International Responsibility for Hostile Acts of Private Persons against Foreign States
Mankind's preoccupation with survival in this age has given renewed impetus to the idea of a world community deeply concerned with the prevention of friction between nations. The achievement to date has been largely in terms of efforts to control acts of
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INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOSTILE ACTS OF PRIVATE PERSONS AGAINST FOREIGN STATES
by
MANUEL R. GARCiA-MORA Projessot' oj Law, Fot'dham University
THE HAGUE MARTINUS NIJHOFF 1962
ISBN 978-94-015-0218-4 ISBN 978-94-015-0722-6 (eBook) DOl 10.1007/978-94-015-0722-6
Copyright 1962 by Martinus NijhofJ. The Hague. Netherlands All rights reserved. including the right to translate 01' to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
TO MARILYN IN GRATEFUL AND LOVING TRIBUTE TO HER FAITH, ENTHUSIASM AND DEDICATION
PREFACE
Mankind's preoccupation with survival in this age has given renewed impetus to the idea of a world community deeply concerned with the prevention of friction between nations. The achievement to date has been largely in terms of efforts to control acts of aggression committed by governments. Most people have assumed that the military rivalry between the great powers is the only threat confronting the world today. While readily conceding that this threat has placed mankind in a highly precarious situation, this book, on the other hand, reflects my conviction that any program designed to attain world peace will be significantly incomplete without the control of hostile actions which private persons have been known to commit against foreign nations. Experience shows that these actions not only endanger the good relations between states, but are also likely to plunge the world community into wars, thus spreading destruction and human suffering everywhere. The relation between hostile acts of private individuals and international peace was briefly discussed by Judge Philip C. Jessup in his book A MODERN LAW OF NATIONS. Speaking of the use of force by individuals, which is clearly the business of a new law of nations, he says on page 178 that "The problem of international law would be to catalogue those acts of individuals which have sufficient international significance to warrant placing their punishment under international auspices. Some of these would involve the illegal use of force and others would not. They might include terroristic activities, assassination of heads of state, counterfeiting of foreign currencies, the slave trade, traffic in narcotics, and unauthorized manufacture of atomic or other weapons." Undoubtedly, there are many hostile actions which private persons may commit against foreign states. Judge Jessup has given us a partial catalogue of them. Another scholar may well mention others. It is probably hard to get a consensus on the actions that should be included in a book of this kind. Bearing this in mind, I have limited the scope of this study by treating those acts which are likely to have
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PREFACE
a more immediate significance in the contemporary world, without losing sight of the knowledge given to us by experience. I am well aware that there may be objections to my arrangement, but in my decision I feel supported by the Draft Code of Offenses Against the Peace and Security of Mankind, proposed by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1951, whi
