
National treatment (art. III): foreign goods shall be treated no less favorably than items of domestic origin
General elimination of quantitative restrictions (art. XI): no quota, but tariffs can still apply
What are the different interpretation methods of treaties? (+ corresponding articles)
Grammatical approach (art. 31 para. 1 VCLT)
Systematic approach (art. 31 para. 2 VCLT)
Teleological approach (art. 31 para. 3 VCLT)
Historical approach (if needed) (art. 32 VCLT)
What are the possible criteria for being a subject of public international law?
Treaty-making power
Immunity from courts' jurisdiction
Possibility of having obligations under international law
Standing before human rights courts
What are the main differences between the parliamentary system and the presidential system in terms of dependency to parliament?
Parliamentary: Prime Minister is elected by parliament, cabinet needs parliamentary majority to govern, parliament can vote Prime Minister out of power
Presidential: President elected by the people (directly or indirectly), very little dependency on parliament
What are the basic principles of the law of armed conflicts?
1. Proportionality to the military importance of a goal, avoidance of incidental loss of civilian lives
2. Distinction between combatants and civilian population
3. Prohibition of the use of weapons which uselessly aggravate the suffering
What are the different diplomatic methods of international dispute settlements and their respective legal status?
Negotiation: no set procedure, legally binding (through treaty generally)
Inquiry: group of individuals or institution as investigatory body with the consent of the parties, non-binding
Mediation and good offices: neutral state or trusted by both sides offers its good offices, acts a intermediary to bring both parties together
Conciliation: group of individuals or institution receives the views of the parties individually and issues a report containing recommendations for the settlement, non-binding
What are the requirements for direct applicability of international law in the national legal system of monistic States?
1. The provision directly regulates the rights and duties of the individual
2. The provision is sufficiently clear such that it may serve as an appropriate legal basis for authoritative adjudication and does not need any implementing legislation
What are the conditions for legal self-defence? (+ corresponding article)
1. Armed attack, incident involving armed force
2. Measures of self-defence directed only against State responsible for the armed attack
3. Observes the conditions of necessity and proportionality
(art. 51 UN Charter)
Define how the Federal Assembly comes to be and its functions.
People elects the Federal Assembly
Federal Assembly elects and oversees the Federal Council
Federal Assembly receives draft propositions from Federal Council
Federal Assemby elects and oversees the Courts
Federal Assembly enacts the laws
What are the core crimes as described in the Rome Statutes? (+ corresponding articles)
Genocide (art. 6): acts with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group
Crimes against humanity (art. 7): widespread attack with knowledge against any civilian population
War crimes (art. 8): breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other breaches of laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict
Crime of agression (art. 8bis): use of force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State
Lay down the consequences of a breach of an obligation under international law, according to the ILC Draft Articles.
Cessation and non-repetition (art. 29 & 30): continue to perform the obligation breached (art. 29) and to cease the wronful act and guarantee the non-repetition of it (art. 30)
Reparation (art. 31 & 34): make full reparation for the injury caused by the wrongful conduct (art. 31), restitution, compensation and satisfaction (art. 34-37)
Countermeasures (art. 49 et seqq.): measures to induce a State into complying with its obligations
What are the possible grounds for invalidity of treaties? (+ corresponding articles)
Error of fact (art. 48 VCLT)
Fraud (art. 49 VCLT)
Corruption (art. 50 VCLT)
Coercion of a representative of a State (art. 51 VCLT)
Coercion of a State by the threat or use of force (art. 52 VCLT)
Conflict with peremptory norm of general international law (ius cogens) (art. 53 VCLT)
Explain the system of collective security of the United Nations. (+ corresponding articles)
United Nations, as an organ in charge of manintaining international peace and security.
1. Determination of a threat to peace, breach if the peace or act of agression by the Security Council (art. 39 UN Charter)
2. Non-forcible measures (no use of military force) (art. 41 UN Charter) or forcible measures (use of military force) (art. 42 UN Charter)
According to Pr. Yossi Nehushtan, democracy is impossible. Why?
Democracy in its purest form: rule of the people
However, the people only uses its power in elections and thus abdicates it in favour of representatives (indirect or semi-direct democracy)
FPTP system only favours the plurality of votes, not the majority
Proportional system flawed because of coalition forming (smaller parties as tie-breakers, no longer influenced by the people)
What are the requirements for the admissibility of a claim to the ECtHR?
Art. 35 ECHR:
1. Can only be brought after all domestic remedies have been exhausted (para. 1)
2. Filed within 6 months after the final judicial decision (para. 1)
3. Applicants must be identifiable persons (para. 2 lit. a)
4. Claim must not have the same factual basis as a previous application that has been rejected (para. 2 lit. b)
5.
Ratione temporis: only acts that occured after the entry in force of the ECHR, will be reviewed
Ratione loci: act has happened within jurisdiction of the respndent State
Ratione personae: Must be brought against a State which ratified the ECHR and by a victim affected by the act of that State
Ratione materiae: only grounds of complaint are rights laid out and guaranteed by the ECHR
6. Inadmissible if ill-founded, unsubstantiated claim (para. 3 lit. a)
7. No abuse of the right of petition (para. 3 lit. a)
8. Significant disadvantage suffered by applicant (para. 3 lit. b)
Explain the dispute settlement procedure of the World Trade Organisation.
1. Consultations (60 days)
2. Panel (within 45 days) if consultations unsuccessful
3. Final report to parties (6 months, 3 months if urgent)
4. Panel report to DSB
5.
No appeal: DSB adopts report (within 60 days)
Appeal: Appelate Body (60 to 90 days)
DSB adopts report (within 30 days)
6. DSB monitors implementation of adopted panel recommendations