The status of the individual in international law

What is it about?

There is uncertainty about the status of the individual in international law.The traditional positivist doctrine of international law is that States are the sole subjects of international law and that the individual is the object.The contemporary approach is that the individual is an original subject of of an international law and the owner of international individual rights.The objects of this article are : (i) to assess critically the various areas where the individual has been brought into contact with international law with a view to showing that the individual is not a full subject of international law : and (ii) to show that insofar as the individual possesses a limited locus standi in international law and a limited array of rights,that is,limited legal capacity,the proffered existence of an international legal personality of the individual is not only superfluous but also confuses international legal personality which involves the capacity to perform legal acts in the international sphere with legal personality in municipal law.

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Why is it important?

The article is important because it shows that the individual is active in the inernational sphere as an "object" of international law but that it is unhelpful to use such terms as "full subject","passive subject","limited subject" and "ordinary subject" when describing the status of the individual in international law because the individual lacks the full capacity of an "international legal personality" which includes the right to enforce and promote the enforcement of the decision favourable to him.

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