AN EXAMINATON ON THE UNILATERAL STATE ACT STATUS OF NOTIFICATION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Unilateral acts of states is one of the controversial issues in international law. Although some forms of unilateral acts are accepted by customary international law, different perspectives on the theoretical basis of legal relations between states render an agreement on the subject impossible. The idea behind considering unilateral acts being legal transactions is their capacity to create legal obligations for the author state, independent from any negotiation process with or any approval of other states. The International Court of Justice’s decisions in Nuclear Tests Cases has triggered an interest to the subject which results in a more common recognition of the concept. But it is still impossible to argue that a theory of unilateral acts could be constructed. The work of International Law Commission, which could not produce the expected Draft Articles, may be an evident of this fact. Beside its controversial character, there is also some inconsistency between presentation of examples of unilateral acts by different scholars. Sometimes notification is added by scholars to the list of unilateral acts of states, including recognition, protest, waiver and promise. This article discusses the accuracy of adding notification to this list