Public Law Studies Quarterly

The Preliminary Objection of "Third-State Actions" in the 2021 ‎Jurisdictional Judgment of the International Court of Justice

Document Type : Article

Authors

Sayed Taha Mousavi Mirkalayee 1
Savalan Mohamadzadeh 2

1 Former Assistant Prof., Department of Public Law and International Law, Faculty of Judicial Law, University of Judicial Sciences and Administrative Services, Tehran, Iran

2 MA. in (International Law), Faculty of Judicial Law, University of Judicial Sciences and Administrative Services, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2021.329735.2872
Abstract
Following the imposition of sanctions by the United States, Iran initiated proceedings against the United States at the International Court of Justice on July 16, 2018, in accordance with Article 21, paragraph 2 of the Treaty of Amity. The Court's proceedings at the jurisdictional stage led to a ruling on February 3, 2021, affirming the Court's jurisdiction. In the initial proceedings, the United States, as the respondent, raised several objections to the Court's jurisdiction, one of which was a so-called "third-state actions" objection. The main question of this paper  is: how did the issue of third-state actions, as one of the respondent's jurisdictional objections, reflect in the jurisdictional judgment of the Court? This paper, using a descriptive-analytical method, concludes that based on the Court’s interpretation what is significant in establishing jurisdiction to examine the violation of the Treaty of Amity—considered a bilateral treaty between the two parties—is the act of the United States imposing sanctions, rather than the manner of execution and the executor of that act, which could be the United States or any other state.

Keywords

third state actions
United ‎States
Iran
the ‎International Court of ‎Justice
judgment on ‎jurisdiction. ‎
  1. انگلیسی

 

  1. A) Documents & Cases
  2. I.C.J, Alleged Violations of Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights (Iran v. USA), Judgment of 3 February 2021.
  3. I.C.J, East Timor (Portugal v. Australia), Judgment of 30 June 1995.
  4. ICJ Reports, Application of Alleged Violations of Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights (Iran v. USA), Filed in the Registry of the Court on 16 July 2018.
  5. U.N. Treaty Series, "The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons", Adopted by General Assembly at 1 July 1968, Entered into Force at 5 march 1970.
  6. INFCIRC/214, THE TEXT OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN IRAN AND THE AGENCY FOR THE APPLICATION OF SAFEGUARDS IN CONNECTION WITH THE TREATY ON THE NON-PROLIFERATIO OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, 13 December 1974.
  7. IAEA, Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Repot by Director General,(Gov/2003/32).
  8. IAEA, Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Resolution adopted on 4 February 2006 , (Gov/2006/14).
  9. NSPM / National Security Presidential Memorandum, Administration of Donald J. Trump, National Security Presidential Memorandum on Ceasing United States Participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Taking Additional Action To Counter Iran's Malign Influence and Deny Iran All Paths to a Nuclear Weapon, May 8, 2018.
  10. The security council , S/RES/1696 (2006), Resolution 1696 (unscr.com).

10 . The security council ,S/RES/1737 (2006) ,Security Council Resolution 1737 - UNSCR.

 

Refrences In Persian:

  1. A) Articles
  2. Mirfakhraei, Seyed Hassan & Piri, Sadegh (2016), " Study on Applicability of Amity Treaty of 1955 for Propounding the Case in the ICJ in Regard to the Western Sanctions against Iran", Studies of International Relations Journal, No.34, pp.96-126 (In Persian).
  3. Mollakarami, Omid & Jalali, Mahmoud (2017), " Nature of JCPOA From Perspective of International Law", Quarterly Journal of Public Law Studies, No.1, pp.51-73 (In Persian).
  4. Movassaghi, Hassan (2007), " Analysis of the Judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Jurisdiction in case concerning East Timor (Portugal v. Australia. 30 june 1995)", Quarterly Journal of Allameh, No.15, pp.162-185 (In Persian).
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 54, Issue 4
Winter 2025
Autumn 2024
Pages 2441-2461

  • Receive Date 31 August 2021
  • Revise Date 11 November 2021
  • Accept Date 26 December 2021

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