State responsibility in international law

#Stateresponsibility in #internationallaw
State responsibility is one of the fundamental principles of International Law. It arises out of the international legal system and the principles of State sovereignty and equality of States. It implies that if a State commits an internationally wrongful (unlawful) act against another State, it will be internationally responsible for reparation.
The subject of State responsibility has been the most difficult question of the codification work of the International Law Commission (ILC). The ILC has been working extensively on this subject. In 1975, the ILC initiated its work on the draft articles concerning State responsibility. The Articles on the State Responsibility was finally adopted by the ILC on August 9, 2001. The General Assembly adopted the resolution 83/56 of December 12, 2001, taking note of the International Law Commission's Articles on the State Responsibility and recommending it to the member States of the United Nations. The ILC Articles, in addition to the State practice and the decisions of international tribunals (the case law) on the subject, constitute the international law of State responsibility.
The law of State responsibility is concerned with the nature of the State responsibility, the legal consequences resulted from, and the implementation of such responsibility.

Section 1: The Basis and Nature of State Responsibility
State responsibility is founded on three basic elements. The first element is the existence of an international legal obligation in force between the concerned States. The second is the occurrence of a wrongful act or the omission of an act in violation of such an obligation, which is imputable to the State. The third is that loss or damage has resulted from such wrongful act or omission. These three elements are the requirements of establishing the responsibility of the State, which have been made in a number of leading international legal cases and reiterated by the ILC Articles. The Articles provides that every internationally wrongful act (a delict) of a State entails responsibility. It defines internationally wrongful act as a conduct consisting of an action or omission attributable to the State under International Law and constitutes a breach of an international obligation of the State. A breach of an international obligation is defined as an act which is not in conformity with what is required of the State by that obligation, regardless of its origin or character.
Responsibility is the necessary corollary of a right. All rights of an international character involve international responsibility.
International Law does not distinguish between contractual (conventional) and tortious responsibility. International responsibility relates both to breaches of treaty and to other breaches of legal duty. Any violation by a State of any obligation of whatever origin or character gives rise to State responsibility and consequently to the duty of reparation. Reparation therefore is the indispensable complement of a failure of a State to apply any of its obligations.
State responsibility only arises when the act or omission which constitutes a breach of legal obligation is imputable (attributable) to a State. It may be founded on fault or no fault concept.
Notably, it is important to mention here that a State is responsible for wrongful acts which constitute international delicts, not international crimes. Because of the controversy concerning State responsibility for international crimes, the ILC Articles does not mention international crimes. However, the ILC Draft Articles made a distinction between international crimes and international delicts. The Draft Articles provided that an international wrongful act resulting from the breach of an international obligation which was essential for the protection of fundamental interests of the international community and which was recognized as a crime by that community constituted an international crime examples of such international crimes were aggression, colonial domination, slavery, genocide, apartheid and massive pollution of the atmosphere. All other international wrongful acts constituted international delicts.
While it is apparent that a State is responsible for international delicts, it is not clear that it is responsible for international crimes. The question of State criminal responsibility has been highly controversial. Some have argued that the concept is of no legal value and cannot be justified. Others have argued that since 1945 the attitude towards certain crimes committed by State has altered so as to bring them within the scope of International Law. .....