Invocation Of Responsibility By A State On The Basis Of Diplomatic Protection: The Applicability Of The Requirement Of Exhaustion Of Local Remedies

The requirements which apply in terms of the admissibility of a state's invocation of another state's responsibility for its internationally wrongful acts depends on the nature of the claim. Since the international customary requirements of diplomatic protection are not applicable to cases where the applicant state is directly injured, the claims based on the injuries to a national, which are also by a legal fiction regarded as the indirect injuries to his or her state of nationality, must be considered separately from the former ones. In practice, especially in determining the applicability of the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies, the question arises about whether the state relies on its direct injuries or indirect injuries while asserting rights before international courts. The Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection prepared by the International Law Commission, taking into account the relevant international judicial and arbitral decisions and opinions of jurists, provide that local remedies shall be exhausted where an international claim is brought "preponderantly" on the basis of an injury to a national. However, it is suggested that other criteria or various factors related to the claim, as the case may be, should also be considered in order to decide on the applicability of the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies in such mixed claims containing elements of both injury to the state and injury to the nationals of the state. In this article, the necessity, difficulties, and consequences of determining whether a state invoked the responsibility by means of the right to exercise diplomatic protection are examined in detail in the light of the relevant codification works, decisions of judicial or arbitral bodies, and juristic opinions..