The international legal framework has traditionally been divided into a “state of war” and a “state of peace.” Most contemporary authorities still insist upon sharp and tidy categorization in this area, although some would prefer a three-fold or a multi-fold division, instead of the standard two-fold split. This whole approach has come under attack in recent years.

A division into “states” of “war” and “peace” should theoretically produce simplicity and clarity. Instead, however, it leads to hopeless complications. This is clear as soon as any attempt is made to define the “state of war.”

La façon dont les divers acteurs de l’ordre juridique international ont appréhendé la relation entre les piliers économique et environnemental du développement durable témoigne d’une évolution: alors qu’une première interprétation estimait que cette relation se fondait sur la recherche d’une conciliation, une seconde interprétation a par la suite considéré qu’elle était au contraire caractérisée par l’existence d’un soutien mutuel. Si cette seconde conception, qui conduit à extraire du développement durable toute idée de tension entre l’environnement et l’économie, a connu une influence grandissante au cours des dernières années, la Cour internationale de Justice a réaffirmé dans l’ Affaire des Usines de pâte à papier sur le fleuve Uruguay son attachement à la première interprétation de la relation entre les piliers économique et environnemental. Il semble donc actuellement coexister en droit international deux lectures opposées du développement durable, l’une se fondant sur le paradigme de la conciliation, l’autre sur le paradigme du soutien mutuel.

To the impressive list of Italian periodicals on international law led by the prestigious Rivista di Diritto Internazionale there has now been added The Italian Yearbook of International Law, published exclusively in English. Italian scholars have made a very significant contribution to doctrinal developments in international law; however, some of their work has gone unnoticed because Italian is not among the languages in widespread use in international law circles. In addition, Italian scholarship has suffered somewhat from what some consider to be an overly theoretical or abstract approach to the subject matter. While it is always a noteworthy occasion to welcome a new member into the family of international law yearbooks, the advent of the Italian yearbook is particularly noteworthy, contributing as it does to the accessibility of a broad range of material and learned comment. It is appropriate, therefore, that the first issues of The Italian Yearbook of International Law receive extended comment in the pages of this Yearbook.

Legal commentators have not always considered advisory opinions as a legitimate judicial function. Under both national and international law, it is often considered that only ripe controversies can be legitimately decided by a court of law. Under international law, advisory opinions are also criticized for undermining sovereignty when consent is not obtained from all states affected by the matter. By examining the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinions in light of comparative law, the author argues that this criticism underestimates the evolution of the judicial function, as much in international as in national law. The advisory opinion is a mode of social ordering that stands somewhere between consultation and adjudication. The advisory opinion not only adopts most of adjudication’s characteristics but abo has the added flexibility of consultation because it can consider a wider spectrum of opinions than can adversary procedures. The ICJ’s advisory opinions can almost be assimilated to adjudication. Considering that they have also greatly contributed to the development of international law, the ICJ’s advisory opinions remain an integral and legitimate part of the court’s judicial function.

In 1998, a Canadian oil company, Talisman Energy Incorporated of Calgary, acquired part interest in an oil concession in southern Sudan. In 1999, it began exporting oil from the region and paying royalties to the Sudanese government, some of which have been used to fund government forces engaged in a civil war against separatists in the south. The war has caused numerous human rights abuses. Talisman’s investment in Sudan therefore raises concerns about corporate operations in countries where there are serious and frequent human rights violations. What are Talisman and Canada’s obligations at this particular juncture — a point of fertile development in the field of international corporate social responsibility? This comment examines this question in light of recent events.

Le 5 octobre 1971, le ministre canadien de l’Industrie et du Commerce déposait devant la Chambre des communes un échange de lettres intervenu entre le gouvernement du Canada et l’ambassadeur du Japon au Canada, aux termes duquel le Japon consentait à limiter ses exportations vers le Canada dans le domaine des textiles et de la radio. Quelques jours plus tard, soit le 15 octobre, le gouvernement des Etats-Unis annonçait que des mémoires d’entente avaient été négociés avec le Japon, Hong Kong, la République de Chine et la République de Corée, aux termes desquels ces pays acceptaient de restreindre leurs exportations de textiles de laine et fibres artificielles vers les Etats-Unis. De tels arrangements, communément appelés “entente de restriction volontaire à l’exportation” (Voluntary export restraint agreements), sont devenus suffisamment fréquents ces dernières années pour que l’on puisse parler d’un développement important dans le domaine du droit international économique. L’objet de la présente étude est précisément d’examiner les aspects juridiques de ce développement.

