As a result of the conflict that broke out on April 2, 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, the United States (and some other countries) applied a number of coercive economic measures against Argentina, which had serious political and economic effects, as well as an impact on the outcome of the conflict.

Since President Truman claimed zones of extended coastal jurisdiction for the United States in September 1945, the delimitation of zones of national jurisdiction between states with opposite or adjacent coasts has become a major legal and political issue in international relations. The development of the concept of the continental shelf during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the claim to extended fisheries zones or exclusive economic zones by nearly all coastal states under the sway of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea since the mid-1970s, gave rise to delimitation problems all over the world. Similar problems may arise if more states extend their territorial seas to 12 nautical miles, which they may do under the new United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention) of 1982. By now, a considerable number of delimitation agreements have been concluded on the continental shelf and/or the territorial sea, and even agreements on the delimitation of fisheries zones have been reported.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention) in December 1948. A representative of the United States signed the Convention, and President Truman later transmitted it to the Senate with a request that it give its advice and consent to ratification. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on the Convention in 1950. It has since held hearings on four occasions (1970, 1971, 1977 and 1981), and favorably reported the Convention to the Senate four times (1970, 1971, 1973 and 1976). However, the Senate has failed to act; a resolution of ratification was debated on the floor in 1973-1974, but it fell victim to a filibuster and the Convention remains in committee.

More than 30 years after the end of hostilities in the Second World War, 13 governments have confirmed the presence on their territories of large amounts of the material remnants of war, mostly land mines. They can be found in all the countries affected by the North African campaign of the Axis powers in 1940-1943, namely, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, as well as in Malta, Norway, Poland and even Australia. Armed conflicts that have taken place at a later time, for example, those in Vietnam, the Suez Canal Zone, the Sinai and other regions in the Near East, have created similar dangers, and there is no reason to believe that present and future conflicts will be any different.

The 35th session of the International Law Commission was held in Geneva from May 3 to July 22, 1983 under the chairmanship of Ambassador Laurel Francis. The Commission considered all seven substantive items on its agenda: state responsibility; jurisdictional immunities of states and their property; status of the diplomatic courier and the diplomatic bag not accompanied by diplomatic courier; the Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind; the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses; international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law; and relations between states and international organizations (second part of the topic). The Drafting Committee, which met a record 30 times, reported out a total of 15 articles concerning three of the above topics (jurisdictional immunities, state responsibility and the diplomatic courier and bag), all of which were provisionally adopted by the Commission. The entire session is dealt with in some detail in the Commission’s 1983 report to the General Assembly. Only the highlights will be covered here.

Since its founding in 1950, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has rendered invaluable services and assistance to millions of refugees throughout the world. Indeed, in recognition of its services, it has twice been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. However, the “entirely non-political character” of its work has been interpreted as precluding it from actively seeking solutions to the generation of refugees, particularly when the responsibilities of source countries are involved. The UNHCR is debarred altogether from concerning itself with the Palestinian refugees, even though the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was created specifically to aid them, is considerably narrower than that of the UNHCR vis-à-vis other refugees.

Fourteen years of Micronesian political status negotiations culminated in 1983 with the final signature of the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Governments of Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Upon being approved in accordance with its terms and the constitutional processes of the signatory Governments, the Compact will establish bilateral relationships between the United States and the new states emerging from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Approval of these future political status arrangements will also provide the basis for termination of the Trusteeship Agreement between the United States and the United Nations Security Council. The Compact defines an international political partnership between the United States and the freely associated states that is without precise precedent in international law or U.S. domestic practice. Under the Compact, each freely associated state will enjoy control over its internal affairs and its foreign relations, including competence to enter into international agreements. Mutual security arrangements, set forth in the Compact and its separate agreements, provide for a U.S. defense umbrella during the life of free association and long-term exclusion of third-country military forces, should any or all of the freely associated states opt for independence at some future date.