Responsibility of States for International Wrongful Acts

 

International relations developed a lot after the first and second world wars, and the greatest development took place after the Second World War and the establishment of the United Nations Organization, the international decision maker, guarantor and sponsor.

Many agreements and treaties came to prevent war and bring peace the ultimate goal of the United Nations, and to prevent violations and chaos, and to achieve rights through peaceful means Laws of International Obligations and Responsibilities were established.

International Responsibility

International liability is a "legal regime under which the State in which an illegal act was made in accordance with the provisions of general international law shall remedy the damage caused to the State against which the wrongful act was issued".

Through this definition, we find that international responsibility is a legal relationship between States only and this is the content of the traditional definition of international responsibility

For example, the state launched a war of aggression against another state, or negligence or failure to comply with an obligation imposed by the rules of international law on the State,

The establishment of international liability imposes on the offending party a compensation obligation, and compensation is generally intended to compensate for damage resulting from the commission of an act or acts contrary to international law, a legal term intended to remove damage caused by an international wrongful act committed by others.

Violation of an International Obligation Means

The commission of a State is contrary to the provisions of international law regardless of the source of these provisions and whether they are the source of international agreements, international custom or general principles of law recognized before civilized nations.

It is legally established that international responsibility does not take place without an unlawful act which constitutes a breach of an international obligation imposed on the State.

whether it is a customary rule, a convention or a rule which is a principle of general international law and which has been adopted by the United Nations in its Charter, or as an obligation under a resolution that constitutes general rules of international organizations, the most important of which are Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

Compensation of Committed Wrongful Act

Financial compensation is a state obligation: Is liable to pay a sum of money to the injured party to compensate him for the damage he suffered to be sufficient to remedy the damage.

This compensation is the most common form of international action when international responsibility is put into practice; money is the common measure of the value of material objects; there are also many cases where compensation in kind is not available.

Satisfaction: for example, saluting the insulted national flag or the funeral of a deceased person for the wrongful act. Or to apologize, to recognize the wrongfulness of the act committed and to bring the persons responsible for committing that act to legal accountability.

State Responsibility of Its Organ Sactions

Any State organ that has committed a wrongful act it became responsibility of the State if this organ is associated with any branches of the executive, legislative or judicial branches of government, according to the international law.

State Responsibility for the Executive Branch

Where the State is responsible for carrying out the work or refrain from carrying out the work of its employees, public administrations or public institutions, if it causes harm to foreign persons residing in its territory or their property, damage to neighboring countries or any external damage, International law carries them the responsibility.

State Responsibility for the Work of the Judiciary

The international responsibility of the State arises on the occasion of the acts of its judicial authority; if it conflicts with its international obligations; it causes harm to the outside, and since the State is responsible for the internal organization of the government and the independence of the judiciary, States are responsible for this act.

State Responsibility for the Work of the Legislature

Where the sovereign State has the freedom to establish the Constitution on the one hand and to enact the necessary laws to regulate its affairs within the borders of its territory on the other. However, it must exercise that freedom in a way that does not conflict with its international obligations.

Therefore, the State is not entitled to rely on its Constitution, nor does it have the right to rely on its laws to evade its international obligations.

According to this concept, the State is responsible for the enactment of a law that contravenes international obligations, and also in the case of the State's failure to enact legislation that complies with its international obligations.

These rules are a confirmation of the fact that the rules of international law prevail over the rules of domestic law. The nationalization that the state may take and harms the interests of another state is not wrong as long as this nationalization is done in return for fair, effective and speedy compensation.

Responsibility for Legitimate State Actions

This means that the State is liable for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law, whenever its action results in any harm to an interest recognized and protected by this law,

Apart not only from any error of the State authorities or its representatives, of any violation of international law as well, and therefore only harm and causation between this harm and the act of the State authorities without the need to investigate the extent to which this act is in conformity with international law.

The State is responsible here even if its activity is merely the use of a right guaranteed by one of the rules International Law Convention or customary law.

Main motive for this kind of responsibility is the technical development that began to emerge since the nineteenth century, and the tremendous scientific progress in various fields, such as atomic experiments, nuclear energy and space exploration.

In the event of damage to such activities, it will be difficult for the injured party proving the fault of the international person against the liability, and therefore the adoption of this form of liability is based on the fact that the beneficiary of the hazardous activity must bear responsibility for the damage caused by this activity, although legitimate.

Continuously Evolving

The system of international responsibility is continuously evolving and taking into account the technical and scientific progress and the potential risks and damage that may have resulted from this, on the one hand, and the international community's interest in issues that it has not previously been concerned with.

In this context, it is interesting to note that the system of international responsibility is a flexible, evolving system that is neither static nor rigid, suggesting that this system will continue to evolve and expand; to include all activities that might harm human society in order to safeguard this society and preserve its security and stability.

 

Written by - Abduljalil Hage

Edited by – Adrija Saha