Rules of diplomatic immunity, which nowadays are enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, play an important role in interstate diplomacy because they ensure the efficient performance of diplomatic functions. This thesis investigates a particular form of diplomatic immunity - diplomatic immunity ratione materiae. Unlike diplomatic immunity ratione personae, which pertains to the personal status of a diplomatic agent, diplomatic immunity ratione materiae depends in essence on the official nature of a particular act In practice, however, the determination of diplomatic immunity ratione materiae may meet with many conceptual and practical difficulties. For one, it is not always easy to distinguish the official acts of a diplomatic agent, who represents the sending State in the receiving State, from his or her private acts. In case of disagreement between the two States, questions may also arise as to who has the authority to make a final determination. The Vienna Convention does not offer much guidance on these issues; on the contrary, the Convention complicates them by employing, without adequate explanation, distinct formulas for different kinds of diplomatic immunity ratione materiae. This thesis examines these formulas in detail. On a general level, it is submitted that diplomatic immunity ratione materiae for certain types of activity constitutes not only a procedural bar to court proceedings but also a substantive exemption of individual responsibility. More specifically, it is argued that each formula must be understood in the light of the rationale behind immunity, the type of immunity concerned, and the specific functions or duties performed. In case of controversy, weight should be given to the opinion of the sending State, although the authority to make a decision lies ultimately with the court of the receiving State.

This thesis examines the default application of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties reservation rules to reservations to human rights treaties. The contemporary practice of formulating reservations allows states to unilaterally modify their treaty obligations following the conclusion of negotiations. Though multilateral treaties address a broad spectrum of subjects and are negotiated using a variety of methods, all treaties are governed by the same residual reservation rules of the Vienna Convention when there is not a treaty-specific reservation regime in place. The Vienna Convention system is only engaged if a state seizes the opportunity to determine whether a reservation is valid pursuant to default rules or if a challenge regarding the validity of a reservation is brought before another competent mechanism of review, such as a dispute resolution mechanism. Even when applied, the Vienna Convention rules are ambiguous at best and have been criticised since their inception due to the high degree of flexibility in their application, especially in relation to human rights treaties. In light of the inherent flaws of the Vienna Convention reservation regime and the structural characteristics of human rights treaties, rarely will a reserving state be deprived of the benefit of the reservation even if it is determined to be invalid by another State Party. Though the consequences of an invalidity determination are more concrete when the decision is taken by a dispute resolution mechanism, such as a court, seldom are disputes over the validity of a reservation to a human rights treaty submitted to a competent mechanism. Using the core UN human rights treaties as a case study this research highlights that the past thirty years have revealed a practical impasse in treaty law when the default reservation rules are relied upon to regulate reservations to human rights treaties. Reservations of questionable validity gain the same status as valid reservations because the Vienna Convention rules do not address the consequence for a reservation determined to be invalid outwith the traditional inter se application of the reservation between the reserving and objecting states, which is not logical in the context of a human rights treaty. Against this background, this thesis examines whether the default reservation rules adequately govern reservations to human rights treaties. The conclusion affirms that the Vienna Convention reservation regime can regulate reservations to human rights treaties but only if there is a clearly defined final view on the validity of a reservation taken by an organ other than the state. Therefore, it is argued that treaty-specific supervisory mechanisms attached to each of the core UN human rights treaties should be invested with the competency to serve a determinative function with respect to evaluating reservations to human rights treaties in order to facilitate a stronger basis for the international human rights system.

The purpose my thesis is to analyse the substantive and temporal scope of application of selected general binding rules governing the international sales contract and to analyse their mutual relations. The work is composed of six chapters, each of them dealing with a different issue of international sales contract. The first chapter deals with the definition of the term international sales contract in view of the practical and theoretical understanding, because the definition of an international sales contract has its own specifics in contrast to the definition of a sales contract in Czech law. The second chapter discusses the basic approaches of legal regulation in private international law and outlines the basic advantages and disadvantages of specific approaches of legal regulation in private international law in view of the international sales contract in this section. I put this chapter into my work for the better understanding and orientation of reader in issue of general regulation of international sales contract. The third chapter deals with the substantive, temporal and personal scope of application of the Czech Act on Private International Law in view of the international sales contract. The fourth chapter discusses the substantive, temporal and personal scope of application of the Rome...

