This work is devoted to international law, particularly humanitarian law and human rights with emphasis on international legal instruments governing the position of children serving in the armed forces. In this work are discussed various international conventions, as well as mechanisms for the protection of child soldiers. The first chapter defines the position of child soldiers and the specifics of their involvement in military conflicts. The decisive criteria for the involvement of children in government armed forces or non-state army is age. Furthermore there is described into more details the mechanism of conscription into the army. There is difference between voluntary and forced recruitment of child soldiers. The various international legal instruments are analyzed more in detail in chapter two. The issue of Child soldiers is addressed with both the rules of humanitarian law, specifically the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions and Human rights conventions. Special attention is paid to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. Analyzed is the only regional convention addressing the problem of child soldiers -the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The issue of child recruitment is also...

ABSTRACT " Once it was said that the law followed the flag. Now, international law is everywhere. Its influence increases. " Sovereignty is no longer an intra-national concept within International Law. It now involves a greater consideration of issues concerning the global community. This thesis develops a practical methodology for the determination of sovereignty over maritime natural resources. Customary international law regarding the use of resources within the maritime zones of islands on the high seas is rapidly developing. Traditional tests, such as the discovery and occupation of islands, are no longer the primary focus of the determination of sovereignty. The methodology expressed in this thesis is an application and adaptation of the current state of the international laws regarding islands within the high seas. This argument has its foundation in the new international treaties, recent decisions of the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. It unifies the latest determinations and theoretical legal perspectives of these bodies to produce a single methodology. This work provides an original and substantial contribution to the knowledge and understanding of sovereignty issues within International Law. The Chapters of this thesis and their sub-headings progressively illuminate the individual elements of a distinctive formula for determining the sovereignty of islands within the high seas. The Chapters form a template for this methodology, which is applied to the Falkland Islands. Thus, each chapter is a step towards the determination of sovereignty. This modus operandi can be applied to new disputes in this realm, such as those filed with the International Court of Justice. Since 1982, the definitive ownership of the Falkland Islands proper has been determined, if not by International Law, then by warfare. However, conflict over the use of natural resources in the maritime zones continues.

Magister Legum - LLM / Sitting head of state immunity for crimes under international law has been a very controversial issue in recent times. On the one hand, the debate bears that personal immunity has been renounced for crimes under international law. On the other hand, the advocates of personal immunity claim that the principle of immunity is still persisting under customary International law. Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a treaty based court, it is able to extend its jurisdiction to non-state parties to the Rome Statute through a referral by the United Nations Security Council. Lacking its own enforcement body the ICC relies on the cooperation of other states for arrest and surrender of those it indicts. The extension of the court's jurisdiction to non-state parties, such as the case of Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, has led to the reluctance of state parties to the Rome Statue to effect arrest and surrender citing a 'dilemma between two conflicting obligations'. This paper analyses the legal status of personal immunity before different fora such as International tribunals, foreign domestic courts and under customary international law. It also critically examines the legal basis for the alleged conflicting obligations of state parties. The paper at the end concludes that there is no conflicting obligation for states parties to fully co-operate with the ICC and the lack of co-operation in the arrest and surrender of a sitting head of state is inconsistent with international law particularly with United Nation Charter and the Rome Statute. / German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

In the performance of law enforcement tasks, military forces frequently use expanding bullets. Such bullets are prohibited in international armed conflicts (IAC:s) by treaty, but in non-international armed conflicts (NIAC:s), the matter is regulated by the principle prohibiting means and methods of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering (SIrUS), and possibly by an independent rule of customary international humanitarian law. This essay looks first to a proposed solution in which the law enforcement legal paradigm takes precedence, and finds such a solution incomplete and its application limited. It proceeds to look at the prohibition of expanding bullets in NIAC:s as an independent rule,exploring the formation of customary law, the evidence value of military manuals, expanding bullets as a war crime, and the ICTY Tadíc ruling. It finds the evidence of the existence of such a rule unconvincing. It then looks to principle of SIrUS and explores the best approaches for its interpretation and application. Ultimately, it argues that the military utility, in the form of stopping power and decreased risk of collateral injury, provided by expanding bullets is of such a scale and nature that the use of such bullets could reasonably be argued to pass the assessment as required by the principle. In light of this, the essay emphasises the need for treaty-based rules in order create effective weapons prohibitions, and that armed forces are still obliged to properly assess which set of rules govern the use of force.

