ULUSLARARASI KAMU HUKUKU I

The Draft establishes the following:

• conditions for an act to qualify as internationally wrongful;

• circumstances under which actions of officials, private individuals and other entities may be attributed to the state,

• general defenses to liability,

• the consequences of liability, and

• admissibility of claims. 

Therefore, the correct option is C.

The international responsibility of a State results from an omission or commission of an internationally wrongful act. An internationally wrongful act of a state presupposes that there is a conduct consisting of an action or omission which (a) is attributable to the State under international law and (b) constitutes a breach of an international obligation of the State. Therefore, the correct option is B.

Diplomatic protection is the procedure employed by the State of nationality of the injured person to secure protection of that person, and to obtain reparation for the internationally wrongful act inflicted. Such protection extends to both natural and legal persons. Therefore, the correct option is D.

In determining the responsibility of a state, it is necessary to establish that the given conduct attributable to a state constitutes a breach of its international obligations. “There is a breach of an international obligation by a state when an act of that state is not in conformity with what is required by that obligation, regardless of its origin or character”. Therefore, the correct option is C.

In attributing responsibility to a state for the breach of an international obligation, fault or culpa is a debatable issue. Therefore, the correct option is E.

Jurisdiction ratione temporis (temporal jurisdiction) refers to the jurisdiction of a court of law over a proposed action in relation to the passage of time. Therefore, the correct option is A.

The Draft Articles in Chapter V of Part One enlist these defenses under the heading of “circumstances precluding wrongfulness,” though they are not exclusive. It sets out six circumstances (defenses):

• Consent (Art. 20),

• Self-defense (Art. 21),

• Countermeasures (Art. 22),

• Force majeure (Art. 23), 

• Distress (Art. 24),

• Necessity (Art. 25)

Therefore, the correct option is D.

Countermeasures shall not affect, that is, cannot suspend:

• the obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force as embodied in the Charter of the United Nations,

• obligations for the protection of fundamental human rights,

• obligations of a humanitarian character prohibiting reprisals,

• other obligations under peremptory norms of general international law 

Therefore, the correct option is B.

force majeure as a defense is available only where the following three elements are met:

• the act in question must be brought about by an irresistible force or by an unforeseen event,

• which is beyond the control of the State concerned, and

• which makes it materially impossible in the circumstances to perform the obligation

Therefore, the correct option is B.

Distress operates to excuse the wrongfulness of an act if the author of the act had “no other reasonable way, in a situation of distress, of saving the author’s life or the lives of other persons entrusted to the author’s care”. The wrongfulness of the conduct is precluded in circumstances where the state agent had no other reasonable way of saving life. Thus, defense is limited to cases where human life is at stake. Therefore, the correct option is D.