Article 58 of the Draft Articles makes it clear that the “individual responsibility under international law of any person acting on behalf of a State” is distinct from the State responsibility.

An “act of aggression” has been defined as “the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations” (Art. 8bis (2)), i.e., without the justification of self-defense or authorization by the Security Council. The definition contains a list of seven acts of aggression (for example, invasion by
armed forces, military occupation, annexation by the use of force, bombardment and blockade of ports) that are identical/influenced by the UN General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974 on the definition of Aggression.

Crime of Aggression does not cover The Nuremberg and Tokyo International Military Tribunals?

Mens rea: the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, as opposed to the action or conduct of the accused. A fundamental principle of Criminal Law is that a crime consists of both a mental and a physical element. Mens rea is the mental element, i.e. a person’s awareness of the fact that his or her conduct is criminal, and actus reus is the physical element, i.e., the act itself.

International criminal law is relatively a new branch of international law. Classical international law did not focus on international crimes, because individuals were considered as objects (rather than subjects) of international law. Individuals were not endowed with any rights or duties, with the exception of piracy, under international law that could be enforced by any state under its municipal law.

extradition. The surrender by one state to another of a person accused of committing an offence in the latter (Martin, 2003: 194).

Actus reus (guilty act): action or conduct which is a constituent element of a crime, as opposed to the mental state of the accused. Therefore, the correct option is C.

Consisting mainly of judges from the victorious States was in violation of the principle of nemo judex in causa sua (no one can be a judge in his own case).

Under international law, certain degree of exemption and immunity from local jurisdiction is enjoyed by the following:
• Foreign sovereigns and foreign states,
• Foreign public ships,
• Foreign armed forces,
• International organizations,
• Diplomatic representatives and consuls of foreign states.

The most profound impact on the growth of international law during this time was of the writings of the Dutch scholar Hugo Grotius who was greatly influenced by his predecessor Gentilis. Grotius’s most acclaimed work De Jure Belli ac Pacis, originally published in 1625, was the first systematic comprehensive framework of modern international law. Therefore, he is often referred to as the father of the law of nations.

According to subjective territorial principle, a state has jurisdiction over a crime when it is commenced within the state but completed or consummated abroad.

The sociological approach identifies the empirical components of a human rights system in the context of the social process. “Its primary contribution has been its emphasis on obtaining a just equilibrium of interests among prevailing moral sentiments and the social and economic conditions of time and place.

Another approach to human rights is legal positivism. Under the positivist theory, the source of human rights is to be found only in the enactments of law with sanctions attached to it. Jeremy Bentham and John Austin were its chief proponents.

The underlying principle is that reparation must restore the status quo ante (the previous or last contested state before the current state). In other words, reparation must wipe out the consequences of the breach, putting the parties as far as possible in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred.

Individuals or groups of individuals or NGOs could also petition before the Commission directly, provided the state against which the complaint was made, had accepted the jurisdiction of the Commission in this regard. This right of the petitioners was subject to the rule of exhaustion of local remedies available in their own country. Therefore, the correct option is E.

Diplomatic protection is the procedure employed by the State of nationality of the injured person to secure protection of that person, and to obtain reparation for the internationally wrongful act inflicted. Such protection extends to both natural and legal persons.

The concept of human rights is based on the
belief that every human being is entitled to enjoy
her/his rights without discrimination. Human
rights differ from other rights in two respects.
First, human rights are characterized by being:
• Inherent in all human beings by virtue of
their being humans;
• Inalienable;
• Equally applicable to all.
Second, the main duties deriving from human
rights fall on states and their authorities or agents,
not on individuals.
As a corollary of this, human rights must be
protected by law (‘the rule of law’).

The territorial and nationality principles together may create the incidence of concurrent jurisdiction, leading to conflict of jurisdiction and possible double jeopardy unless resolved by clear rules about the priority between them. The correct answer is E.

According to Article 14 of the Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection, local remedies means “legal remedies which are open to an injured person before the judicial or administrative courts or bodies, whether ordinary or special, of the State alleged to be responsible for causing the injury.”

The UN Charter, which has played the catalyst role in the human rights movement, does not give a definition of fundamental freedoms and human rights, nor does it provide any machinery to secure their observance. This task has been fulfilled by the subsequent United Nations instruments. The First critical instrument was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948. It defined expressly certain human rights and fundamental freedoms that need to be protected. 

The Declaration is not a legally enforceable instrument and some of the rights mentioned therein, viz., the right of asylum (Art. 14), could not be said to represent the legal rule. Other rights are merely general principles of law or represent elementary considerations of humanity. The rights enshrined in the Declaration in its 30 articles are broadly divided into civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights.

Therefore, the correct option is D.