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Mr. Yuji Iwasawa

Mr. Yuji Iwasawa
Professor of International Law
Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo

Biography Biography in PDF document

International Law
International Community
The Diversity of International Obligations
Obligations assumed by States under international law are diverse in nature.  In the first part of this lecture, Professor Iwasawa presents a typology of international obligations and explains how they differ from each other.  One of the most interesting obligations of States from a theoretical perspective is obligations erga omnes.  In the second part of this lecture, he examines obligations erga omnes.

Video | Audio
(2/9/2010, 41 minutes)
International Law
International Community
The Diversity of International Obligations
Outline PDF document (8 KB)
A. Legal Instruments
Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice, San Francisco, 26 June 1945.

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 31.

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 85.

Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 135.

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 287.

The Antarctic Treaty, Washington, 1 December 1959, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 402, p. 71.

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Vienna, 18 April 1961, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 500, p. 95.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, New York, 16 December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I), Geneva, 7 December 1978, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, p. 3.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts (Protocol II), Geneva, 7 December 1978, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, p. 609.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the adoption of an additional distinctive emblem (Protocol III), Geneva, 8 December 2005, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2404, p. 277.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Montego Bay, 10 December 1982, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, p. 3.

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Montreal, 16 September 1987, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1522, p. 3.

International Law Commission, Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, 2001 (including commentaries).
B. Jurisprudence
C. Documents
Third report on State responsibility by Mr. James Crawford, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/507, 15 March 2000).

Institut de Droit international (Institute of International Law), Fifth Commission, Obligation and Rights Erga Omnes under International Law, resolution adopted on 27 August 2005.
D. Doctrine

Y. Iwasawa, “The Diversity of International Obligations: With a Focus on Obligations erga omnes”, in J. Nakagawa, K. Teraya (eds.), Essays in Honor of Professor Yasuaki Onuma: Horizons of International Law: History, Theory, and Positive Analysis, Tokyo, 2008, p. 123.

C. Annacker, Die Durchsetzung von Erga-omnes-Verpflichtungen vor dem Internationalen Gerichtshof, Verlag Dr. Kovac, Vienna, 1994.

A. de Hoogh, Obligations erga omnes and International Crimes: A Theoretical Inquiry into the Implementation and Enforcement of the International Responsibility of States, Martinus Nijhoff  Publishers, The Hague, 1996.

P. Dupuy, Obligations multilatérales, droit impératif et responsabilité internationale des États, Éditions A. Pedone, Paris, 2003.

M. Ragazzi, The Concept of International Obligation Erga Omnes, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997.

C. Tams, Enforcing Obligations Erga Omnes in International Law, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005.

C. Tomuschat, J. Thouvenin (eds.), The Fundamental Rules of the International Legal Order: Jus Cogens and Obligations Erga Omnes, Martinus Nijhoff  Publishers, The Hague, 2005.

S. Villappando, L’émergence de la communauté internationale dans la responsabilité des États, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 2005.

F. Voeffray, L'actio popularis ou la défense de l’intérêt collectif devant les juridictions internationales, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 2004.

J. Crawford, “The Standing of States: A Critique of Article 40 of the ILC's Draft Articles on State Responsibility”, in M. Andenas, D. Fairgrieve (eds.), Judicial Review in International Perspective: Liber Amicorum in Honor of Lord Slynn of Hadley, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000, p. 23.

J. Pauwelyn, “A Typology of Multilateral Treaty Obligations: Are WTO Obligations Bilateral or Collective in Nature?”, European Journal of International Law, vol. 14, 2003, p. 907.

L. Sicilianos, “The Classification of Obligations and the Multilateral Dimension of the Relations of International Responsibility”, European Journal of International Law, vol. 13, 2002, p. 1127.

G. Gaja, “Obligations and Rights Erga Omnes in International Law: First Report (March 2002)”, in Annuaire de l’Institut de droit international, vol. 71-I, 2005, Editions A. Pedone, Paris, p. 117.

G. Gaja, “Obligations and Rights Erga Omnes in International Law: Second Report (August 2004)”, in Annuaire de l’Institut de droit international, vol. 71-I, 2005, Editions A. Pedone, Paris, p. 189.

G. Gaja, “Obligations and Rights Erga Omnes in International Law”, in Annuaire de l’Institut de droit international, vol. 71-II, 2006, Editions A. Pedone, Paris, p. 81.