Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/71125
Title: The individual in the public international law
Authors: Sammut Ciappara, Mark Anthony (1997)
Keywords: International law
Law
Human rights
Issue Date: 1997
Citation: Sammut Ciappara, M. A. (1997). The individual in the public international law (Master's dissertation).
Abstract: In this thesis I have dealt with the problem of the position of the individual in Public International Law. This, while surely not a problem which has arisen recently, - as will be seen in the following chapters is was tackled by many of the early jurists, - has acquired greater relevance today owing to the movement for the protection and promotion of human rights. One must admit that there is also a parallel movement at the international level for the punishment of persons who commit certain acts which are classified as crimes at international law, - these being crimes which shock and jeopardise the existence and peace of the international community. In the first chapter I tried to explain certain crucial terms as 'international law' and 'subject of international law'. In the last part of this chapter there is a division into two of the notion of 'subject of international law' - in turn each part will be further sub-divided into two other parts - a division, which will characterise the rest of the thesis. On the 'right-side' there is the division into a 'subject of rights' and a 'subject of proceedings', while on the 'duty-side' there is a division into a 'subject of duties' and a 'subject of responsibilities'. In the second chapter I dealt briefly with the view taken by various prominent authors and publicists concerning the position of the individual in international law. Basically there are three main schools of thought; the first which holds that only States are the subject of international law; the second school, which argues that like for any other law the only possible subjects of international law are individuals; and the third school which holds that both States and individuals are subjects of international law albeit with different rights and duties. The third chapter deals with the notion of the individual as a 'subject of duties'. After an explanation of this notion there are cited some of the duties imposed on the individual by international law. This list of duties is in no way exhaustive and only those duties which the present writer felt to be the more important ones were briefly explained. It was beyond the scope of this thesis either to try to give a complete list of these duties or to explain them in great detail. The fourth chapter deals with the notion of the individual as a 'subject of rights' at international law. Here there is an explanation of how the rights of the individual became to be recognised as worthy of protection by international law and there is also explained how such rights are protected in times of war. There is also a list and a brief description of the more important international instruments protecting human rights, the types of rights protected by each and the machinery set-up to ensure enforceability of the stipulated rights. Chapter five deals with the cases where when the individual is deemed to be a 'subject of responsibilities' and great emphasis is laid in the two important instances when this occurred, the Nuremberg Trials and more recently before the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In chapter six I dealt with the instances where the individual is considered as a 'subject of proceedings' and this chapter basically deals with the Central American Court of 1907-1919, the Prize Court, the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal and the Tribunal for Upper Silesia. The last chapter deals with the position of the individual before tribunals or courts exercising international jurisdiction. Such aspect was analysed in relation to three important international courts, - the European Court for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms at Strasbourg, the European Court of Justice at Luxembourg and the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Finally there is a brief conclusion where I put forward what, in my modest opinion, is the present position of the individual in international law.
Description: LL.D.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/71125
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacLaw - 1958-2009

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