INTERNATIONAL LEGAL LIABILITY OF STATES AS A SPECIAL KIND OF LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
Keywords:
international legal responsibility, sanctions, countermeases, international law, United NationsAbstract
The article is devoted to the theoretical problems of the institute of international legal responsibility of states. The author emphasizes the specific nature of this responsibility and analyzes the document “Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts” adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 56/83 of 12/12/2001. According to its norms, the legal basis of international legal responsibility, i.e. an internationally wrongful act is every obligation that is violated by a state. An internationally wrongful act of a state occurs when any behavior consisting in an act or inaction is appropriated to a state under international law and constitutes a violation of the international legal obligation of that state. The legal consequences of an internationally wrongful act do not affect the continued duty of the responsible state to fulfill the obligation violated. The responsible state is obliged to stop the wrongful act, if it continues, provide assurances and guarantees of its non-repetition in the future, as well as to compensate for the harm caused by the wrongful act. Damage subject to reparation includes any damage, material or moral, caused by the internationally wrongful act of the state. For serious breaches of obligations arising from mandatory rules of general international law, special rules have been established: in such cases, all states must cooperate with each other in order to put an end to these violations. At the same time, unilateral measures of states taken to return the offending state to lawful conduct (“countermeasures”) are not a form of international legal responsibility. In addition, according to the author, the sanctions of the UN Security Council, taken in cases of threats to peace and security, are also not the international legal responsibility of states. The principal differences are the institution of international legal responsibility of States for damage caused in the implementation of certain types of legitimate activities. At present, the process of codifying the law of international responsibility of states continues.