State Responsivity on International Law
State Responsibility
State responsibility is involves both the obligations and rules that the state is expected to adhere to under international law. Many international organizations are comprised with member states. As far as international law is concerned, the roles and responsibilities of the state vary from one state to another. One of the factors which cause this difference is the location of the state. Notably, some states are located along water bodies while some are land locked. The two differently located states will automatically have different responsibilities. ‘In Australia, the Attorney General’s department provides advice to the government on public international law[1].
Due to the variations in responsibilities across different states, the reason for the breach of international law also varies from one country to another. In addition, there are general international laws in different countries. In Australia, such types of laws include treatment and jurisdiction of Australian seas, boarder protection issues including refugee laws and asylum seekers and also international environmental law. Ideally, these laws are differently applied in many countries.
There is no uniform code of international law. The international law is not uniformly applied in all states in the world. The International Law Commission examined the standards and application of state responsibility. This was done more than forty years ago. Today, these standards and responsibilities are codified and developed in the International Law Commission’s draft article on the Responsibility of State for International Wrongful Acts. Therefore, every state is mandated to adhere to its responsibilities as per the provisions of the international law.
Extradition
Extradition refers to the process a state requests for the return of a person of one state charged with an offence under the law of the requesting state. States are obliged to comply with the international law. Every country has its own domestic laws that are enshrined in their constitution. Every citizen and any organization are expected to comply with the requirements of these domestic laws. Failure to do so, the individual or the organization is taken liable of the acts. The result of breaching domestic law would be imprisonment, fine or the two may be applicable. Likewise, states should also comply with the international laws failure to which an extradition may occur.
Over the years, different cases have been reported on the breach of international law. The United Nations Secretary General termed the attack on the UN schools in Gaza as a breach of international law. The UN accused the Israeli for breaching the international law on military actions. The international law protects both the interest of the state and that of the individuals. In this case, the United Nations reported to protect the rights of the pupils who were getting educational services from the said institution. This is one example of an instance of the breach of international law.
Treaties form a good basis of the difference on state responsibilities. International provides different treaties to various countries. The treaties should be in line with the responsibility of the state. In this regard, a state situated in the coastal region would not have the same treaty as that state in the arid areas. Moreover, the state should be a signatory to the said treaty for it to be effective in that state. A treaty would not be effective unless the state has subscribed into it. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the custodian of the treaties signed by Australia on international law. Therefore, there is would be no extradition by the Commission for International Law in the absence of a treaty. The treaty acts as a legal document that binds the state with the international law.
Generally, there are some principles that govern extradition. One of the principles is “double criminality”. It states that the offence for which extradition is sought to be made should be should be a crime in both states at the time of the commission of the offence. For the offence to be extraditable, it should be punishable in both states. For instance, even if extradition request was made after Philippines adopted its hacker legislation; the charge will not be made since the law provides that the offence must be punishable in both states at the time of commission of the offence.
Another important principle under extradition is non-discrimination clause. ‘The requesting state should ensure that there are no available reasons that the person would be charged in the other state in the account of discrimination[2]. Such accounts may be on gender, religion, race, nationality, ethnic region or even political affiliation. Therefore, extradition ensures that there is no discrimination.
Bibliography
UNODC, ‘The Doha declaration: Promoting Culture of lawfulness’ (2018) Retrieved at https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/organized-crime/module-11/key-issues/extradition.html
AG, ‘Attorney-General’s Department: International Law’ (2018) Retrieved at https://www.ag.gov.au/Internationalrelations/InternationalLaw/Pages/default.aspx