Thématique N°12

Note on International Justice and Human Rights, by Ahmed Mahiou

Summary

Although international law has existed since ancient times, international justice is a recent phenomenon. This gap is due to the fact that international justice calls into question sovereign States, which gives rise to a certain number of consequences.

For a long time, an absolute conception of sovereignty has prevailed and brought about two major consequences, particularly with regard to human rights. On the one hand, justice is a State prerogative which the State alone has the power to exercise over any act occurring within its territory. On the other hand, a State cannot be subject to any other jurisdiction without giving its prior consent. This consent first came about during disputes pitting two States against each other. In order to avoid war, they tended to turn to more peaceful means, including international justice. This was already considerable progress enshrined in the Hague Conventions on peaceful dispute settlement of 29 July 1899 and 18 October 1907 and later upheld by other conventions which implemented arbitrators and judges. However, it was only recently that States accepted the competence of an international judge in disputes between States and individuals.

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