Challenges of the Knowledge Society (May 2012)
BREACHING AN INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATION-THE OBJECTIVE ELEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE FOR INTERNATIONALLY WRONGFUL ACTS
Abstract
The responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts can be triggered in case two essential elements are cumulatively met, namely: the subjective element, the chargeability of the wrongful act and the objective element, the violation of the obligation assumed internationally. The violation of an international obligation is the objective element of the international responsibility of the state for internationally wrongful acts. The subject of international law is the holder of various rights and the subject of various obligations. Such rights or obligations arise from concrete legal cases, that is they have been determined by the agreement of will of the subjects of international law. The subject of law acts or does not act for the purposes of exerting the subjective act, its faculty or power lead to a violation of international obligations. The obligation has been created and imposed to the subject of international law based on a legal document, be it an international treaty, a decision of a arbitral or jurisdictional court, a decision of an international organization, etc. The violation of this obligation, by omission or action, constitutes the element of responsibility. There is a breach of an international obligation by a State when an act of that State is not in conformity with what is required of it by that obligation, regardless of its origin or character. An act of a State does not constitute a breach of an international obligation unless the State is bound by the obligation in question at the time the act occurs.
