Agresijos samprata tarptautinėje teisėje

Abstract

Development of contemporary international law is determined by its qualitative changes. If contemporary international law was compared with classical international law, the mojor transformation which occurred was in the area of prohibition of use of force and threat of force. As a consequence of this change, international law transformed from the law of war to the law of peace and international security. The article seeks to achieve two aims: 1) to discuss briefly the genesis of the definition of aggression prior to establishment of the United Nations; 2) to disclose the focal issues of the definition of aggression on the basis of the UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 of 1974.
Having reviewed the genesis of the definition of aggression prior to the establishment of the United Nations, the author concludes that even prior to World War II international law in the form of international agreements allowed to qualify military use of force as unlawful.
According the the UN General Assembly resolution on the definition of aggression of 1974, the elements of aggression are: 1) aggression relating to the use of armed force; 2) aggression is aimed against the sovereignty of a state, territorial integrity and political independence; 3) apart from findings on whether there were acts constituting aggression, it is important to establish the fact of the first use of armed force.
After the definition of aggression was adopted in 1974, the UN General Assembly confirmed it in its subsequent resolutions. By these resolutions the United Nations seeks to establish a wider definition of aggression.
It is important to emphasize that the International Court of Justice in the case of Nicaragua v. U.S. found that Article 3(g) of the Definition of aggression may be considered as reflecting customary international law.
No legal instrument concluded so far provides with a positive definition of economical and ideological aggression.
The Statute of the International Criminal Court does not provide a definition of aggression. In the opinion of the author, the question needs more attention of both the United Nations and the international community.