between EU and Israel to the oPt,200 the EU has blatantly failed to implement
its commitments, by maintaining commercial trades of goods produced in
the Israeli colonies illegally imposed on the oPt.201
Although state responsibility arises independently of its invocation by
another state, the ILC has underlined the necessity of specifying the
measures third states may take when faced with a breach of an international
obligation, in order to respect the obligations of cessation and reparation
by the responsible state.202 To this end, Article 48 of the ILC Draft Articles
considers which actions states may take in order to protect collective
interests of a group of states, or of the international community as a
whole. It provides an exhaustive list of claims, stating that third states are
entitled to request the cessation of the wrongful act and assurances of nonrepetition,203 in the interests of the injured state or of the beneficiaries of
the obligation breached.204 Additionally, Article 54 of the ILC Draft Articles
affirms that third states are also entitled to take “lawful measures” against
the responsible state, to ensure cessation of the breach and reparations.205
Third State Obligations under International Humanitarian Law
While the obligations contained in the Fourth Geneva Conventions have a
peremptory nature, and thus justify the entitlement of third states to take
action under Article 48 of the ILC Draft Articles, Common Article 1 of the four
Geneva Conventions goes beyond this general provision, establishing “not
only a right to take action, but also an international obligation to do so.”206
Under Common Article 1, all Contracting Parties are bound by the obligation
200 European Union, Guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli entities and their activities in the territories
occupied by Israel since June 1967 for grants, prizes and financial instruments funded by the EU
from 2014 onwards, 2013/C 205/05, 13 July 2013, available at: http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/
delegations/israel/documents/related-links/20130719_guidelines_on_eligibility_of_israeli_entities_
en.pdf ; European Union, Interpretative notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories
occupied by Israel since June 1967, C(2015) 7834, 11 November 2015, available at https://eeas.
europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/20151111_interpretative_notice_indication_of_origin_en.pdf
201 See BADIL, EU-Israel Trade: Promoting International Law Violations, December 2017, available at:
http://www.badil.org/phocadownloadpap/badil-new/publications/research/in-focus/EU-IsraelTrade.pdf
202 ILC, Draft Articles on Responsibility, supra note 34, 116.
203 Ibid, art.48(2)(a).
204 Ibid, art. 48(2)(b).
205 Ibid, art. 54. Such lawful measures could be e.g. suspension of treaties, embargos or other sanctions.
For examples in this regard.
206 Knut Dörmann, Jose Serralvo, “Common Article 1 to the Geneva Conventions and the Obligation to
Prevent International Humanitarian Law Violation”, International Review of the Red Cross, 96 (2014):
707-736.
63
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