TUTORIAL ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

[LAWS 3550]
Tutorial 1: Tuesday 10-11 am (16) Students
Tutorial 3: Thursday (11am-12 pm) (16) Students

[Important Note: Students must strictly follow IRAC to prepare both written and oral
assignments of problem-type questions.]

WEEK 4

Assignment 1 [Nature of International Law]

[An assignment for one student]

“In modern societies, self-help has become the exception rather than the rule, whereas in
international law it has remained the rule.”

In the light of the above statement, critically examine the various forms of self-help in the
enforcement of international law. Support your answer with authorities and decided cases.

WEEK 5

Assignment 2 [Nature of International Law]

[An assignment for two students]

(1) In November 2021, State B’s Government had got information from a reliable source that
State A’s Ambassador in State B was secretly supporting the rebels fighting to overthrow
State B’s Government and a huge stockpile of military weapons were stored in State A’s
Embassy.
(2) In December 2021, thousands of acres of agricultural land on the side of State B were
damaged due to chemical fumes and acid waters come from a copper smelter situated in State
A across the border.
(3) In January 2022, State A stopped delivering regular water supply to State B, which is
required under a bilateral Water Supply Treaty between the two countries.
(4) Very recently in March 2022, the armed forces of State A attacked and occupied the
Northern territory of State B.

Advise the government of State B on how to respond to each action of State A in accordance
with international law.

[Students must refer to ‘relevant’ peaceful and coercive means of enforcing international law .
Must also refer to other relevant topics of the Public International Law Textbook, such as
Chapter 7: Immunity from Jurisdiction; Chapter 8: Law of Treaties; Chapter 9: State
Responsibility and Chapter 14: Legal Regulation of the Use of Force.]

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[The first student must prepare a written memorandum and an oral presentation on issues (1) and
(2) and the second student to do likewise on issues (3) and (4).]

WEEK 6

Assignment 3 [Sources of International Law]

[An assignment for two students]

(a) ‘General practice’ is the first element of customary international law. Elaborate, with the
help of decided cases, the meaning of the ‘generality of practice’ and the ‘consistency of
practice’ and consider whether there can be an ‘instant international custom.

(b) Can there be any new sources of international law other than those provided for in Article
38 (1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice? Critically consider.

WEEK 7

Assignment 4 [Sources of International Law]

[An assignment requiring two students to discuss]

The Chief Justice of Atlanta has been chosen to sit on the bench of the International Court of
Justice as an ad hoc judge in a case now before the Court. He has not studied international law
and is experiencing some difficulty in dealing with the mass of diverse materials submitted as
part of the written pleadings. These materials include:

(a) a UN General Assembly resolution adopted unanimously on the prohibition of racial

discrimination;
(b) a resolution of the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter;
(c) a previous decision of the International Court of Justice;
(d) the commentary of the International Law Commission on a particular provision of a
convention drafted by it;
(e) a treaty to which only one of the parties to the dispute is a party;
(f) A principle of equity applied in most of the national legal systems;
(g) a document evidencing the fact that domestic courts in an overwhelming majority of
States have uniformly decided upon an issue of international law;
(h) Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration 1992, which states among others that States have the
responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause
damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction.

Prepare a paper for the Chief Justice explaining how these materials can be treated as sources of
international law under which clause of Article 38(1) of the Statute of the ICJ and what will the
hierarchy among these materials be as sources of international law.

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[One student has to discuss items (a) to (d) and the other from (e) to (h), also demonstrating the
hierarchy among these materials as sources of international law].

WEEK 8

Assignment 5 [Relationship between International and National Law]

[An assignment for one student]

Discuss the internal application of customary international law in Malaysia and consider the
difference with the position in the United Kingdom and Singapore.

