The abolition of the poll tax in Illyricum and Thrace made automatically the estate owner’s guarantee for this void and with that the census registration and the colonate. To prevent loss of labour in these war-stricken provinces the emperors introduced in 371 and 398 the rule that, although now free from subjection, former coloni had to remain on the estate and render services. This ‘free’ colonate, which must have existed before, was also introduced in Palestine in 386. The status of the ‘free’ coloni in Byzantium looks very similar to the status of the serfs, villeins, or Hörigen in medieval West-Europe, who also were tied to a plot of land. But there were differences too: unlike in some cases there, these coloni were not in any way subjected to the jurisdiction of their masters, nor required to ask permission for marriage, etc. Further, as far as we know, there is no link between the two phenomena. If we would call them nevertheless serfs, it should always be with the adjective Byzantine.

This chapter addresses what states can do, and what powers international organizations can have

The previous chapter described the extent of a state’s physical territory; this chapter looks at how far a state’s legal power extends. As will be seen, international law places certain limits on the right of a state to make, apply and enforce its laws – its jurisdiction – and these limits are considered in Section 6.2. International law also recognises two principal bars to the exercise of that jurisdiction: diplomatic immunity and state immunity; these are covered in Sections 6.3 and 6.4. Two other bars to jurisdiction, namely special mission immunity and the foreign act of state doctrine, are also briefly covered in Sections 6.6 and 6.7.

This chapter focuses on the evidence for both continuity and change in the role of the advocate during the tenth century. Under the Ottonian rulers of the East Frankish Kingdom, the position of advocate acquired new prestige, as high-ranking nobles and even the rulers themselves claimed to be the advocates for individual monasteries and churches. As part of this trend, sources increasingly emphasized the advocate’s role as protector of ecclesiastical properties. At the same time, local evidence continues to show advocates closely overseeing the property interests of monasteries and churches in ways that have clear parallels with eighth- and ninth-century sources from the Carolingian empire. This chapter further argues that the position of advocate was developing organically in this period and that scholarly attempts to create different categories of advocates are misguided. It is precisely because the role of advocate was open to interpretation that advocates were increasingly able to abuse their positions for their own profit.

This chapter argues that, especially in the East Frankish Kingdom, Carolingian advocates were operating as key local agents for churches on their estates by the mid-ninth century at the latest. While the sources from the West Frankish and Italian parts of the Carolingian empire suggest different trends, the East Frankish sources (especially royal grants of immunity) demonstrate that advocates acquired important policing powers and judicial authority on ecclesiastical properties during this period. This undermines the typical scholarly argument that Carolingian advocates were a different phenomenon than subsequent types of advocates, as these East Frankish advocates already had responsibilities that most later advocates would continue to have into the eighteenth century.

This chapter proposes that a carefully crafted private international law-based framework allocates regulatory authority between the national and institutional orders so as to allow maintaining institutional independence without sacrificing access to justice. It is argued that the ideal approach to implement the proposed regime is through an international arrangement. Of course, international agreements can take time to negotiate. Given that private international law rules can be adjusted nationally without the need for action on the international plain, the proposed framework can be implemented even in the absence of immediate international action. It is submitted that private international law techniques can help bring to an end the denial of justice age for the victims of IO conduct. A conundrum that public international law has not been able to address for decades can readily be resolve using private international law.

International organizations perform activities in areas in which states can no longer operate effectively in isolation, and in which there is a common interest in cooperation within a permanent international framework. This chapter will examine international organizations primarily from a legal perspective. The chapter aims to present a general overview of the law of international organizations. It discusses the legal status, privileges, and immunities of international organizations. The chapter further deals with membership issues, powers, and institutional structures. The chapter also looks at decisions of international organizations: the way in which they are taken and the different types of decisions. The chapter will briefly examine the finances of international organizations. There has been an exponential increase in activities of international organizations over the years. Not all of these activities have been successful, however, and there have been failures and wrongdoings. In recent years, a much-debated issue is the extent to which international organizations and/or their members may be held responsible for such failures and wrongdoings.

