CYIL 2012

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION AT THE BEGINNING OF ITS NEW QUINQUENNIUM of international law applicable to the expulsion of aliens in the event of an armed conflict involving the expelling State (Art. 10). Another draft article prohibits disguised expulsion, which means the forcible departure of an alien from a State resulting indirectly from actions or omissions of the State (Art. 11). A State shall not resort to expulsion in order to circumvent an ongoing extradition procedure (Art. 13). Part Three focuses on protection of the rights of aliens subject to expulsion. First, it provides some general provisions, such as the obligation to respect the human dignity and human rights of aliens and the obligation not to discriminate in the context of the expulsion of aliens. Secondly, there are rules on protection required in the expelling State. The expelling State shall protect the right to life of an alien subject to expulsion and shall not subject such an alien to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Art. 17 and 18). Thirdly, as to the protection in relation to the State of destination, no alien shall be expelled to a State where his or her life or freedom would be threatened on grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national ethnic or social origin, property, birth or other status, or any other ground impermissible under international law (Art. 23). A State shall also not expel an alien to a State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Art. 24). Part Four provides for specific procedural rights of aliens subject to expulsion, including the right to effective remedies and a suspensive effect of an appeal against an expulsion decision (for an alien who is lawfully present in the territory). Finally, Part Five deals with legal consequences of expulsion. They include the right of an alien lawfully present in the territory of a State to be readmitted to the expelling State if it is established by a competent authority that the expulsion was unlawful (Art. 29), the protection of the property of an alien subject to expulsion (Art. 30) and responsibility of the expelling State in cases of unlawful expulsion (Art. 31). To sum up, the draft articles on the Expulsion of aliens, adopted in the first reading after a long discussion in the Commission, seem to be a rather balanced document reflecting both existing law in the area and certain elements of the progressive development of international law. Of course, one may expect a number of observations and comments from the member States, which will be taken into consideration by the Special Rapporteur and the ILC in the second reading (from 2014). 4.2 Protection of persons in the event of disasters In relation to this topic, the Commission had before it the fifth report of the Special Rapporteur (Mr. E. Valencia-Ospina), providing an elaboration on the duty to cooperate, as well as a consideration of the conditions for the provision of assistance, and of the termination of assistance. 10 The ILC decided to refer draft articles A, 13 and 14, as provided by the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee. 10 See doc. A/CN.4/652 (2012).

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