WEEK 9

Assignment 6 [Subjects of International Law]

[An assignment requiring one student to present]

Atlanta, an under-developed State, enters into an oil concession agreement with Petronas. The
concession allows Petronas to do oil drilling and exploitation for 30 years. Since 2005, Petronas
has invested RM 100 million for the construction of oil-drilling installations in Atlanta.
However, the Government of Atlanta recently declares that it unilaterally terminates the
concession agreement by its newly promulgated Law No.111 on the ground that due to
increasing movements of Atlan-tigers (an ethnic rebel group) in the surrounding areas, the
Government can no longer guarantee the safety of oil-drilling activities in the area. In fact, the
rebel movements are quite far from the area where Petronas is doing business and the real
intention of the Government of Atlanta is to grant the concession to anther Oil Company.
Petronas wants to institute proceedings against Atlanta for its financial losses before the
International Court of Justice.

You are a legal counsel in the Attorney General’s Chamber of Malaysia. How will you advise
Petronas?

Would your advice be different if the case were brought before the International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and both Malaysia and Atlanta were parties to the
Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other
States, 1965?

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 WEEK 10

Assignment 7 [State Territory]

[An assignment for one student]

Plutonia and Ruritania are States members of the United Nations. Both States claim an island in
the North China Sea called the Pearl Island. Their claims are as follows:

Some traders from Plutonia discovered the Pearl Island, which was entirely uninhabited, in 1580.
From 1720 onwards Plutonian fishermen began to fish in Pearl Island’s coastal waters and have
since started establishing fishing villages there. In 1785, the Government of Plutonia sent a naval
vessel to the Island, fly its flag on it, and pronounced its sovereignty over the island. Since then,
a judge from Arcadia occasionally visited the island to deal with criminal or civil cases that
occurred among the inhabitants. The government of Plutonia also levied taxes on the fishermen.

In the beginning of the 20th Centuries, all the islands in the North China Sea were colonized by
the Great Empire of Gogoland. When Ruritania gained its independence in 1979, it concluded a
treaty of cession with its colonial power, the Great Empire of Gogoland, whereby the Pearl
Island was transferred to Ruritania till “the Sun and Moon and Stars come down”. Since that
time, Ruritania has claimed itself the same territorial sea around the Pearl Island as did its
colonial ruler.

However, Plutonia objected the transfer of the Pearl Island to Ruritania as invalid because the
Island has been under their sovereignty since 1785 and Gogoland had unlawfully acquired the
Island with the use of military force.

Discuss the legal position.

WEEK 11

Assignment 8 [State Territory]

[A mini-moot question, involving two students]

In 1673, Vann Clapp, a Naval Admiral employed by the Government of Fudgia to explore new
territories, discovered an uninhabited island in the center of an international seaway. He lowered
a boat, headed for the island and, by raising the Fudgian flag and saying a solemn prayer,
claimed the island on behalf of his sovereign. He then notified the Government of Fudgia, which
published the declaration of Fudgian sovereignty over Vann Clapp Island (named after him) in a
local journal.

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In 1760, a religious group, the Seekers, who had fled from persecution in their native land,
Flavia, settled in the island. Due to well organized social structure and good leaders, they
prospered and their population increased.

In 1850, Fudgia suffered defeat in a major conflict with its neighbour Contona. In the Peace
Treaty that Fudgia signed, it is stated:

“We hereby declare all territories formally under the rule of Fudgian Crown, including
Van Clapp Island, Contonian. Fudgia disclaims any right to these territories in the
future.”

In the present day, the inhabitants of Vann Clapp Island are unhappy with the situation that they
are under Contona rather than Fudgia or Flavia. They approach Flavia to represent them and take
up their case. The Government of Flavia now claims that the inhabitants of Vann Clapp Island
have the right to determine their own future in accordance with the right to self-determination as
enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in article 1 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966. Flavia officially declares that, on behalf of the
inhabitants of Vann Clapp Island, they are initiating an international claim against Contona to
allow referendum for the people to determine their own future to establish a new state or to
merge with any State of their own choice.

