A Panoramic Review of the State Practice Section in the Asian Yearbook of International Law

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the State Practice section in the Asian Yearbook of International Law from Vol. 1 to Vol. 24 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary issue of the Asian Yearbook of International Law . For the past 24 volumes, state practice rapporteurs from 16 Asian countries 1 have reported various sources of state practice such as legislation, judicial decisions, government statements made at the United Nations and international conferences. As was evident from the voluminous record, the State Practice section from the past volumes covered topics ranging from state immunity, extradition, law of the sea, international human rights, relation ship between international law and domestic law, territorial disputes among others. This collection of state reports revealed continuous efforts from Asian countries to enact the necessary legislation to give domestic effect to inter national treaties to which they assumed an obligation. Such efforts to abide by international obligation were also reflected in a number of court cases by referring to relevant international instruments. One notable point about the state practice of Asian countries is that there were relatively few cases of inter national adjudication among Asian countries. It can be inferred from such a finding that governments of Asian countries have preferred diplomacy over legal adjudication as a way of dispute settlement when faced with a conflict or dispute with other countries. The collection of state report from Asian coun tries over the three decades have undoubtedly contributed to the development of international law as such evidence of state practice forms an essential part of customary international law. country. While distinction between international law and private international law become obscure years, this sought to confine the subject matter primarily related to public international In summary, the contents are summarized in chronological order, and some where are arranged by different of state