88 Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-third session that these arise towards or are invoked by a person or entity other than a State. In other words, the provisions of Part Two are without prejudice to any right, arising from the international responsibility of a State, which may accrue directly to any person or entity other than a State, and article 33 makes this clear. Article 29. Continued duty of performance The legal consequences of an internationally wrongful act under this Part do not affect the continued duty of the responsible State to perform the obligation breached. Commentary (1) Where a State commits a breach of an international obligation, questions as to the restoration and future of the legal relationship thereby affected are central. Apart from the question of reparation, two immediate issues arise, namely, the effect of the responsible State’s conduct on the obligation which has been breached, and cessation of the breach if it is continuing. The former question is dealt with by article 29, the latter by article 30. (2) Article 29 states the general principle that the legal consequences of an internationally wrongful act do not affect the continued duty of the State to perform the obligation it has breached. As a result of the internationally wrongful act, a new set of legal relations is established between the responsible State and the State or States to whom the international obligation is owed. But this does not mean that the pre-existing legal relation established by the primary obligation disappears. Even if the responsible State complies with its obligations under Part Two to cease the wrongful conduct and to make full reparation for the injury caused, it is not relieved thereby of the duty to perform the obligation breached. The continuing obligation to perform an international obligation, notwithstanding a breach, underlies the concept of a continuing wrongful act (see article 14) and the obligation of cessation (see subparagraph (a) of article 30). (3) It is true that in some situations the ultimate effect of a breach of an obligation may be to put an end to the obligation itself. For example, a State injured by a material breach of a bilateral treaty may elect to terminate the treaty.424 But as the relevant provisions of the 1969 Vienna Convention make clear, the mere fact of a breach and even of a repudiation of a treaty does not terminate the treaty.425 It is a matter for the injured State to react to the breach to the extent permitted by the Convention. The injured State may have no interest in terminating the treaty as distinct from calling for its continued performance. Where a treaty is duly terminated for breach, the termination does not affect legal relationships which have accrued under the treaty prior to its termination, includ424 See footnote 422 above. Indeed, in the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project case, ICJ held that continuing material breaches by both parties did not have the effect of terminating the 1977 Treaty on the Construction and Operation of the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Barrage System (see footnote 27 above), p. 68, para. 114. 425 ing the obligation to make reparation for any breach.426 A breach of an obligation under general international law is even less likely to affect the underlying obligation, and indeed will never do so as such. By contrast, the secondary legal relation of State responsibility arises on the occurrence of a breach and without any requirement of invocation by the injured State. (4) Article 29 does not need to deal with such contingencies. All it provides is that the legal consequences of an internationally wrongful act within the field of State responsibility do not affect any continuing duty to comply with the obligation which has been breached. Whether and to what extent that obligation subsists despite the breach is a matter not regulated by the law of State responsibility but by the rules concerning the relevant primary obligation. Article 30. Cessation and non-repetition The State responsible for the internationally wrongful act is under an obligation: (a) to cease that act, if it is continuing; (b) to offer appropriate assurances and guarantees of non-repetition, if circumstances so require. Commentary (1) Article 30 deals with two separate but linked issues raised by the breach of an international obligation: the cessation of the wrongful conduct and the offer of assurances and guarantees of non-repetition by the responsible State if circumstances so require. Both are aspects of the restoration and repair of the legal relationship affected by the breach. Cessation is, as it were, the negative aspect of future performance, concerned with securing an end to continuing wrongful conduct, whereas assurances and guarantees serve a preventive function and may be described as a positive reinforcement of future performance. The continuation in force of the underlying obligation is a necessary assumption of both, since if the obligation has ceased following its breach, the question of cessation does not arise and no assurances and guarantees can be relevant.427 (2) Subparagraph (a) of article 30 deals with the obligation of the State responsible for the internationally wrongful act to cease the wrongful conduct. In accordance with article 2, the word “act” covers both acts and omissions. Cessation is thus relevant to all wrongful acts extending in time “regardless of whether the conduct of a State is 426 See, e.g., “Rainbow Warrior” (footnote 46 above), p. 266, citing Lord McNair (dissenting) in Ambatielos, Preliminary Objection, I.C.J. Reports 1952, p. 28, at p. 63. On that particular point the Court itself agreed, ibid., p. 45. In the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project case, Hungary accepted that the legal consequences of its termination of the 1977 Treaty on the Construction and Operation of the GabčíkovoNagymaros Barrage System on account of the breach by Czechoslovakia were prospective only, and did not affect the accrued rights of either party (see footnote 27 above), pp. 73–74, paras. 125–127. The Court held that the Treaty was still in force, and therefore did not address the question. 427 1969 Vienna Convention, art. 70, para. 1.