Contona counterclaims that Vann Clapp Island is legally theirs and that Flavia has no locus
standi to make an international claim against it as the latter is not an injured State.

Discuss the legal position.

[This is a mini-moot question, which will require two students: one is representing the applicant
(Flavia) (on behalf of the inhabitants of Vann Clapp Island), and the other is representing the
respondent (Contona) respectively, to prepare written memorials as well as oral submissions.]

WEEK 12

Assignment 9 [State jurisdiction]

[An assignment for two students]

Ruritania is the world’s only superpower. X, a national of utopia, is a member of the

International Anti-Ruritanian Network (IARN) aiming at terrorising all Ruritanian interests
across the globe. He has played a leading role in the organisation since he migrated to
Heligoland from Utopia in 2005. Taking advantage of the loose immigration law in Heligoland,
he lives there illegally.

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In 2015, IARN orchestrated a bomb attack on a café in Litag City which is the capital city of
Heligoland, killing five people and injuring fifty others. The café was owned by a Ruritanian
national but all of the victims are Heligolese.

Immediately after the attack, X, in his capacity as the General Manager of Atlantic Exim
Corporation signs a contract with Helitech Corporation which is registered in Heligoland for the
purpose of exporting sophisticated computer devices to Utopia. Utopia direly needs the devices
for the development of its dated telecommunication system.

In Ruritania, a law which is known as “the Liberation of Utopia Act” was passed. Under the law,
any person, natural or artificial, shall be penalized according to Ruritanian law if found to have
made any commercial transactions with the Government of Utopia or any person in the country.
The law was enacted by the Ruritanian Congress to punish Utopia which refuses to democratize
its political system and discontinue its military build-up in the Red-Hot region.

Due to technological superiority, X’s activities go unnoticed only for a short while. After the
Ruritanian Intelligence Agency has collected the relevant information, the Agency abducted X
from his villa in Litag City and then flew him to Ruritania secretly. There he was charged for
being involved in international terrorism, found guilty and sentenced to death. When X reveals
about the contract between Atlantic Exim and Helitech, the Ruritanian Government imposes a
sanction on Helitech.

Discuss the legality of Ruritania’s acts. Confine your answer to “State Jurisdiction”.

[The first student is the legal counsel for Ruritania while the second student is the legal counsel
for Utopia and Heligoland, in relation to the issue of exercising jurisdiction over X and
Helitech.]

WEEK 13

Assignment 10 [Immunity from jurisdiction]

[An assignment for two students]

(a) On 11 September 2010, a military coup overthrew the government of President Alfonso in
the State of Gustovia. General Rico, who headed the coup, assumed power as President. His
greed for power led Rico to instruct his security forces to apply all sorts of violations of
human rights towards the people of Gustovia, including widespread and systematic torture.

After 10 years in power, Rico fell ill. Due to the unsatisfactory medical facilities in
Gustovia, Rico was flown to Ruritania to seek medical treatment. However, once he landed
in Ruritania, Rico was arrested by the local authorities. He was informed that he would be
extradited to the State of Arendelle where the court in Arendelle had issued an arrest
warrant. Rico argued that as a head of state he was entitled to immunity from the
jurisdiction of the State.

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 Advise Rico on his legal position.
Would your answer be different if Rico had stepped down from his Presidency before he
flew to Ruritania for medical treatment?

(b) Colonel Smith is the military attaché of the Mauritanian Embassy in Putra Jaya. He lives in
Centre Point Condominium in Kuala Lumpur, with his wife Cynthia and their only daughter
Linda, 19 years, a first year Information Technology student at Sunway University. Being a
psychiatrist, Cynthia rents an apartment in Kuala Lumpur for her practice, but she misuses it
by opening a nightclub. Now her landlord is preparing to bring a legal action against her for
breach of tenancy agreement. On her way back from a supermarket, Linda’s car knocks
down an old woman, who dies on the spot. The police want to arrest Linda and initiate legal
proceedings against her.

Advise Cynthia’s landlord and the police.