Over the last two decades, the protection of the environment has become a necessity so widely recognized that environmental concerns have pervaded most fields of international law, including the international law of human rights. In 1976 the European Commission of Human Rights dismissed an application on the ground that “no right to nature conservation [was] as such included among the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention and in particular by Arts 2, 3, or 5.” In 1993, however, the Commission found that the erection and operation of a waste and water treatment station near the domicile of the applicant was such a nuisance as to amount to a violation of her right to a private life. This development in the case law of the European Commission reflects a growing awareness of the links between protection of human rights and protection of the environment.

The Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, signed by the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the exchange of letters between the PLO Chairman and Israel’s Prime Minister, both agreed upon in September 1993, have set the stage for a process of reconciliation and the settlement of the long and bitter conflict over Palestine/Eretz Yisrael. The Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area established the date—May 4, 1999—by which a permanent agreement must enter into effect. So far, the negotiations between the two parties have concentrated mainly on institutional arrangements, such as the nature of the Palestinian administration during the interim period, and other matters of public interest. At this stage, the parties are not expected to address matters that directly affect the interests of individuals, including the right of individuals to regain possession of property left behind because of the hostilities, or to receive compensation for such property. The discussion of most of these private claims has been deferred to the final stage of the negotiations, concerning a permanent status agreement, which is due to commence no later than May 4, 1996.

On January 28, 1995, representatives of the Government of the United States and of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed at Hanoi the Agreement Concerning the Settlement of Certain Property Claims and the related Agreement Concerning the Transfer of Diplomatic Properties.

The International Law Commission of the United Nations held its forty-sixth session from May 2 to July 22, 1994, under the chairmanship of Professor Vladlin Vereshchetin of Russia.

The Commission had one of its most productive sessions. It completed a second draft of a statute for an international criminal court; completed its second reading on nonnavigational uses of international watercourses; completed, provisionally on first reading, a discrete portion of its work on liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law; considered aspects of state responsibility; began its second reading on the Draft Code of Crimes; and appointed Vaclav Mikulka and Alain Pellet, respectively, as special rapporteurs for the new topics of “State succession and its impact on the nationality of natural and legal persons” and “the law and practice relating to reservations to treaties.” It is the intention of the Commission to conclude its work on these two topics during the current term, i.e., by 1996.

At its 1994 session, the International Law Commission (ILC) completed the final adoption (“second reading”) of a complete set of thirty-three draft articles on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses, together with a resolution on transboundary confined ground water. The Commission submitted the draft articles and the resolution to the General Assembly and recommended that a convention on international watercourses be elaborated by the Assembly or by an international conference of plenipotentiaries on the basis of the Commission’s draft.

As an offshoot of its work on a Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind, the International Law Commission has for the past several years been working on the idea of an international criminal court. At its forty-fourth session in 1992, the Commission established a working group, which laid down basic parameters for a Draft Statute. The general approach of the working group was endorsed by the Commission and by the General Assembly in 1992. At its forty-fifth session in 1993, the Commission received the report of a working group containing a Draft Statute for an International Criminal Tribunal and, without formally adopting the text, referred it to the General Assembly for comment. The 1993 Draft Statute gave effect to the general approach adopted in 1992, but with a number of modifications and refinements and with much further detail. The General Assembly “took note with appreciation” of the Draft Statute and invited the Commission to continue its work “as a matter of priority,” with a view to elaborating a final draft, if possible, at its 1994 session.

Paragraph 16 of Security Council Resolution 687 (April 3, 1991) reaffirmed that “Iraq … is liable under international law for any direct loss, damage, … or injury to foreign Governments, nationals and corporations, as a result of Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait.” This resolution and Security Council Resolution 692 (May 20, 1991) established the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) to administer a system to provide compensation for claims for which Iraq is liable under paragraph 16. The Commission has a Governing Council, composed of the members of the Security Council; panels of commissioners, appointed from time to time to review particular groups of claims; and a secretariat headed by an Executive Secretary. The Commission’s Governing Council first met in Geneva in July 1991 and in the first year of its existence adopted decisional criteria for six categories of claims: Category “A” — claims of individuals for fixed amounts for departure from Iraq or Kuwait; Category “B” — claims of individuals for fixed amounts for death or serious personal injury; Category “C” —claims of individuals for amounts up to $100,000; Category “D” —claims of individuals for amounts above $100,000; Category “E” —claims of corporations; and Category “F” — claims of governments and international organizations.

The Uruguay Round of trade negotiations took until December 1993 to be completed. Its conclusion has been heralded as a significant step on the part of countries belonging to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, further cooperation by these countries is still required, as is the need to go further. The globalization of the world’s economies is paralleled by the increasingly global nature of environmental problems. This is true in terms of the effects of these problems (e.g., climate change and ozone depletion), and also because dealing with these problems will require international cooperation. In view of the significant role it will play in the world economy, this global response will, in part, include reforming the rules of the international trading system.

Law, like other forms of life, evolves in response to changing environments. When cosmic change alters environment, viability is tested. The North American Free Trade Agreement was born into a radically new social and political environment for the making of international trade agreements. Its viability has centered on a fundamental alteration in international trade law, appearing as the NAFTA Side Agreements on labor, health and environmental regulation; specifically, as the dispute resolution process of the Side Agreements.