Legal Personality in International Law (Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law, Series Number 70)

Several international legal issues are related to the concept of legal personality, including the determination of international rights and duties of non-state actors and the legal capacities of transnational institutions. When addressing these issues, different understandings of legal personality are employed. These concepts consider different entities to be international persons, state different criteria for becoming one and attach different consequences to being one. In this book, Roland Portmann systematizes the different positions on international personality by spelling out the assumptions on which they rest and examining how they were substantiated in legal practice. He puts forward the argument that positions on international personality which strongly emphasize the role of states or effective actors rely on assumptions that have been discarded in present international law. The principal argument is that international law has to be conceived as an open system, wherein there is no presumption for or against certain entities enjoying international personality. Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Foreword......Page 15 Acknowledgments......Page 17 Table of cases......Page 19 Abbreviations......Page 25 Introduction......Page 27 Part I: The concept of personality in international law......Page 31 1 Notion......Page 33 2 Conceptions......Page 39 3 Significance......Page 45 Part II: The conceptions of personality in international law: their origins and legal manifestations......Page 55 4 Early doctrine and practice......Page 57 Before Vattel: international law as an all-embracing web of laws......Page 58 Vattel: international law as an inter-state law......Page 61 After Vattel: pragmatic law-application, unresolved law-creation......Page 64 5 The states-only conception......Page 68 Basic propositions......Page 69 Origins of the basic propositions......Page 73 The problem of German (and Italian) statehood......Page 74 The state as a historical fact absorbing individuals......Page 78 Law as an expression of state will......Page 85 Main manifestations in legal practice......Page 90 The Mavrommatis-formula......Page 91 The Jurisdiction of the Courts of Danzig Advisory Opinion......Page 94 The Serbian Loans statement on state contracts......Page 99 The direct effect of European Community law......Page 103 Basic propositions......Page 106 Origins of the basic propositions......Page 110 Germany and Italy transformed......Page 112 The framework of the states-only conception confirmed......Page 116 Supplementation with a sociological perspective......Page 119 The Reparation for Injuries Advisory Opinion......Page 125 The international legal status of the ICRC......Page 136 The Holy See and the Order of Malta as international persons......Page 141 The Texaco/Calasiatic v. Libya award......Page 145 7 The individualistic conception......Page 152 Basic propositions......Page 154 Origins of the basic propositions......Page 159 Interwar Europe......Page 160 The state as a functional entity shaped by individuals......Page 165 Constitutional principles as sources of law......Page 173 The Nuremberg judgment and international criminal law......Page 180 Civil responsibility of private parties for ius cogens violations......Page 188 International human rights law in the ECHR......Page 193 Basic propositions......Page 199 Origins of the basic propositions......Page 203 Devolution of empire and scientific method......Page 204 The normative view of the state......Page 209 Law as a formally complete system of positive norms......Page 217 The ICJ’s decision in LaGrand and individual treaty rights......Page 223 The effect of Article 42 ICSID Convention (Amco v. Indonesia)......Page 230 9 The actor conception......Page 234 Basic propositions......Page 236 Origins of the basic propositions......Page 239 American realism......Page 240 The rule-sceptic view of law......Page 243 The reconciliation of the normative and the actual......Page 249 The Bank for International Settlements arbitration......Page 254 The International Tin Council cases and beyond......Page 259 The award in Sandline v. Papua New Guinea......Page 265 Part III: A framework for personality in international law......Page 269 Recapitulation......Page 271 The state: fact vs. legal status......Page 274 Individual freedom: inside vs. outside the state......Page 280 Particular vs. general international law......Page 283 Effective action vs. principled justification......Page 290 Conclusion......Page 294 Basic principles......Page 297 Implications for particular legal issues......Page 303 Conclusion......Page 308 Bioliography......Page 310 Index......Page 337 "Several current international legal issues are related to the concept of legal personality, including the determination of international rights and duties of non-state actors and the legal capacities of transnational institutions. When addressing these issues, different understandings of legal personality are employed. These concepts consider different entities to be international persons, state different criteria for becoming one and attach different consequences to being one. Roland Portmann systematizes the different positions on international personality by spelling out the assumptions on which they rest and examining how they were substantiated in legal practice. He puts forward the argument that positions on international personality which strongly emphasize the role of states or effective actors rely on assumptions that have been discarded in present international law. The principal argument is that international law has to be conceived as an open system, wherein there is no presumption for or against certain entities enjoying international personality"-- "Legal personality is a concept present in international law. It is principally employed to distinguish between those social entities relevant to the international legal system and those excluded from it. There is almost universal agreement that states are international persons"-- "Several current international legal issues are related to the concept of legal personality, including the determination of international rights and duties of non-state actors and the legal capacities of transnational institutions. When addressing these issues, different understandings of legal personality are employed. These concepts consider different entities to be international persons, state different criteria for becoming one and attach different consequences to being one. Roland Portmann systematizes the different positions on international personality by spelling out the assumptions on which they rest and examining how they were substantiated in legal practice. He puts forward the argument that positions on international personality which strongly emphasize the role of states or effective actors rely on assumptions that have been discarded in present international law. The principal argument is that international law has to be conceived as an open system, wherein there is no presumption for or against certain entities enjoying international personality"-- Provided by publisher As one of the fundamental concepts of international law, legal personality is relevant in specialized fields as diverse as investment protection law, human rights law and the law of international institutions. Combining theory and practice, this analysis of legal personality speaks to generalists and specialists, scholars and practitioners. "Legal personality is a concept present in international law. It is principally employed to distinguish between those social entities relevant to the international legal system and those excluded from it. There is almost universal agreement that states are international persons"-- Provided by publisher Notion Conceptions Significance Early doctrine and practice The states-only conception The recognition conception The individualistic conception The formal conception The actor conception Appraisal of the conceptions and their assumptions An individualistic and formal frame of reference.