Public International Law Exam Revision

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering foundational principles, UN Charter articles, human rights instruments, statehood theories, territorial acquisition, diplomatic immunity, and leading international case law.

Chapter VI of the UN Charter

The section of the UN Charter dealing with the pacific settlement of disputes between countries peacefully without violence or war, aiming to prevent escalation into war.

Chapter VII of the UN Charter

The section of the UN Charter dealing with action regarding threats to peace, breaches of peace, and acts of aggression, allowing the Security Council to impose sanctions or authorise military force.

Article 33 of the UN Charter

The UN Charter provision that encourages countries to settle their disputes peacefully through negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, or regional arrangements.

Article 39 of the UN Charter

The provision authorising the UN Security Council to determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression.

Article 41 of the UN Charter

The provision permitting the Security Council to decide upon non-military enforcement measures, such as economic sanctions, trade restrictions, arms embargoes, travel bans, and asset freezes.

Article 42 of the UN Charter

The provision that empowers the UN Security Council to authorise military action, such as naval blockades or air operations, if non-military measures prove inadequate.

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter

The fundamental international law principle prohibiting states from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state.

Socio-economic rights

Human rights that allow people to enjoy basic necessities needed for a decent life, including education, healthcare, housing, food, water, work, and social security.

Obligation to Respect

A state human rights duty requiring the government not to interfere with people's rights, such as refraining from unlawfully evicting people from their homes.

Obligation to Protect

A state human rights duty requiring the government to prevent violations committed by third parties, such as protecting workers against exploitation.

Obligation to Fulfil

A state human rights duty requiring the government to take positive steps to make rights available, such as working towards providing schools, hospitals, and clean water.

Progressive realisation

The standard under Article 2(1) of the ICESCR requiring countries to continuously work towards improving access to socio-economic rights using the maximum of available resources.

Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom (2000)

A Constitutional Court case ruling that the South African government was required to create reasonable housing programmes that catered for people living in desperate need.

Article 144 of the Namibian Constitution

The constitutional provision that recognises general rules of public international law and international agreements binding on Namibia as part of the law of Namibia.

Veto power

The authority held exclusively by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US) to block substantive draft resolutions.

Genocide

The deliberate intention to destroy, completely or partially, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group through specific prohibited acts defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Crimes against humanity

Specified serious acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack, as codified in Article 7 of the Rome Statute.

Prosecutor v Akayesu (1998)

An International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda decision establishing that serious bodily or mental harm includes sexual violence and that rape can constitute an act of genocide when committed with genocidal intent.

War crimes

Serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict, such as intentionally killing civilians, torture, taking hostages, and attacking protected objects.

Common Article 3

A provision of the 1949 Geneva Conventions providing a baseline of mandatory humanitarian protections during non-international armed conflicts.

Article 51 of the UN Charter

An exception to the prohibition on the use of force affirming an inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs, subject to necessity and proportionality.

Principle of Distinction

A fundamental rule in the law of armed conflict requiring belligerent parties to distinguish at all times between combatants and civilians, and between military and civilian objects.

Statehood

Status as an independent state under international law, characterised by the ability to govern its territory and independently conduct international relations.

Constitutive theory

The theoretical view that an entity becomes an international state only when it is recognised by other existing sovereign states.

Declaratory theory

The theoretical view that statehood exists automatically once an entity satisfies objective legal criteria, with recognition acting merely as confirmation rather than creation.

Montevideo Convention (1933) criteria

The four objective qualifications for statehood: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Occupation (Territorial Acquisition)

The acquisition of sovereignty over territory that is terra nullius (belonging to no state), through the intention to act as sovereign and the exercise of effective control.

Accretion

The lawful acquisition of new or expanded land territory through gradual, natural physical processes, such as river soil deposits.

Cession

The formal transfer of sovereignty over territory from one state to another through an international treaty or agreement.

Estoppel

A legal rule preventing a state from asserting facts or rights contrary to its previous representations upon which another state reasonably and detrimentally relied.

Prescription

The acquisition of territorial sovereignty through the peaceful, continuous, and public exercise of state authority over another state's territory over a long period.

Diplomatic immunity

Legal protections and privileges granted to diplomatic personnel under the 1961 Vienna Convention to allow the performance of official duties free from interference by the receiving state.

Persona non grata

An official declaration by a receiving state under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention notifying the sending state that a specific diplomat is no longer acceptable and must be recalled.

United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran (1980)

An ICJ case confirming that Iran breached its international obligations by failing to protect United States embassy premises, archives, and diplomatic personnel.

R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet (No. 3) (1999)

A UK House of Lords decision holding that immunity as a former head of state does not shield an individual from prosecution for international crimes such as torture.

Namibia Advisory Opinion (1971)

An ICJ advisory ruling holding that South Africa's continued administrative and military presence in Namibia was illegal under international law.

Nicaragua v United States (1986)

An ICJ judgment confirming the customary international law status of the prohibition on the threat or use of force and the non-intervention principle.