La convention de varsovie du 12 octobre 1929, pour l’unification de certaines règles relatives au transport aérien international, a été ratifiée par soixante-seize pays. Les principes généraux gouvernant la responsabilité du transporteur aérien international sont les suivants: durant la phase aérienne du transport, le transporteur est responsable de plein droit des dommages causés tant aux personnes qu’aux biens transportés. Cependant, selon l’article 20 de la Convention de Varsovie, le transporteur a la possibilité de s’exonerer en rapportant la preuve que lui et ses préposés ont pris toutes les mesures nécessaires pour éviter le dommage, ou qu’il leur était impossible de les prendre (cas de force majeure). D’autre part, en ce qui concerne le transport de marchandises et de bagages, la responsabilité du transporteur disparaît, s’il prouve que ce dommage provient d'une faute de pilotage, de conduite, de navigation et que, a tous autres égards, lui et ses préposés ont pris toutes les mesures nécessaires pour éviter le dommage.

International institutions involved in the fight against corruption and in the protection of human rights have evolved in isolation since their inception. However, recent studies have shown the need to integrate, within anti-corruption policies, an approach oriented towards the protection of human rights. This need flows from the negative impacts that institutionalized practices of corruption have on the enjoyment of human rights. The American continent is no exception to this reality: it is, on the one hand, struggling with grave problems of corruption that have important repercussions for the protection of human rights in the region. It has, on the other hand, institutional and regulatory frameworks related to the fight against corruption and the protection of human rights, which have evolved in parallel. This article therefore assesses the extent to which Inter-American human rights standards may effectively contribute to improving anti-corruption policies and strategies on the continent.

This article explores and appraises international legal developments regarding the right to self-defence against vicarious aggression — that is, armed attacks by non-state entities that are sponsored or hosted by a foreign state. Despite efforts to develop a normative framework and mechanisms of accountability to curb states’ use of non-state entities as proxies for armed activity, some states continue to view these entities as valuable tools for the realization of their foreign policy goals. Consequently, international practice shows general recognition of a right of self-defence against non-state armed entities. There is also an emerging body of authoritative opinion, backed by an evolving state practice, that supports the extension of the application of this right against a non-state entity’s host or sponsoring state, provided some conditions are met.

Depuis les Années Quarante, les Etats n'ont cessé de prendre conscience de l'intérêt économique que représentait pour eux le plateau continental. Les menaces de rationnement et de pénurie en hydrocarbures n'ont certes pas freiné cette évolution, compte tenu des réserves que recèle le plateau continental. Or, et de façon paradoxale, nombre de plateaux continentaux restent indéfinis dans leurs limites, souvent dans des régions “chaudes” du globe. Le Canada n'échappe pas à cette constatation, puisqu'il n'a pu délimiter son plateau jusqu'ici avec aucun de ses voisins, é une exception près.

Several disputes relating to renewable energy are underway at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Appellate Body has released its first decision on this subject on the feed-in tariff for electricity in the province of Ontario. The disputes raise once again the issue of the relationship between international trade law and environmental protection. Evolving WTO jurisprudence should be able to resolve many of the difficulties, although the crucial problem of the treatment of production and processing methods remains obscure after the Canada – Renewable Energy decision. Questions of fundamental theory lie close to the surface of these debates. The recent expansion in the number of international regimes and tribunals highlights the importance of approaches to interpretation in public international law. As countries negotiate new treaties to address the needs of global society, potential conflicts and overlapping provisions are likely to appear. Differences of opinion about reliance on non-WTO treaties in the WTO dispute settlement system illustrate problems that can be anticipated in several fora. To achieve workable solutions for renewable energy disputes and many others, interpretation should promote the harmonious integration of obligations, in accordance with the intent of the negotiators.

The tendency to hold the United States entirely responsible for the domestic jurisdiction reservation has diverted attention from the role of the Commonwealth members in the definition of that clause. Commonwealth members were concerned with it at the Paris Peace Conference and the San Francisco Conference and, as members of both world organizations established at those conferences, have taken a lead in applying the reservations drafted on both occasions. At San Francisco it was the Australian, Herbert V. Evatt, as well as John Foster Dulles, who proposed broadening the effect of the domestic jurisdiction reservation in Article 2, paragraph 7, of the Charter of the United Nations. It was again Evatt who headed the sub-committee of the Security Council to determine international competence to deal with the Franco regime in Spain and who managed the reversal of the limitation for which he had fought at San Francisco. It was in a dispute between India and the Union of South Africa that the General Assembly elaborated on the beginning made by Evatt in developing the concept of “international concern.” In the World Court the Commonwealth countries have been parties to leading cases involving domestic jurisdiction and, perhaps partly through their capable legal arguments, have succeeded in having their views incorporated into Court opinions and decisions. The Permanent Court of International Justice, for example, adopted much of the British argument in its Advisory Opinion in the Tunis-Morocco Nationality Decrees case.