IX Emergency Situations and Armed Conflicts

Abstract

This chapter explores the legal rules applicable to extraordinary events and periods of economic and social disorder. The relevant international rules are contained in customary international law codified by the International Law Commission (ILC). Situations beyond the host State’s control are addressed in the ILC's Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA) under the headings ‘force majeure’ (Article 23), ‘distress’ (Article 24), and ‘necessity’ (Article 25). In addition, treaties for the protection of foreign investments contain relevant provisions. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) offers the doctrines of supervening impossibility of performance (Article 61) and of fundamental change of circumstances (Article 62) to deal with extraordinary developments such as emergencies and armed conflict. To the extent that the ILC Draft Articles represent the law governing the effects of armed conflict on treaties, they tend to support the principle of the continued applicability of investment treaties.