DOCTRINES

DOCTRINES
1. Pacta sunt servanda is a fundamental principle of customary international law, codified under
Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. This principle states that "Every
treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith."
Pursuant to the principle of pacta sunt servanda, states are bound to fulfill their treaty
obligations except when there exists a valid ground for treaty termination or modification.
The principle of rebus sic stantibus, which translates to "things thus standing," allows for the
termination or modification of a treaty pursuant to a supervening fundamental change in
circumstances as from the treaty's conclusion, thereby rendering a treaty's continued
enactment impossible or radically different from what the parties initially contemplated at the
onset of the undertaking.
2. The principle “sic utere tuo ut alienum non-laedas” or “use your own property in such a way
that you do not injure other people's.
3. Under the principle of state responsibility, states are accountable for wrongful acts that cause
injury to other states or their nationals. By disregarding its obligations under international
agreements and contributing to market instability, Bergenia may be held responsible for the
economic consequences of its actions.
In Phosphates in Morocco, the Permanent Court affirmed that when a State commits an
internationally wrongful act against another State, international responsibility is established
“immediately as between the two States.” Additionally, the International Court of Justice has
applied the principle on several occasions, for example in the Corfu Channel case, in the
Military and Paramilitary Activities case, and in the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project case. The
Court also referred to the principle in the advisory opinions on Reparation for Injuries, and on
the Interpretation of Peace Treaties, Second Phase, in which it stated that “refusal to fulfill a
treaty obligation involves international responsibility. Arbitral tribunals have repeatedly
affirmed the principle, for example in the Claims of Italian Subjects Resident in Peru cases, in
the Dickson Car Wheel Company case, in the International Fisheries Company case, in the
British Claims in the Spanish Zone of Morocco case, and in the Armstrong Cork Company
case. In the Rainbow Warrior case, the Arbitral Tribunal stresses that “any violation by a State
of any obligation, of whatever origin, gives rise to State responsibility.”
4. The principle of proportionality is encapsulated in Article 51, paragraph 5 (b) of the 1997
Additional Protocol I, which also reflects a customary international law. In simple words, this
principle prohibits attacks that would cause loss and injury to civilian life and/or damage to
civilian objects, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military
advantage anticipated.
5. Parties to a conflict must distinguish between civilians and combatants, as well as between
civilian objects and military objectives. Furthermore, under this principle, it does not allow
weapons which cannot distinguish civilians from the military.
6. The principle of humanity pertains to the prohibition of the use of any measure which is not
absolutely necessary for the purposes sought. On the other hand, the principle of chivalry
requires that there must be a proper warning before launching a bombardment.
7. Jus ad bellum refers to the conditions under which States may resort to war, or to the use of
armed force in general. It concerns the determination of whether the use of force is legal or
not. One relevant provision under jus ad bellum is the provision on prohibition of aggression
as set forth in the United Nations Charter, subject to exceptions of self-defense and when such
is authorized by the UN Security Council.
8. The Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols are the foundation of international
humanitarian law which governs armed combat behaviors and aims to mitigate its
consequences. The Convention seeks in particular to safeguard non-combatants (i.e. civilians,
health workers, and aid workers) and those who no longer participate in the hostilities such as
the injured, ill, and shipwrecked soldiers and prisoners of war. The Conventions and its
Protocols lay down the actions that must be taken to stop or prevent any violations against
them.
9. It is a recognized international law principle that each State has the right to sovereignty, and
independence from compulsion, and has the right to do all means necessary to maintain the
integrity of its borders. This principle is enshrined under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter
which provides:
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of
force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any
other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
10. Violation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.
11. Atlantis is justified in intervening with the conflict between Bergenia and the Ethlantians
under the international law principle of the Responsibility to Protect.
12. Article 4 of the UN Convention condemns all propaganda and all organizations which are
based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons of one color or ethnic
origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form,
and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement
to, or acts of, such discrimination and, to this end, with due regard to the principles embodied
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights expressly set forth in article 5 of
this Convention.

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10. Violation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of

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