Alexander Orakhelashvili
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546114
- eISBN:
- 9780191712203
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546114.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This monograph analyses the questions raised by the legal effects of peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens), reflected in Article 53 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. ...
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This monograph analyses the questions raised by the legal effects of peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens), reflected in Article 53 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. A comprehensive study of this problem has been lacking so far in international legal doctrine. Peremptory norms, although often criticised and even more often approached with sceptical nihilism, nevertheless attract growing doctrinal and practical attention, and have increasing importance in determining the permissible limits on the action of State and non-State actors in different areas. In view of this overriding impact on what might otherwise be instances of the law-making process, peremptory norms concern a constitutional aspect of international law. Peremptory norms are non-derogable norms, and the concept of derogation is among the key concepts analysed here. Derogation from peremptory norms can be attempted in a wide variety of situations, but if peremptory norms are to operate as norms and not merely as aspirations, they must generate consequences that are also peremptory. This effects-oriented character of peremptory norms is examined in a variety of fields. The hierarchical superiority of peremptory norms is not limited to the sphere of primary legal relations, but becomes most crucially relevant after a specific peremptory norm is breached. A norm's peremptory character is relevant not only for its substance but also for its consequences; peremptoriness consists primarily in the capacity to impact through its effects upon conflicting acts, situations and agreements.Less
This monograph analyses the questions raised by the legal effects of peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens), reflected in Article 53 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. A comprehensive study of this problem has been lacking so far in international legal doctrine. Peremptory norms, although often criticised and even more often approached with sceptical nihilism, nevertheless attract growing doctrinal and practical attention, and have increasing importance in determining the permissible limits on the action of State and non-State actors in different areas. In view of this overriding impact on what might otherwise be instances of the law-making process, peremptory norms concern a constitutional aspect of international law. Peremptory norms are non-derogable norms, and the concept of derogation is among the key concepts analysed here. Derogation from peremptory norms can be attempted in a wide variety of situations, but if peremptory norms are to operate as norms and not merely as aspirations, they must generate consequences that are also peremptory. This effects-oriented character of peremptory norms is examined in a variety of fields. The hierarchical superiority of peremptory norms is not limited to the sphere of primary legal relations, but becomes most crucially relevant after a specific peremptory norm is breached. A norm's peremptory character is relevant not only for its substance but also for its consequences; peremptoriness consists primarily in the capacity to impact through its effects upon conflicting acts, situations and agreements.
Simon Butt and Tim Lindsey
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199677740
- eISBN:
- 9780191757242
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199677740.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This chapter focuses on the various types of laws that Indonesian institutions can make, the processes for their issuance, and the bodies that issue them. Most of these laws, including national ...
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This chapter focuses on the various types of laws that Indonesian institutions can make, the processes for their issuance, and the bodies that issue them. Most of these laws, including national statutes, emergency laws, and government, presidential, and regional regulations, appear on Indonesia’s ‘hierarchy of laws’, which ranks them by their relative authority. This chapter highlights significant problems in the operation of the hierarchy, deriving primarily from: unclear delineation of the relative jurisdictions of Indonesia’s multiple lawmakers; the use of laws that do not appear on the hierarchy; and the lack of effective mechanisms to resolve conflicts between laws and jurisdictional disputes between the bodies that make them. These problems are the root cause of much of Indonesia’s legal dysfunction, identified in other chapters of this book.Less
This chapter focuses on the various types of laws that Indonesian institutions can make, the processes for their issuance, and the bodies that issue them. Most of these laws, including national statutes, emergency laws, and government, presidential, and regional regulations, appear on Indonesia’s ‘hierarchy of laws’, which ranks them by their relative authority. This chapter highlights significant problems in the operation of the hierarchy, deriving primarily from: unclear delineation of the relative jurisdictions of Indonesia’s multiple lawmakers; the use of laws that do not appear on the hierarchy; and the lack of effective mechanisms to resolve conflicts between laws and jurisdictional disputes between the bodies that make them. These problems are the root cause of much of Indonesia’s legal dysfunction, identified in other chapters of this book.