En av de mest politiskt omdebatterade frågorna i världen idag är hur ett land ska ställa sig till de migranter och människor på flykt som söker skydd inom landets gränser. Även inom juridiken finns olika uppfattningar av vad rätten till asyl verkligen innebär. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att analysera rätten till asyl i internationell rätt. Är rätten till asyl en territoriell rätt för stater att bevilja asyl? Är det en rätt för flyktingar att söka asyl? Eller en rätt för flyktingar att erhålla asyl? Huruvida rätten har statusen sedvanerätt diskuteras också. I en del av uppsatsen diskuteras de etiska övervägandena bakom rätten till asyl och de tillämpas sedan i en juridisk kontext, närmare bestämt i sedvanebedömningen. Slutsatsen är att rätten till asyl i internationell rätt inkluderar en rätt för stater att bevilja asyl, en rätt för individer att söka asyl och sannolikt också en rätt för flyktingar att erhålla asyl. Mycket talar för att alla dessa aspekter också har utvecklats till sedvanerätt. / One of the most politically debated questions in the world today is how a country should respond to migrants and people who seek refugee within it’s borders. Also in the field of law there are different view about what the right of asylum really means. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the right of asylum in international law. Is the right of asylum a territorial right of states to grant asylum? Is it a right for refugees to seek asylum? Or a right for refugees to receive asylum? Wheater or not the right has the status of customary international law will also be discussed. In one part of the paper the ethical concerns behind the right of asylum will be examined and also applied in a legal context, in the determination of the customary status of the rigt. The conclusion is that the right of asylum in international law includes a territorial right for states to grant asylum, a right for individuals to seek asylum and probably also a right to obtain asylum. All these aspects of the right also seems to be part of customary international law.

La question principale de la présente thèse est celle de l’existence de « concepts moraux » – concepts poursuivant des fins altruistes plutôt qu’intéressées – en tant que droit non conventionnel, c’est à dire en tant que droit international coutumier ou principes généraux du droit. La question sera examinée en particulier dans le contexte du discours doctrinal afin de questionner le phénomène du constat trop rapide de leur existence.Le raisonnement se décline en trois étapes. Une série de questions préliminaires relatives à la Charte de l’ONU seront tout d’abord énoncées, elles serviront de cadre à la discussion. Ensuite suivront les sources du droit international non conventionnelles. Et enfin sera discuté l’élément essentiel des relations internationales qui sous-tend la question principale de cette thèse : l’intérêt de l’État. Cette dernière discussion sera illustrée par les exemples des droits de l’homme et de l’usage de la force pour raisons humanitaires. / The main question of the thesis is whether ‘non-treaty’ law – that is customary international law and general principles of law – may exist for ‘moral concepts’ – ideas that follow an altruistic as opposed to a self-interested motivation. In particular, this possibility is discussed against the background of doctrinal discourse on the issue, in order to confront the casual assessment that this is the case. The argument is advanced in three steps. First, a row of preliminary questions under the UN-CHARTER is set out for further discussion. Second follow the ‘non-treaty’ sources of international law. Third stands the essential element of international relations underlying the main question of this thesis: state interest. The latter discussion is complemented by two case studies, one on human rights and one on humanitarian use of force. / Die Forschungsfrage bezieht sich auf die Existenz von „moralischen Konzepten“ – also solchen, die einer altruistischen anstelle einer eigennützigen Motivation folgen – als Völkergewohnheitsrecht oder allgemeine Rechtsgrundsätze. Dabei wird die Frage insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund des Diskurses betrachtet, um der beiläufigen Feststellung deren Existenz entgegenzutreten.Die Argumentation folgt drei Schritten. Zu Beginn steht eine Reihe von Vorfragen in Bezug auf die Satzung der Vereinten Nationen als Rahmen für die weitere Diskussion. Zweitens werden das Völkergewohnheitsrecht und die allgemeinen Rechtsgrundsätze erläutert. Drittens wird das Staatsinteresse als essentielles Element der internationalen Beziehungen, das der Forschungsfrage zugrunde liegt, diskutiert. Abgerundet wird die Analyse durch zwei Fallstudien, eine zu Menschenrechten und eine zu humanitären Ausnahmen zum Gewaltverbot.

An important change wrought by the post-1994 South African Constitutions is the attempt to have South Africa recognised as a democratic and sovereign state in the "family of nations." The new Constitutions make extensive reference to the state's international obligations and represent an endeavour to [re]define the status of international law vis-a-vis national law. Some provisions utilise international law in the interpretation and formulation of national jurisprudence and represent an [albeit not totally successful] endeavour to attain greater harmonisation between international and national law. This is an attempt to systematize the various criticisms levelled against these provisions to date, and to highlight certain interpretational difficulties and problems that present themselves in the process. The distinction between the various terminologies and branches of international law is also taken to task. Lastly, this paper attempts to determine the extent to which international law is applied at national level under the post-1994 constitutions. / Jurisprudence / LL. M.