The objective of this thesis is to frame the scope of application of the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods and other instruments of private international law relating to the international sales contract. In this field the gaps in the Vienna Convention are analysed and methods to fill them are explored. The first chapter introduces the key terms of international trade law. First, the types of legal provisions are listed and then the sales contract is defined under both, the Czech law and the Vienna Convention. In the second chapter I focus on the overview of the development of international uniform sales law and on further sources of law, which are important for international transactions. Besides the Convention itself, I study the Rome I Regulation, the uniform principles of international contract law and the Common European Sales Law. The third chapter advances to the core of the thesis, the gaps in the Vienna Convention. After defining the gaps and characterising them, I formulate the basic principles underlying the Convention, which are to be used to fill the internal gaps. In the last, fourth chapter I selected three gaps in the Vienna Convention: interest rate, set off and the form of the contract. One by one, I explain their nature and all approaches to the gap-filling with...

The topic of this thesis is a legal regulation of sales contract in international trade. Because of the scope of this work is purchase agreement in a trade, the scope of these diploma does not represent consumer sales (contract of sale between a business and private person who is not acting in the course of his or her business). To better understanding all relations in this thesis, is necessary to explain certain specifics, which are arising from this work. The first parties of this sales contract could be only business persons (undertakers), they are having their "places of business in different states." The second the notion "place of business in different states" means here is going about international contract of sale and so represents subjective aspect of international purchase agreement. Conception of international sales contract in the view of this subjective aspect enforcemented in all legal rules, which regulate international purchase agreement. The thesis is composed of three chapters and eighteen subchapters and provide so quite detail view on the legal regulation of sales contract. Chapter one consists of six subchapters and focuses on general questions, which relate to sales contract in international trade. The first is determined the notion of purchase agreement view in respect of...

The purpose of my thesis is to analyse the scope of application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods ("CISG"). The reason for my research is the wide use of the CISG in international trade. Therefore, it is necessary to know exactly when the CISG is applicable. The thesis is composed of four chapters, each of them dealing with a different aspect of international sales contracts. Chapter One is introductory and defines the basic concept of regular and international sales contract in Czech law and legal literature, taking into account the upcoming recodification of the Czech Civil Code. Chapter Two examines the basic approaches of legal regulation in private international law. After a brief theoretical introduction, special attention is paid to various Czech and international legal instruments governing contracts for the international sale of goods. In Chapter Three, I explore the basic requirements for application of the CISG. Using scholarly literature as well as case law, I characterise the concepts of sales contract, goods, place of business, contracting states and party autonomy. Consideration is also given to the material scope of application of the CISG. The existence of controversial issues related to this question is shown on the topic of interest for any sum...

Considering that the concept of sustainable development has a function of normative integration in international law, Article 31(3)(c) provides a legitimate basis of such systemic integration. At the same time, it displays the limitations of the harmonious solution drawn from its application because it works only within the rigid consent-based framework in which the referenced rules should be legal “rules” and should be “applicable in the relations between the parties.” International jurisprudence suggests supplemental elements to overleap the consensual limitations in the application of Article 31(3)(c): a generic term and the object and purpose of the treaty. These text-based and the object-and-purpose-based developmental interpretative techniques enable interpreters to consider legal rules that are not “any relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties” under Article 31(3)(c).

Considering that the concept of sustainable development has a function of normative integration in international law, Article 31(3)(c) provides a legitimate basis of such systemic integration. At the same time, it displays the limitations of the harmonious solution drawn from its application because it works only within the rigid consent-based framework in which the referenced rules should be legal “rules” and should be “applicable in the relations between the parties.” International jurisprudence suggests supplemental elements to overleap the consensual limitations in the application of Article 31(3)(c): a generic term and the object and purpose of the treaty. These text-based and the object-and-purpose-based developmental interpretative techniques enable interpreters to consider legal rules that are not “any relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties” under Article 31(3)(c).

No abstract / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Mercantile Law / LLM / Unrestricted

The thesis covers the privileges and immunities provided to diplomatic agents in order to facilitate the performance of their functions. The main source of law is the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which has been signed at the end of the Vienna Conference on 18th April 1961 and remained unchanged even after 50 years in force. It reflected the previous codification attempts as well as the existing practice of the contractual states and established rules that together with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations represent the basis in the field of diplomatic and consular law. The aim of the thesis is to describe particular privileges and immunities of the diplomatic agents, evaluate their applicability on the current diplomatic practice and consider whether the Vienna Convention represents a suitable regulation of the modern diplomatic relations. Examining both the practice of national courts and the International Court of Justice it is shown how the practice has changed over the past 50 years. The thesis covers the limits of such privileges and immunities, points out the possibilities of their abuse and presents examples of conflicts that arise in the current diplomatic practice. The thesis first deals with theoretical issues - it provides definitions of the diplomatic privileges and...