University of St.

La Salle
College of Law
SPECIAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW (SIIL)
(School Year 2020-2021)
Instructor: Atty. Michael Hanz D. Villaster

Main Textbook:

Bernas, S.J., Introduction to Public International Law (Latest Edition)

Supplemental Reference:

DJ Harris, Cases and Materials on International Law (Sixth Edition)

1) State Responsibility

• Concepts of Erga Omnes and Erga Omnes Partes

• The Barcelona Traction Case (Belgium vs. Spain) 1970 [on erga omnes
obligations]
• Case Concerning East Timor (Portugal v. Australia), ICJ Judgment of 30 June
1995 [on erga omnes obligations]
• Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (ICJ Advisory Opinion of 7 July 2004) [on erga omnes
obligations]
• Questions Relating to the Obligation to Extradite or to Prosecute (Belgium
v. Senegal), ICJ Judgement of 20 July 2012 [on erga omnes obligations]
• 2001 Draft of the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful
Acts
• Case Concerning the Rainbow Warrior Affair (New Zealand v. France),
Arbitration Decision of 30 April 1990 [on international responsibility]
• Corfu Channel Case (United Kingdom vs. Albania), ICJ Judgment of 09 April
1949 [on international responsibility]
• Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua vs.
United States) (ICJ Reports, 1986) [on international responsibility;
attribution; effective control test]
• Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic (ICTY, 1995) [attribution; overall control
test]
• Gabcíkovo-Nagymaros Project Case (Hungary vs. Slovakia) ICJ Judgment of
25 September 1997 [on international responsibility]
• Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide (Croatia vs. Serbia), ICJ Judgment of 03 February 2015
[on international responsibility]
• Caire Claim Case (France vs. Mexico), French-Mexican Claims Commission
Decision of 1929 [on attribution]
• US Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Iran Case (United States vs. Tehran),
ICJ Judgment on the Merits, May 24, 1980 [on attribution]
 • Home Missionary Society Claim (United States vs. Great Britain), Judgment
of 1920 [on attribution]
• Short vs. Iran (Untied States vs. Iran), Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal (1987) [on
attribution]
• Ahmadou Sadio Diallo (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of
Congo), ICJ Judgment of 19 June 2012 [on international responsibility;
compensation]
• Chorzow Factory Case (Germany vs. Poland), PCIJ (1928) [on reparation]
• Vinuya vs. Executive Secretary (G.R. No. 162230, April 28, 2010) [on
reparation]

2) Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes

• Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

of 1958 (Ney York Convention)
• International Law Commission Model Rules on Arbitral Procedure
• International Court of Justice Statute
• Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian Federation), ICJ Judgment of
01 April 2011 [on existence of a dispute]
• Obligations Concerning Negotiations Relating to Cessation of the Nuclear
Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United
Kingdom), ICJ Judgment of 05 October 2016 [on existence of a dispute]
• Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua vs.
United States) (ICJ Reports, 1986) [on ICJ compulsory jurisdiction;
optional jurisdiction clause]
• Aerial Incidence Case (United States vs. Bulgaria), ICJ Order of 03 August
1959 [on ICJ compulsory jurisdiction; optional jurisdiction clause

3) Use of Force or Threats of the Use of Force

• United Nations Charter [Articles 1(1), 2(3), 2(4), 42, and 51]
• United Nations Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning
Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among States in Accordance with the
Charter of the United Nations, UN Doc A/8082
• UN Security Council Resolutions 678 (Kuwait), 1244 (Kosovo), 1441 (Iraq)
• Corfu Channel Case [supra] [on the use of force]
• Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (supra) [on the
use of force]
• Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America)
Judgment, 6 November 2003 [on the use of force]
• Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002)
(Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda) Judgment of 3 February
2006 [on the use of force]
• Caroline Incident/ Caroline Test; read together with Naulilaa Case (Germany
vs. Portugal), Versailles Swiss Arbitral Panel (1928) [on the use of force and
self-defense]
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SIIL Course Outline (Page 2 of 4)
 • Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (supra) [on self-defense]
• Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (ICJ Advisory Opinion of
8 July 1996) [on the legality of threats]
• Obligations Concerning Negotiations Relating to Cessation of the Nuclear
Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United
Kingdom), ICJ Judgment of 05 October 2016 [on the legality of the
development of nuclear weapons]
• Guyana v. Suriname, PCA Award of 17 September 2007 [on the legality of
threats at sea]
• Fisheries Jurisdiction (Spain v. Canada) Judgment of 4 December 1998 [on
the use of force at sea]
• S.S. “I’m Alone” Case (Canada/United States [1935], U.N.R.I.A.A., Vol. III
[hot pursuit; on the use of force at sea]
• M/V Saiga, The M/V “SAIGA” Case (No.2) (Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines/Guinea), ITLOS Judgment of 1 July 1999 [hot pursuit; on the
use of force at sea]

4) International Terrorism

• UN Security Council Resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2199 (2015)

• 1963 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board
Aircraft
• 1970 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft
• 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of
Civil Aviation
• 1979 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
• 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports
Serving International Civil Aviation
• 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of
Maritime Navigation
• 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed
Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf
• 1991 Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of
Identification
• 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings.
• 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism
• 2005 International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism
• Rumsfeld vs. Padilla 542 U.S. 426 (2004) [on the prosecution of alleged
international terrorists]
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004) [on the prosecution of alleged
international terrorists]
• Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006) [on the prosecution of alleged
international terrorists]

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SIIL Course Outline (Page 3 of 4)
 • Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. 1 (2010), 130 S.Ct. 2705 [on
the prohibition of giving support to international terrorists]
• A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL
56 (also known as the Belmarsh 9 case) [on the judicial rights of
international terrorists]

5) Law of the Sea

- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

- South China Sea Arbitration Case (Philippines vs. China), PCA Case Nº
2013-19, Award dated 12 July 2016 [on EEZ, maritime protection]
- Maritime Dispute (Peru vs. Chile), ICJ Judgment of 27 January 2014 [on
overlapping maritime boundaries]
- Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between
Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh vs. Myanmar),
ITLOS Judgment of 14 March 2012 [on overlapping maritime
boundaries]
- Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine), ICJ Judgment
of 03 February 2009 [on overlapping maritime boundaries]
- Dispute regarding Navigation and Related Rights (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua),
ICJ Judgment of 13 July 2009 [on freedom of navigation]
- Southern Bluefin Tuna Cases (New Zealand v. Japan; Australia v. Japan),
ITLOS Order of 27 August 1999 [on marine stocks conservation]
- The M/V Virginia G Case (Panama v. Guinea- Bissau), ITLOS Judgment of
14 April 2014 [on capture of marine vessels]

6) International Environmental Law

- 1972 Stockholm Declaration, 1992 Rio Declaration, Johannesburg

Declaration on Sustainable Development, Kyoto Protocol
- Precautionary Principle
- Prevention Principles
- “Polluter Pays” Principle
- Transboundary Responsibility
- Integration Principle
- Public Participation Principle

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SIIL Course Outline (Page 4 of 4)