Table Of ContentKatrin Fenrich
The Evolving
International
Procedural
Capacity of
Individuals
The Evolving International Procedural Capacity
of Individuals
Katrin Fenrich
The Evolving International
Procedural Capacity
of Individuals
Katrin Fenrich
Institute for International Law of Peace
and Armed Conflict
Ruhr University Bochum
Bochum, Germany
ISBN 978-3-030-19280-8 ISBN 978-3-030-19281-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19281-5
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
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Contents
1 Preliminary Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 T he Individual’s Procedural Handicap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 A Matter of International Subjectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 D etermining International Procedural Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.3.1 Conventional Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3.2 Procedural Embedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.3.3 Substance of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4 Object of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.4.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.5 Outline of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2 Conventional Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.1 Accession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.1.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.1.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.1.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.1.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.2 Reservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.2.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.2.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.2.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.3 Withdrawal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.3.1 T raditional Human Rights Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.3.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.3.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.3.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
v
vi Contents
3 Procedural Embedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.1 The Power to Initiate Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.1.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.1.1.1 R estrictions Related to the Complainant . . . . . . . . 92
3.1.1.2 R estrictions Related to the Infringement
of Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.1.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.1.2.1 L imits to the Exercise of Diplomatic
Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.1.2.2 R estrictions to the State’s Discretion . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.1.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3.1.3.1 Triggering Criminal Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.1.3.2 I nstigating the Reparation Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.1.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.2 Local Remedies Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.2.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
3.2.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
3.2.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
3.3 Parallel International Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
3.3.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
3.3.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
3.3.3 Adhesion Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
3.3.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
3.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
4 Substance of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
4.1 Remedial Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
4.1.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
4.1.1.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
4.1.1.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
4.1.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
4.1.2.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
4.1.2.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
4.1.3 Adhesive Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
4.1.3.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
4.1.3.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
4.1.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
4.2 The Legal Nature of Remedial Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
4.2.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4.2.1.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4.2.1.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
4.2.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
4.2.2.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
4.2.2.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Contents vii
4.2.3 Adhesive Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
4.2.3.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
4.2.3.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
4.2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
4.3 Enforcement of Remedial Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4.3.1 U N Individual Complaint Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4.3.1.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4.3.1.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
4.3.2 Diplomatic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
4.3.2.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
4.3.2.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
4.3.3 Adhesive Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
4.3.3.1 I nterim Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
4.3.3.2 F inal Measures of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
4.3.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
4.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
5 Observations and Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
5.1 The Individual in International Adjudication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
5.1.1 T he UN Individual Complaint Procedure Before the UN
Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
5.1.2 D iplomatic Protection Before the ICJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
5.1.3 A dhesion Procedure Before the ICC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
5.2 The International Procedural Capacity of the Individual . . . . . . . . . . 266
5.2.1 C ommon Patterns of Evolving Procedural Strength . . . . . . . 267
5.2.2 T he Unsuitability of a Vertical Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
5.2.3 Limits and Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
5.3 A Step Towards Subjectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
5.3.1 T he Increasing Importance of International Judicial
Bodies: Active Adjudication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
5.3.2 T he Decreasing Importance of State Sovereignty:
Activist Adjudication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
5.3.3 T he Less Dependent Individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Table of Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Table of Other Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Abbreviations
CAT Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
CED International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance
CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
CERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination
CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child
CRMW International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families
CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
DADP Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection
DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council
HRC Human Rights Committee
ICC International Criminal Court
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
ICJ International Court of Justice
ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
ILC International Law Commission
NGO Non-governmental organization
OP Optional Protocol
OTP Office of the Prosecutor
PCIJ Permanent Court of International Justice
RoC Rules of the Court
RoP Rules of Procedure
TFV Trust Fund for Victims
ix
x Abbreviations
UN United Nations
UNTS United Nations Treaty Series
VCLT Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Chapter 1
Preliminary Remarks
1.1 The Individual’s Procedural Handicap
International law no longer turns a blind eye to the individual. Quite the contrary,
“with increasing frequency international legal norms directly address and engage
individuals”1 and confer rights and obligations upon them. Numerous international
treaties, agreements and protocols have been dedicated to the legal position of
human beings. Special Rapporteurs, Working Groups and treaty bodies have been
established to observe compliance with international Human Rights standards and
are consistently presenting suggestions to further advance the law. Criminal courts
and tribunals have been installed to prosecute the misconduct of individuals and
sanction the commission of international crimes.
The legal appearance of the individual at the international stage covers various
fields of international law. The law of armed conflict, international criminal law,
international economic law as well as international environmental law are promi-
nent examples for individual-infused areas of international law. The individual has
thus become an integral part of the international legal system and an “irreversible”2
legal reality impossible to ignore.
This increasing awareness for the individual and the shift of focus towards the
human aspect of the law3 has led scholars to proclaim the humanization4 or indi-
vidualization5 of the international legal order. These terms seek to describe “the
process by which we have taken the black box of the state and made it gradually
1 Peters (2016), p. 1.
2 Concurring Opinion of Judge C. Trindade to Inter-American Court of Human Rights, ‘Juridical
Condition and Human Rights of the Child’ (Advisory Opinion of 28 August 2002) OC-17/2002,
p. 9 para. 23.
3 Parlett (2011), p. 343.
4 Meron (2006).
5 van den Herik (2017), Peters (2016), p. 472.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1
K. Fenrich, The Evolving International Procedural Capacity of Individuals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19281-5_1
