This study is concerned with the following question. To what extent, at the present stage of development of the international community, is individual consent required for an international person to be affected by changes in international law, and how far is his consent irrelevant or ineffective? As to new persons the first part of the question needs, of course, some adjustment so that it should be phrased: to what extent would the consent of the new person be required in order for him to be bound by international law existing at the time of his birth?

This study deals with the question whether there is, to-day, an international right of innocent passage of warships through territorial waters in time of peace. With this in view it will first be examined which links there are with other fields of international law; then will follow a more comprehensive review of the fundamentals of the problem.

When, on 12 August 1949, the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva finished its work, an important part of the law of armed conflict had been “codified and progressively developed” in the light of past experience both of the Second World War and other recent armed conflicts. However, this was a far cry from saying that one could lean back in satisfaction over a job well done; indeed, equally –or perhaps even more– important problems of the law of armed conflict had remained outside the scope of the Conference and, hence, had not found a solution in the four Conventions it had adopted. The Conference had, in fact, been restricted to an examination of the problems concerning protection of war victims rather than those concerning warfare proper; and, although the IVth or Civilians Convention in particular incidentally deals with the power of belligerents to attack enemy territory, the problem of the protection of the civil population against the dangers of modern warfare had remained essentially open.