Abgeschickt von rolf am 25 Januar, 2006 um 02:15:55
THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION'S
ARTICLES ON STATE RESPONSIBILITY
Introduction, Text and Commentaries
In 2G01 the International Law Commission completed its work on State re¬sponsibility, begun forty years previously. The Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts marks a major step in the codification and progressive development of international law, comparable in significance to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The articles cover such top¬ics as: attributing conduct to the State; defining when there has been a breach of international law and the excuses or justifications for breaches; reparation for injury; the invocation of responsibility, especially standing of States in the public interest; and the rules relating to countermeasures. The articles develop basic concepts of international law, in particular peremptory norms and obli¬gations to the international community as a whole. They signal definitively how international law has moved away from a purely bilateral conception of responsibility to accommodate categories of general public interest (human rights, the environment, etc.).
This volume includes a full introduction, the text of the articles and com¬mentary, plus a guide to the legislative history and a detailed index and table of cases. It will be an indispensable accompaniment to the LL.C.'s work on this central topic of international law.
JAMES CRAWFORD is Whewell Professor of International Law and Direc¬tor of the Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge. As a member of the United Nation's International Law Commis¬sion since 1992, he was responsible for the first draft of the Statute for an International Criminal Court (1994), and as the Special Rapporteur on State Responsibility carried through the second reading of the articles on State responsibility (1998-2001). He has a substantial practice as counsel and arbi¬trator in international courts and tribunals.