International organizations perform activities in areas in which states can no longer operate effectively in isolation, and in which there is a common interest in cooperation within a permanent international framework. This chapter will examine international organizations primarily from a legal perspective. The chapter aims to present a general overview of the law of international organizations. It discusses the legal status, privileges, and immunities of international organizations. The chapter further deals with membership issues, powers, and institutional structures. The chapter also looks at decisions of international organizations: the way in which they are taken and the different types of decisions. The chapter will briefly examine the finances of international organizations. There has been an exponential increase in activities of international organizations over the years. Not all of these activities have been successful, however, and there have been failures and wrongdoings. In recent years, a much-debated issue is the extent to which international organizations and/or their members may be held responsible for such failures and wrongdoings.

Chapter 7 analyses a range of practical issues that the ICC can expect to encounter in prosecuting the crime of aggression, including implications for judicial elections and the staffing of the Court; the identification of the ‘victims’ of the crime for the purposes of victims’ participation and reparation; and how the obligation of States Parties to cooperate with the Court in the investigation and prosecution of Rome Statute crimes will work in relation to aggression. The chapter next considers the issues likely to arise in the context of domestic prosecutions, including the bases of criminal jurisdiction that may be relied upon, and challenges that will arise, including those relating to immunities, securing the presence of the accused and the necessary evidence, as well as the taint of victor’s justice and the risk associated with non-expert judges interpreting the definition of the crime of aggression. The chapter also canvasses the contemplated review of the amendments and suggests proposals for reform. Finally, the chapter concludes with an assessment of the geopolitical impact of the crime of aggression amendments.

This chapter addresses what states can do, and what powers international organizations can have

This chapter challenges competing accounts of the privileges or immunities clause propounded by other scholars such as Kurt Lash, Michael Kent Curtis, Akhil Amar, and Randy Barnett. It argues that the privileges or immunities clause likely does not incorporate the Bill of Rights nor does it guarantee unenumerated fundamental rights. It argues that the privileges or immunities clause was instead an antidiscrimination provision with respect to state-defined civil rights.

This chapter surveys the legal history of privileges and immunities provisions, from early international treaties and the Wales Act of 1535–36 to the Articles of Confederation and the Comity Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It argues that these provisions were all antidiscrimination provisions: they did not guarantee any particular set of rights, but required equality in the provision of civil rights to those for whose benefits the privileges and immunities provisions were written.

Chapter 4 tests the delegation theory by applying it to a number of hypothetical case studies involving actual situations that have been considered by the ICC. Specifically, it uses scenarios that potentially involve procedural immunities to explore whether delegation of jurisdiction provides a legal basis for the ICC’s jurisdiction in different situations that could come before the Court via a State referral or Prosecutor-initiated investigation. The first case study is a hypothetical scenario in which a sitting Head of State from a non-State Party is wanted by the ICC for the commission of crimes on the territory of a State Party. Incumbent Heads of State are immune from prosecution in foreign domestic courts, which raises the question of how States Parties can be said to delegate jurisdiction to the ICC, when the exercise of such jurisdiction would be unlawful in the domestic context. The second and third case studies use the situations in Afghanistan and Palestine, each of which raises potential obstacles relating to curtailed domestic jurisdiction that could affect whether the ICC is able to lawfully prosecute nationals of non-States Parties for crimes committed on those territories.

This chapter considers available responses to the government’s speech that endangers constitutional values. It starts by outlining possibilities for, and barriers to, constitutional remedies that include injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and damages. It then turns to a range of legislative, structural, and political possibilities for constructively influencing the government's expressive choices without resort to constitutional litigation. Statutory possibilities include laws that that require the government’s transparency, its deliberation, and its accuracy; or that limit the government’s speech on certain matters or for certain purposes. Other options include legislative oversight and impeachment, as well as rebuttals, protests, and other forms of counterspeech from other government officials, the press, and, of course, the people themselves—along with political remedies that include petitioning, lobbying, and voting.