INTERNATIONAL LAW
FINAL EXAMINATION
Professors Sompong Sucharitkul/Sophie
Clavier
FALL 2005
INSTRUCTIONS
I. This
is an open-book exam. You
may use the assigned case book, the assigned documentary supplement, materials
handed out in class, and your own notes compiled in preparation for class and
taken during class. In addition, you may
consult summaries and outlines if you prepared them as a result of your own
intellectual efforts. You may not bring
to the classroom or consult textbooks (apart from those described above),
summaries or outlines prepared by others.
II. You
have three (3) hours to complete this exam, unless you have been
given special leave to begin one hour earlier.
III. You
are required to answer NO MORE THAN FOUR (4) of the
questions set.
IV. You
are cautioned that you have only three (3) hours to complete this
exam. Undue consumption of time devoted
to searching the materials brought to the classroom may leave insufficient time
to complete your essays. Budget your
time prudently.
V. Write
your exam number on your exam envelope, all used blue books, and at
the top of this exam question packet. Do
not use your name, student ID number, or Social Security Number on any exam
materials.
VI. At The conclusion of the exam, return all
test materials including blue books scratch paper and this exam packet to the
envelope and submit it to the proctor.
CHOOSE UP TO FOUR (4)
OF THE FOLLOWING NINE
(9) QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
1. Paragraph 163 of the Advisory Opinion of the
International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004 on “Legal Consequences of the
Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
“THE COURT, …
(3) Replies
in the following manner to the question put by the General Assembly:
...
B. By fourteen votes to one,
Israel is under an
obligation to terminate its breaches of international law; it is under an
obligation to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem,
to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated, and to repeal and render
ineffective forthwith all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto, …
AGAINST: Judge
Buergenthal;…
…
D. By
thirteen votes to two,
All States are under an
obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the
construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the
situation created by such construction; all States parties to the Fourth Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12
August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United
Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with
international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention; …
AGAINST: Judges
Kooijmans, Buergenthal;…”
Do you agree with the replies in sub-paragraph (3) B and/or D? Comment
on (3) B in the context of the law of State Responsibility and/or (3) D with
special reference to an obligatio erga omnes.
2. Describe the methods and
conditions for acquisition of title to territory under contemporary
international law. Is it still possible today to acquire title by conquest or
by the use or threat of force?
3. What are the preconditions
and limits for the exercise of an inherent right of self defense under Article
51 of the UN Charter? Explain and
illustrate other occasions for a legitimate use of force, if any.
4. As an associate in an
international law firm, you are requested to give an opinion whether the New
York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
(1958) is binding
(a) in the State of
(b) in Hong Kong, given
the Fact that
(c) in Macau, given the
fact that
Give your reasoned legal
opinion in regard to (a), (b) and (c).
5. As a legal advisor in the
US Department of State for Foreign Affairs, you are regularly consulted on
questions of international law. Where would you search for the applicable rules
of international law in a given situation? Are they to be found in treaties or in
customs, or in the combination of both and additionally also in other
subsidiary or evidentiary sources?
6. How do you distinguish
between the principle “Par in Parem imperium non habet” and the
functional necessities of international civil servants such as “experts on
mission”?
7. Explain by way of examples
the different uses of the following:
(a) “immunities”
and/or “jurisdiction” ratione materiae,
(b) “immunities” and/or “jurisdiction” ratione
personae, and
(c) “immunities” and/or “jurisdiction” ratione
temporis.
8. Discuss the relevance of
recognition in contemporary international law for (a) a new State, (b) a new
Government and (c) a new situation or status.
9. In your considered
opinion, what is the most pressing legal problem of our time, requiring
immediate and careful attention:
non-use of force,
legitimate self-defense, or
any other more urgent situation?
END OF EXAM