State Responsibility

State Responsibility in 2013

United States views on international law [1] in relation to State Responsibility: Also on October 21, 2013, Mr. Hill delivered remarks on the International Law Commission’s draft articles on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts (“draft articles on State responsibility”) at the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee. As referenced by Mr. Hill, the United States submitted its original comments on the draft articles in 2001. See this world legal encyclopedia (in relation to issues that took place in the year 2001) at 364-80 for discussion of, and excerpts from, the U.S. comments on the draft articles. Mr. Hill’s remarks are available at (link resource) usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/215749.htm and include the following:

We thank the Secretary General for his helpful report (A/68/69) compiling the written comments of States on the future status of the draft articles.

As previously stated, the United States continues to believe that the draft articles are most valuable in their present form, and that future action with regard to the articles is neither necessary nor desirable. For additional details, I would refer delegations to the comments submitted by the United States on March 2, 2001, as reported in document A/CN.4/515.

We believe there is little to be gained in terms of additional authority or clarity through the negotiation of a convention. As evidenced by the Secretary General’s report (A/68/72) on the application of the draft articles by international courts and tribunals, the draft articles already have tremendous influence and importance. Likewise for States and other international actors, the draft articles have proven to be a useful guide both on what the law is and on how the law might be progressively developed.

Some Aspects of State Responsibility

However, we share the concern expressed by a number of States in their written comments that the process of negotiating a convention could risk undermining the very important work undertaken by the Commission over several decades, particularly if the resulting convention deviated from important existing rules or did not enjoy widespread acceptance. We believe the better course is to allow the draft articles to guide and settle the continuing development of the customary international law of state responsibility.