Chapter 4

Question 1

what is absolute theory of state immunity?

Answer 1

doctrine that protects all foreign state acts from domestic courts

Question 2

What is acta jure imperii?

Answer 2

Latin for “sovereign act”; act that can only be undertaken by a state, not a private
company

Question 3

what is acta jure gestionis?

Answer 3

Latin for “commercial act”; act that can be undertaken by a private company

Question 4

what is admissibility?

Answer 4

criteria that affect a legal body’s willingness to rule, usually based on the specific facts of
the case

Question 5

what is advisory opinion?

Answer 5

a non-binding document that answers legal questions submitted by an international organization

Question 6

what is arbitration?

Answer 6

a process in which one or more individuals decide a dispute based on evidence and
arguments

Question 7

what is civil remedy?

Answer 7

a remedy primarily aimed at making a victim whole

Question 8

what is compromissory clause?

Answer 8

treaty text that gives authority to an international legal body to hear disputes
about the treaty’s interpretation or application

Question 9

what is consular immunity?

Answer 9

the principle that protects consular officials from criminal (but not civil) actions in
domestic courts of a foreign state

Question 10

what is Countermeasure?

Answer 10

legal violation taken in response to a prior a wrongful act by another state

Question 11

what is Criminal remedy?

Answer 11

a remedy primarily aimed at punishing a violator

Question 12

what is Diplomatic immunity?

Answer 12

the principle that protects diplomats from civil and criminal actions in domestic
courts of a foreign state

Question 13

what is Erga omnes obligation?

Answer 13

an obligation to the international community as a whole

Question 14

what is individual petition?

Answer 14

process that allows individuals to directly complain to an international organization
if they believe that their rights have been violated by a state

Question 15

what is the International community?

Answer 15

a group of global actors with legal interests and personality, independent of
its members

Question 16

what is investor-state dispute settlement?

Answer 16

system of legalized dispute settlement that allows foreign investors to directly sue their host states using international arbitration

Question 17

what is judicial economy?

Answer 17

the principle that a legal body should decline to make a ruling that is not necessary to
resolve a dispute

Question 18

what is judicial propriety?

Answer 18

the principle that a legal body should decline to make a ruling that would not serve a judicial function

Question 19

what is Jurisdiction?

Answer 19

authority a legal body to rule on a dispute

Question 20

what is Naming and shaming?

Answer 20

public condemnation of noncompliant states

Question 21

what is Obiter dictum?

Answer 21

Latin for “something said in passing”; a statement in a judgment that is not necessary to resolve the given legal dispute

Question 22

what is peremptory norm?

Answer 22

according to the VCLT, “a norm accepted and recognized by the international community of States as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted and which can be modified only by a subsequent norm of general international law having the same character”

Question 23

what is proportionality?

Answer 23

principle that force and coercion must be commensurate with a state’s objectives or
injury; applies to countermeasures, use of force (jus ad bellum), and armed conflict (jus in bello)

Question 24

what is protective principle?

Answer 24

claim that a state can regulate and punish acts with systematic and important effects
on the state’s national interests, like its security

Question 25

what is restricted theory of immunity?

Answer 25

doctrine that only protects a foreign state’s sovereign acts (and not its commercial acts) from domestic courts

Question 26

what is retorsion?

Answer 26

a lawful act used to punish a state

Question 27

what is Right to diplomatic protection?

Answer 27

the doctrine that states have the right to protect their nationals at the international level

Question 28

what is scorecard diplomacy?

Answer 28

public grading of states to influence behavior

Question 29

what is socialization?

Answer 29

informal process in which diverse actors internalize social norms through their interactions

Question 30

what is standing?

Answer 30

admissibility requirement that the actor filing a case must have a legal interest in the dispute

Question 31

what is state immunity?

Answer 31

the principle that a domestic court should not rule on a foreign state act without that state’s consent