For this assessment we will focus on settlement of disputes by peaceful means and the use of force. Identify the elements that entail the perpetration of an internationally wrongful act.  Identify the consequences that emerge when an internationally wrongful act has been committed.

Settlement of disputes

Continuous Assessment Task 3 (CAT) CAT 3. State responsibility, the settlement of disputes by peaceful means and the use of force.  Presentation ● Objectives and Competencies ● Formal issues ● Marking criteria Presentation CAT 3 consists of a practical case. You will be asked to act as a delegation to the UN Security Council and prepare a briefing on the situation in Western Sahara. Learning objectives: Identify the elements that entail the perpetration of an internationally wrongful act.  Identify the consequences that emerge when an internationally wrongful act has been committed.

Settlement of disputes

Distinguish different types of State responsibility at an international level.  Understand what diplomatic protection entails and the requirements needed to exercise such protection. Discover different ways of settling international disputes.  Identify how coercive measures can be legally exercised in accordance with international law. Practical case: Outbreak of violence in Western Sahara and the response of the international community The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), commonly known as Western Sahara, is a territory that emerged from the decolonization of Spain in the 1970s.

Settlement of disputes

After Spain withdrew from this territory in November 1975, Morocco practically annexed the two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly known as ‘Río de Oro’ or ‘Spanish Sahara’) in 1976 and claimed the rest of the territory in 1979, following the withdrawal of Mauritania. Several episodes have happened ever since, among which we can highlight:  A guerrilla war between Morocco and the Polisario Front (the de facto government of the SADR, which disputes the sovereignty of Rabat over the territory) that ended in a ceasefire negotiated by the UN in 1991, and which has been broken by both sides ever since.

Settlement of disputes

The possibility of a referendum organized by the United Nations on the definitive status of the territory, which has been repeatedly postponed, based on the deployment of an international mission to hold the referendum, since 1991 (MINURSO) ● The negotiation of the fishing agreement between the EU and Morocco, in which fishing in Sahrawi territory is included (and which has had the special mediation of Spain) ● The US and Spanish diplomatic recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Settlement of disputes

The stay of the leader of the Polisario Front (Brahim Ghali) in Spain, due to health reasons The UN has sponsored on several occasions talks between representatives of the Moroccan Government and the Polisario Front to negotiate the status of Western Sahara, frequently stalled and resumed. Rabat has presented a proposal for autonomy for the territory, which would allow for local Sahrawi administration while maintaining Moroccan sovereignty. For its part, the Polisario Front, with the support of Algeria, demands a popular referendum that includes the option of independence.

Settlement of disputes

The United Nations once again proposes to call this referendum as the administrator of this territory (Western Sahara is considered a colony at the international level. Check in that regard the List of Non-Self-Governing Territories | The United Nations and Decolonization). Over the last year, exactions and the intensification in the armed conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco have been reported. A few days ago, some actors present in the territory affirmed that a massive slaughter of innocents has been taking place in the Moroccan occupied part of the territory as well as in the Sahrawi part.   https://youtu.be/vPZVPZliZ-0

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