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Abstract
In international law, the concept of erga omnes obligations refers to specifically determined obligations that states have towards the international community as a whole. In general legal theory the concept "erga omnes" (Latin: 'in relation to everyone') has origins dating as far back as Roman law and is used to describe obligations or rights towards all. In municipal law it has the effect towards all in another, general context.
The concept is very important because in today's structure of international society, composed of independent entities giving rise, as a rule, to legal relations on a consensual basis, erga omnes obligations can further enable the International Court of Justice to go beyond reciprocal relations among states based on consent in further developing international law on the basis of a natural law approach. By its very nature this affects the freedom of state consent and the sovereignty of states.
This paper will try to shed some light on this concept by analysing its meaning in international law, starting from its appearance, consequent development and its position at the present time.
Key words: erga omnes obligations, ratio decidendi, obiter dicta, stare decisis, jus cogens norms, aggression, genocide, slavery, racial discrimination, torture, self-determination.
Introduction
In its dictum on the Barcelona Traction case, the International Court of Justice, as the primary judicial organ of the United Nations, gave rise to the concept of erga omnes obligations in international law. The World Court specifically enumerated four erga omnes obligations: the outlawing of acts of aggression; the outlawing of genocide; protection from slavery; and protection from racial discrimination.i In this judgment the Court drew a distinction between the erga omnes obligations that a state has towards the international community as a whole and in whose protection all states have a legal interest, and the obligations of a state vis-à-vis another state.
In international law, the concept of erga omnes obligations refers to specifically determined obligations that states have towards the international community as a whole. Such obligations, as enumerated above, have been determined by the Barcelona Traction case, together with other subsequently developed obligations, such as the obligation to respect the principle of self-determination in the Case Concerning East Timorii and the Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the...