Reports, vol. 21 (1989) and Noble
(supra).
Ventures Inc. vs. Romania
15. Paragraph 1 of the general commentary reported at page
31 of the Commentaries states:
“These articles seek to formulate, by way of codification
and progressive development, the basic rules of
international law concerning the responsibility of States
for their internationally wrongful acts. The emphasis is on
the secondary rules of State responsibility: that is to say,
the general conditions under international law for the
State to be considered responsible for wrongful actions or
omissions, and the legal consequences which flow
therefrom. The articles do not attempt to define the
content of the international obligations, the breach of
which gives rise to responsibility. This is the function of the
primary rules, whose codification would involve restating
most of substantive customary and conventional
international law.”
16. Thus where a primary rule exists that places an obligation
under international law on a State, in the event that an
allegation of non-compliance with such obligation is made
against that State a number of other considerations would
arise that the Articles seek to address. These considerations
include the role of international law as distinct from the
internal law of the State in characterizing conduct as
unlawful, as well as a determination of the circumstances
under which such conduct is attributable to the State as a
subject of international law. See paragraph 3 of the general
commentary to the Articles.
REFERENCE No. 10 OF 2013
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