Paper's abstract

Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Obligation in International Law
Today like yesterday, obligation in international law rests on consent, because it is based on the agreement concluded by its formally equal, primary subjects, States. However, since the universal affirmation, after 1945, of the international rights of the human person, a new type of international obligations has made its appearance. These obligations have to be fulfilled by the States on the account of the affirmation - even partially fictitious - of values said to be common to everyone. This however does not mean that all consensual element has disappeared from this new type of obligation, their effectiveness remaining conditioned to their acceptance, even when not formalized. But the fact remains that a truly positivist process is not to deny the existence of conflicting strains between agreed upon and assumed obligations, on the contrary positivism requires one to acknowledge such a phenomenon because its constitutes a large part of the dynamic which is specific to today's international law and, probably, to tomorrow's.

Key Words : obligation, international
t. 44, 2000 : p. 217-231

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