PIL - Final Exam
PIL - Final Exam
PIL - Final Exam
2. Please discuss the status of international boundary rivers. How such rivers are shared
in international law and what happens if there is a change in the flow of such rivers?
In certain circumstances, you do have the boundary line between 2 or more states. The
general approach while we are splitting the boundary between 2 countries is that the first
question that we should ask: whether that respective river is navigable or non-navigable.
These are used for the purpose of navigation. If you are able to use it for the purpose of
navigation to carry something, then this river is navigable. If it is navigable then you are
taking that river and calculating what far of that respective river is navigable part. And you
are taking navigable portion of the river and splitting it into two. Part 1 belongs to one
country and part 2 belongs to another country. If it is not navigable river, you are taking this
coast and another baseline of the river splitting into two and this portion belongs to you and
another portion belongs to that country. In short, where there is a navigable channel, the
boundary will follow the middle line of that channel. Where there is no such channel, the
boundary line will, in general, be the middle line of the river itself or of its principal arm.
3. By giving samples, please clarify status of leases and servitudes in international law.
Lease is a kind of territorial right meaning that full sovereignty to territories are not
existent, you need to create them. For example, let’s suppose that there is a territory which
belongs to few states. Lease helps to take territory from a country B, pay for the space to
operate there. Quanta Namo Prison can be example of this. After Spain war, USA signed an
agreement to release some territory from Cuba to USA. Another example can be related to
Panama channel. USA and Panama agreed to give away Panama’s small portion to USA’s
control. When it comes to servitude, it is another category of territorial rights which gives us
a right of passage from country A to country B. Turkey’s limitation of Asian part of Turkey
for European Union, Turkish Republic period provided servitude rights to third countries:
Russia to pass through Black Sea to limit Turkish sovereignty. Another example is Suveysh
channel which signed by all countries in the world to pass through this channel within
Egyptian territories.
4. Explain the doctrine of uti possidetis in international law. What may happen if there
is no uti possidetis during the process of identification of territory?
Uti possidetis is something like requirements for people to apply for demarcation and
delimitation (effective control principle). Derives from the colonial past, used mainly for the
colonial powers. Asks you to look at previous administrative boundaries to say that we have
two independent states, but we should also consider previous applications. When we have no
uti possidetis then we apply general effective control policy, since administrative line has not
been found to define the territories.
2. Please list the organs of the United Nations and provide description of their
organization and functions.
United Nations Organs were established with accordance to San Francisco conference
with UN charter and ICJ statute, created a very universal organization with a purpose of
protecting peace and security to prevent humanity from entering WWIII. The United Nations
has 6 main organs. These are the General Assembly, the Security Council, Economic and
Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the Secretariat and the International Court of Justice.
1) The General Assembly - The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking
and representative organ of the UN. All 193 Member States of the UN are represented in the
General Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal representation. 2) The
Security Council - The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter,
for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members (5 permanent and
10 non-permanent members). Each Member has one vote. 3) Economic and Social Council -
The Economic and Social Council is the principal body for coordination, policy review,
policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well
as implementation of internationally agreed development goals. 4) The Trusteeship Council -
The Trusteeship Council's aim is to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories
that had been placed under the administration of seven Member States and ensure that
adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence.
5) The Secretariat - The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of
international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by
the General Assembly and the Organization's other principal bodies. 6) The International
Court of Justice - The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal
disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to
it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.