International law has evolved to recognise the state as its primary subject and as a member of the family of nations. The United Nations Organisation has formulated many legal regimes in order to impose duties and responsibilities on states and to regulate state affairs in order to achieve the goals of the Charter, including the protection and promotion of the rights of peoples and minorities. The jurisprudence of international law recognises that duty, responsibility and accountability of states are integral elements of sovereignty. This research aims to appraise the impact of concepts of sovereignty, self-determination and human rights on state and examines whether the regimes created in order to recognise these concepts have achieved the anticipated goals. Further, it explores whether there is a need for the institutions of the UN and regional groupings to play a more positive role in achieving the ultimate aims of these regimes. Based on the above inquiry, it is intended to identify whether sovereign state has become a legal entity under the regimes of international law and, thereby, is treated as 'juridical state', whose rights and duties are regulated by international law. If state is a primary subject and juridical entity of international law why are' the international regimes of rights experiencing legal and non-legal resistance from states? Contemporary international law has formulated and developed mechanisms for settlement of inter - states disputes. However, there is a lack of international mechanisms for resolving internal conflicts which cannot be resolved nationally due to the fact that the institutions of the state will not undermine the sovereignty of the state. In this thesis, an attempt is made to demonstrate the difficulties in enforcing the legal entitlements of peoples, nations and minorities which are granted by international legal regimes. As a result of the absence of an appropriate forum to resolve the disputes between states and non - state actors over their respective entitlements enshrined in international regimes, there are many internal conflicts which cause threats to international peace and security. Relying on the above mentioned three concepts and their jurisprudence, this research aims to identify the legal dimensions of the sovereignty claim of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. Prior to colonial rule there were Sinhala and Tamil native kingdoms. The Sinhalese and Tamils had lived within their historically demarcated territories. These kingdoms were conquered by different colonial rulers over a period of time. The entire island was brought under highly centralised administration by the British and it underwent a series of socio- political and legal Since the de - colonisation in 1948, the Sinhala and Tamil- speaking people have struggled to their legal rights and the internal conflict has drawn the attention of the UN and the international community. two of the thesis, attempts are made to identify the legal dimensions of the internal conflict, the sovereignty m of the Tamil- speaking people and the application of law to reach the judicial settlement required to the internal conflict. In short, this thesis focuses on the legal status of sovereignty, self-determination and human rights in international law and how these concepts could be accommodated to resolve the internal conflict of Sri Lanka.

Public international lawmaking is a multipartite process of communication wherein only States as authoritative decision-makers produce international law. However, commercial entities have long been active within the international legal order and employ international law to curtail the right of States to regulate at national levels. Evidence suggests that the international legal personality of corporations is undergoing further qualitative transformations. Corporations influence the State practice constitutive of custom and affirm, add detail to or challenge prevailing normative rules. The corporate role in filling lacunae where States are unable or unwilling to discharge their regulatory responsibility is apparent in the context of intergovernmental codes of conduct and private voluntary initiatives. Although the procedural law common to Conferences of the Parties indicates that a 'right of participation' is yet to emerge, ECOSOC-accredited non-State actors enjoy a legitimate expectation of admission. Furthermore, the modalities for their participation include the formal opportunity to make oral and written statements and to undertake informal activity. Corporations occupy an important role in subsequent treaty implementation as illustrated by the legal regime for climate change. Finally, corporations develop procedural law and substantive norms through selective resort to different enforcement models including national courts, diplomatic protection (including the WTO) and direct arbitral action (including NAFTA). The challenges of business engagement include identifying majority opinion, discerning commercial intent and managing confrontations with developing States or other non-State actors. Diversity and evolution characterise the practice of UN secretariats and a one-size-fits-all approach is not currently feasible or desirable. Acknowledging commercial contributions more accurately reflects the negotiating process inherent in lawmaking and the role of States in mediating contested policy questions. Corporate contributions through, in parallel with or collaboratively with States can be consistent with democratic theory by enriching intergovernmental deliberations. However, they can only ever augment the underlying basis of international law: State consent.

This thesis has been submitted in partial satisfaction of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Cardiff University Law School. The objective of this thesis is to examine the operation, impact and legal framework of reservations and vetoes, termed "exemptive provisions," in marine conservation agreements. The need to improve ocean governance is manifest and this research is intended to help illuminate the path forward. This is a work of public international law but the key issues addressed in this thesis should be of interest to anyone concerned about marine conservation. English spelling in this thesis is American. Citation style is an adaptation of the seventeenth edition of the "The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation " - the benchmark for legal writing in the United States. 'Because "The Bluebook" more typically applies to shorter works, some adaptations were made for ease and clarity. With regard to footnotes, each chapter is self-contained and independent of the others.