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en droit - option recherche(LL.M)" / Ce mémoire traite de la contribution du Tribunal pénal international pour l'ex-Yougoslavie (« TPIY ») au développement des sources formelles du droit international public. Il considère, plus précisément, le dilemme normatif entre le droit international classique, polarisé sur l'État et « résorbé» dans une juridicité formelle, et le «droit de l'unité substantiel », codifiant le mythe kantien de la paix par le droit et associant juridicité et légitimité par une intégration de l'éthique dans le droit. L'analyse postule la rétroaction du droit sur ses sources et étudie les courants idéologiques du droit international contemporain à partir de la jurisprudence du TPIY. Le mémoire conclut à une rupture entre le discours rhétorique du TPIY sur les sources, se réclamant du droit international classique, davantage compatible avec le principe de légalité, et les pratiques normatives effectives du Tribunal, ressemblant à un jusnaturalisme moderne, fondé sur des valeurs morales et éthiques. / This thesis studies the contribution by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former- Yugoslavia ("ICTY") to the development of Public International Law. Specifically, it analyses the normative dilemma between sources ofClassic International Law - correlated to the will ofStates, as wel/ as legal formalism - and the "International law ofsubstantial unity" - which codifies the Kantian myth of ''peace by law" and moves the classic idea of legality from formalism to legitimacy by using ethical references. The analysis assumes Law's retroactive effect on its sources and considers ideological movements of Contemporary International Law in the jurisprudence of the ICTY. The thesis concludes to a clash between ICTYabstractfindings related to sources ofInternationallaw and the actual "day-by-day" normative practices ofthe Tribunal. While the first brings into play Classic International Law and the rule of law, the second looks more like a neo-naturalism, fashioned by moral and ethical values.

This thesis examines the process applied by international tribunals for delimiting Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf boundaries under international law. Maritime delimitation is governed by articles 74 and 83 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which are customary international law. However, owing to the vagueness of such legal provisions, international tribunals have been developing a standard process for delimiting maritime boundaries. The delimitation process has evolved significantly since the 1969 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in North Sea Continental Shelf. The ICJ re-stated this process in its 2009 Black Sea judgment as being constituted of three stages: first, an equidistance line is provisionally drawn; second, this line is adjusted should relevant circumstances so require; third, the overall equitableness of the boundary is evaluated by assessing the proportionality between the length of the relevant coast and the marine areas appertaining to each state. This thesis analyses each stage of the delimitation process as re-stated in Black Sea. By way of introduction, chapter 1 outlines the relevant legal provisions and the historical evolution of the delimitation process through the jurisprudence of international tribunals. Chapter 2 discusses both the notions of the relevant coast and of the relevant area, and the practical methods for their identification. Since Black Sea, international tribunals have tended to identify the relevant coast and the relevant area prior to establishing a provisional equidistance line. Chapter 3 discusses the issues concerning the drawing of the provisional equidistance line. Chapter 4 examines relevant circumstances and the methods for adjusting an equidistance line. Chapter 5 discusses proportionality. Using doctrinal legal research methodologies, this thesis aims to assess the degree of consistency in the international tribunals’ application of the three-stage delimitation process. It argues that, while great leaps forward have been made since 1969, there is still a number of unresolved issues, in relation to which this thesis endeavours to provide some workable solutions.

「雙邊投資協定」是「發展中國家」為積極引進外國資本，與「已開發國家」為有效保護本國投資者間之互惠保障機制。於1990年代以來，因跨國企業數擴大而增加投資活動，因此也擴大投資的規模，故而對投資規範之需求必要性愈來愈增加。「雙邊投資協定」作爲目前最通用的國際投資規範，最近全世界所簽訂之雙邊投資協定的數量為約2,700多個(約180個國家)，惟由於世界上就雙邊投資協定内容還沒統一的形態，而且協定規定上缺乏具體性基準，針對協定内容，已開發國家與發展中國家之間見解往往相左。 其中「徵收條款」是理論解釋上最引起爭論的領域之一。不過迄今與徵收有關協定之實踐過程中，資本輸出國（已開發國家）和資本輸入國（發展中國家）間之理解有很大的差異，即在於絕對多數的雙邊投資協定中，對於徵收條款沒有判斷標準（如間接徵收）、補償標準（如赫爾規則）、補償額價格估價方式（如公平市場價格）之具體基準。 本論文基於雙邊投資協定之現行趨勢，想要研究雙邊投資協定的一般概念與徵收的相關具體内容，尤其為準備臺灣與韓國間簽訂雙邊投資協定的可能性，先觀察最近韓國、臺灣與各國所簽訂的雙邊投資協定之現況，其次則想要比較該協定的徵收條款，進一步嘗試關於未來臺、韓兩國之雙邊投資協定徵收條款之制定方向提出若干意見。