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International Law

Series

2019

Customary International Law

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Legal Consequences Of The Separation Of The Chagos Archipelago From Mauritius In 1965, Diane Marie Amann Jan 2019

Legal Consequences Of The Separation Of The Chagos Archipelago From Mauritius In 1965, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Decolonization and its quite valid discontents lay at the center of the recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion regarding the territory and populations of the Chagos Archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean. Answering questions posed by the UN General Assembly, the concluded that because these islands were detached from Mauritius as a condition of independence, the decolonization of Mauritius had not been completed in accordance with international law. The Court further ruled unlawful the United Kingdom's continued administration of the Chagos Archipelago and called upon all UN member states to aid completion of the decolonization process. As detailed in …


Interstitial Space Law, Melinda (M.J.) Durkee Jan 2019

Interstitial Space Law, Melinda (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

Conventionally, customary international law is developed through the actions and beliefs of nations. International treaties are interpreted, in part, by assessing how the parties to the treaty behave. This Article observes that these forms of uncodified international law—custom and subsequent treaty practice—are also developed through a nation’s reactions, or failures to react, to acts and beliefs that can be attributed to it. I call this “attributed lawmaking.”

Consider the new commercial space race. Innovators like SpaceX and Blue Origin seek a permissive legal environment. A Cold-War-era treaty does not seem adequately to address contemporary plans for space. The treaty does, …