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In 2007 Estonia faced a series of cyber-attacks on its cyber infrastructure, which caused widespread damage to the country’s economy, politics and security. However, despite this series of cyber-attacks, NATO did not apply Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty due to lack of consensus on applying Article 5 in the Estonian case. Although various approaches have been developed by scholars, there is no common application of international law in the United Nations Charter regarding cyber threats or attacks. Moreover, whilst there has been no common definition of ‘cyber terrorism’ by the international community, some scholars regard ‘cyber-attacks’ as acts of war. There is a paucity of literature dealing with the application of international law on cyber threats. A new Strategic Concept was adopted in 2010. Its most important development was to identify the significance of cyber threats to all NATO body members. When updating its own technology, the organisation needs to be ready to defend itself against all kinds of asymmetrical warfare, whether from within or beyond its operational range. At the same time, cyber terrorism and cyber threats have continued to affect all societies within its purview, damaging, threatening, destroying and influencing many states, such as Estonia in 2007, Georgia in 2008, Iran in 2010 and international organisations belonging to NATO in 1999. However, the terms of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty were imprecise as to whether cyber-attacks can be regarded as a form of threat; for this reason, NATO accepted the case-by-case concept on cyber threats/attacks in terms of the application of Article 5 by the Wales Summit in 2014. Despite the fact that the Charter of the United Nations has not been revised, if its Articles are broadly evaluated, cyber-attacks would be accepted as a threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of a state. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyse and evaluate what has been carried out regarding NATO’s operational arrangements and its Cyber Defence approach, and, secondly, to explain this in the lens of Game Theory. Furthermore, it will demonstrate why the web is paramount to NATO’s system-driven operations, and why it requires a Cyber Defence arrangement. In particular, the research endeavours to analyse Turkey in this regard. The cyber-attack on Estonia in 2007 will be used by way of a case study to explain the development of threat perceptions, risks, international law, cyber security policies and application of Game Theory.

The 'international' has for long been imbued with dreams of emancipation, unity and sociality beyond the boundaries of the 'national'. However, despite its centrality, little critical reflection has been directed at the 'international' within the discourse of international law. Specifically, the socio-spatial fabric of this concept/category is rarely discussed. This thesis seeks to theoretically disrupt and problematise this disciplinary comfort zone by highlighting the non-territorial socio-spatiality of cyberspace. Arguing for a fundamental re-conceptualisation of the 'international', this thesis develops on the basis of a re-reading of two modes of analysis, namely logos and nomos. While the former is associated with a territorial configuration of socio-spatiality, the latter is thought as a lived and co-produced understanding of law, space and society. The thesis proceeds with offering cyberspace as an instance of non-territorial and internationally experienced socio-spatiality (nomos), which fundamentally differs from how it is currently conceptualised under international law (logos). The thesis proceeds with an exploration of international law's socio-spatial fabric, arguing for a fundamental re-thinking, from a predominantly territorial configuration (logos), to a non-territorial and lived account of the 'international' (nomos). The thesis is further illustrated through a critical reflection on the social movements and international law literature, arguing that nomos is the right mode of analysis for international law, in a world where normative claims and emancipatory dreams are increasingly woven into the non-territorial fabric of everyday life.

The United Nations Security Council is entrusted under the UN Charter with primary responsibility for the maintenance and restoration of the international peace; it is the only body with the power to legally authorise military intervention and impose international sanctions where it decides. However, its decision-making process has hitherto been obscure and allegations of political bias have been made against the Security Council in its responses to potential international threats. Despite the rule of law featuring on the Security Council’s agenda for over a decade and a UN General Assembly declaration in 2012 establishing that the rule of law should apply internally to the UN, the Security Council has yet to formulate or incorporate a rule of law framework that would govern its decision-making process. This thesis explains the necessity of a rule of law framework for the Security Council before analysing existing literature and UN documents on the domestic and international rule of law in search of concepts suitable for transposition to the arena of the Security Council. My analysis emerges with eight core components, which form a bespoke rule of law framework for the Security Council. I then evaluate the Security Council’s decision-making process since 1990 against this framework, illustrating where and how the rule of law has been undermined or neglected in its behaviour. I conclude by finding that the Council and other bodies are unwilling or unable to adequately regulate the decision-making process against a suitable rule of law framework, before arguing for the establishment of a Rule of Law Tribunal as a subsidiary organ to the Council under its Charter powers that would be solely responsible for both the regulation of Council practice and judicial review of its decisions.

This thesis develops a sociological approach to theorising the emergence and nature of international peremptory law. It argues that due to its focus on formalism and abstract notions of rights, traditional legal treatments have failed to acknowledge the socially constructed nature of higher order norms. To address this shortcoming, the thesis transfers the concept of jus cogens into the realm of International Relations. Drawing on insights from constructivism and English School theory, it situates law in the context of society and conceptualises jus cogens as a generic institutional form that demarcates the normative boundaries of international society. From here, it sketches out two modes for thinking about the construction and content of jus cogens. The first is a social-structural account, which focuses on the relationship between the global normative system and social order. It argues that the international society’s normative boundaries are shaped by, though not always necessarily in line with, the ranking of states as superior and inferior. The second is a normative approach devised to study the foundational normative determinants from which superior norms derive their special status. Proceeding from the assumption that the content and identity of jus cogens depends on the normative character of international society, the thesis then assesses two possible ‘normative logics’ through which the peremptory status of a norm may be generated. It rejects a solidarist logic, which sees universal norms as the manifestation of cosmopolitan ideas about inalienable rights. Instead, it argues for a pluralist approach to ethics and order that depicts jus cogens as key to the development of international society towards a social site marked by diversity and respect for difference.