The 1899 Convention provided for the creation of permanent machinery which would enable arbitral tribunals to be set up as desired and would facilitate their work. This institution, known as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, consisted in essence of a panel of jurists designated by each country acceding to the Convention from among whom the members of each arbitral tribunal might be chosen”.

The League of Nations was the first international organization of universal character. Along with it came the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1921 that was later replaced by the present International Court of Justice in 1946. 

In November 1947, acting under Article 13/1 of the UN Charter, the General Assembly established the International Law Commission for the “promotion of the progressive development of international law and its codification.” Progressive development is the “preparation of draft conventions on subjects which have not yet been regulated by international law or in regard to which the law has not yet been sufficiently developed in the practice of States.” 

A reservation is a unilateral statement made by a state at the time of signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, whereby it purports to exclude or modify the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their application to that state.

A reservation is a unilateral statement made by a state at the time of signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, whereby it purports to exclude or modify the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their application to that state. Therefore, the correct option is B.

After the Second World War, there has been a tremendous growth in the number
of international organizations. Such organizations may be either universal (such as the UN and the ILO) or regional (such as the European Union and the African Union). They are established by treaties and their international personality can be ascertained by looking at their constitutions. The correct answer is B.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the only international court to adjudicate all kinds of inter-State disputes. However, it lacks universal compulsory jurisdiction for settling disputes.

A material breach refers to “the violation of a provision essential to the accomplishment of the object or purpose of a treaty” (Art. 60/3(b)).

The term subjects of international law refers to entities endowed with legal personality, capable of exercising certain rights and duties on their own account under the international legal system.

A treaty is contractual in nature, its being a source of law is debatable, as it primarily creates obligations for the parties thereto. It does not ipso facto (by that very fact) bind the non-signatories except the treaties that are “constitutive” or “dispositive” in nature. In other words, treaties establish a special régime, international boundaries, or an international institution. They create rights and obligations for third parties.

Subrogation: The substitution of one person for another so that the person substituted succeeds to the rights of the other.

Quid pro quo: some favor or advantage given to someone in return for something they have done (Cambridge Dictionary). Therefore, the correct option is C.

Hierarchy of the Sources of International Law

Broadly speaking, the ICJ will resort to the following sources for deciding a dispute before it: treaties (conventions); custom; general principles of law; judicial decisions; juristic work on international law (the teachings of publicists); principles of equity and ex aequo et bono; General Assembly and Security Council resolutions and practices. Whereas treaties, custom, and general principles of law are the main sources of international law, judicial decisions and juristic work on international law fall into the category of subsidiary sources.

Accordingly, the sources of international law will be explained under the following headings below:

1. Custom
2. Treaties
3. General principles of law
4. Subsidiary sources

5. Other sources

Modification is about inter-se agreements concluded between certain parties and it refers to varying the provisions of the treaty in their mutual relations. The correct answer is C.

Once de jure recognition is granted to a state or a government, it cannot be withdrawn unless the state has ceased to exist or the government has been replaced by another authority. However, de facto recognition may be withdrawn if there is any doubt about the new régime’s ability or the new régime ceases to exist. However, de facto recognition is not always tentative or revocable. It can be substituted by de jure recognition when the recognizing government is satisfied about the stability and permanence of the new régime. Therefore, the correct option is A.

Sine qua non: a  necessary  condition  without which something is not  possible. Therefore, the correct option is E.

Opinio juris sive necessitatis means “an opinion of law or necessity.”

The terms treaty, pact, charter, constitution,
statute, convention, General Act, Final Act (when
it is an independent instrument) are generally used
for formal instruments of multilateral character.
The terms such as memorandum of understanding,
procés vérbal, arrangement, exchange of notes are
used for less formal instruments and generally
related to transactions of provisional or temporary
nature. The terms like declarations, agreements,
modus vivendi or joint communiqué are common
to both formal and less formal types of agreements.

In contrast to the constitutive theory, the declaratory theory (also called evidentiary theory) considers that a new state or a new government exists independent of recognition. The recognition is merely an evidence of the fact that the government. The state practice widely confirms the evidentiary theory because of the political nature of the act of recognition. If the majority of nations have granted recognition, refusal by a single state or few states would not affect the situation.

Mini states or micro states are entities like Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Liechtenstein. 

The existence of a practice uniformly followed by all States may be of some evidence that a custom does exist. Nevertheless, what is required for the existence of a custom is the concurrence and not mere parallelism of such practices that may be indicative of the general recognition of a broad principle of law. The Scotia case (the USA vs. UK, 1871) is in point.

A treaty may be terminated due to a supervening impossibility. This may result from “the permanent disappearance or destruction of an object indispensable for the execution of the treaty” (Art. 61/1). The ILC illustrates these circumstances as the submergence of an island which is indispensable for the execution of a treaty.If the impossibility is not permanent, it may be invoked only as a ground for suspending the operation of the treaty.