Aliens — Refugees — Refugee status — Determination of — Fear of persecution — Whether risk of persecution must emanate from government rather than unofficial organizations — Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and Protocol, 1967 — The law of Australia

Aliens — Refugees — Refugee status — Determination of — Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and Protocol, 1967 — Tamils from Sri Lanka seeking asylum in Australia — Whether “persecution” on the ground of race to be directed specifically at the individual seeking refugee status — Migration Act 1958 (Commonwealth) — Interpretation

Treaties — Effect of — Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and Protocol, 1967 — Convention and Protocol not incorporated into municipal law — Construction of term “refugee” — Common sense approach — Migration Act 1958 (Commonwealth) — The law of Australia

Environment — Conservation of natural heritage — UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972 — World Heritage List — Criteria for properties to be included — Obligation of States to identify and protect such properties — Exploration for minerals in northern Australia — Government decision to establish a “national park” — Government seeking inclusion of Stage 2 of park in World Heritage List — Whether affecting mining interests — Whether decision reviewable — World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Commonwealth) — National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Amendment Act 1987 (Commonwealth)

Treaties — Treaty-making power of States — UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972 — Government of Australia acting to include property on World Heritage List — Mining interests in Northern Territory affected by decision — Whether exercise of treaty-making power prerogative of the Crown — Whether decision justiciable — World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Commonwealth) — National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Amendment Act 1987 (Commonwealth) — The law of Australia

Evironment — UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972 — World Heritage List — Obligations of States — Identification and protection of cultural and natural heritage — Inquiry whether area in Tasmania appropriate for inclusion in World Heritage List — Prohibition of acts likely to affect area in interim period — Validity — Whether discrimination against Tasmania — World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Commonwealth) — Lemon-thyme and Southern Forests (Commission of Inquiry) Act 1987 (Commonwealth)

Treaties — Effect in municipal law — Federal State — Conclusion of treaty by federal government — Duty of federal government and legislature to implement treaty — Effect on powers of State government — The law of Australia

Environment — Environmental protection — UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972 — Implementation — Federal State — Australia — Whether Commonwealth can override wishes of a State — Entry into the World Heritage List of the Wet Tropical Rainforest of North East Queensland — Relationship of World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 and Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974 of the Commonwealth — Consideration of social and economic aspects of “environmental protection”

Treaties — Obligations of parties — Implementation — Federal State — Federal government proposing area for inclusion in the World Heritage List — Act in performance of Australia’s obligations under the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and National Heritage, 1972 — State of Queensland seeking injunction to restrain — Whether risk of potential damage to world heritage values

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — Statute — Interpretation — Consistency with international law — The law of Australia

Aliens — Refugees — Refugee status — Criteria for refugee status — Well-founded fear of persecution — Subjective and objective elements — Notion of persecution — Selective harassment — Date of determination of refugee status — Change of circumstances since applicant for refugee status first fled country concerned — Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and Protocol, 1967

Treaties — Interpretation — Extrinsic material — Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and Protocol, 1967 — Interpretation of the term “refugee” — United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status — Utility as aid to interpretation of Convention and Protocol — The law of Australia

Human rights — Right to strike in public service — Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Part XIII — International Labour Organization Convention Concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948 — Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 — International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 — Alberta statute prohibiting strikes by employees in public service — Whether contrary to Canada’s international legal obligations — Public Service Employee Relations Act 1977

Sources of international law — Customary international law — Treaties — Custom as evidence of general practice — International conventions establishing rules expressly recognized by contesting States — Right to strike ensured to all employees including public employees except in essential services — Whether part of customary international law — Whether conventional international law — Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Part XIII — International Labour Organization Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948 — Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 — United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 — The law of Canada

Air — Civil aviation — Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, 1944 — Aircraft overflying Canada and Canadian oceanic control area of the high seas — Fees for telecommunications and radio services from Canadian installations — Legality — “Prescribing” charges — Aeronautics Act 1970 and Air Regulations 1978

Jurisdiction — Extraterritoriality — Customary international law — Aircraft overflying Canada and Canadian oceanic control area of the high seas — Fees for telecommunications and radio services from Canadian installations — Whether invalid extraterritorial extension — Whether an assertion of Canadian sovereignty over the high seas — Aeronautics Act 1970 and Air Regulations 1978 — The law of Canada

Claims — Foreign claims — Compensation for assets nationalized — Agreement between Canada and Czechoslovakia for assets nationalized by Czechoslovakia — Canadian citizens to claim from Foreign Claims Commission — Dual nationals — Regulations — Interpretation — Absence of ambiguity in words used — Whether reference to extraneous materials permissible — Foreign Claims (Czechoslovakia) Settlement Regulations

Nationality — Individuals — Dual nationality — Claims — Whether dual national excluded from claiming from compensation fund in respect of expropriated property — Concept of dominant nationality — Whether applicable

Treaties — Implementation — Agreement between Canada and Czechoslovakia for assets nationalized by Czechoslovakia — Foreign Claims (Czechoslovakia) Settlement Regulations implementing provisions of the Agreement — Compensation claims by Canadian citizens — Interpretation — Whether reference to report of negotiators of the Agreement necessary — The law of Canada

State immunity — Jurisdictional immunity — Public acts of a foreign State — Action by United States Government to collect taxes — Receiver executing court order without authority from Canadian court — Whether acts of receiver done in the course of duties — Whether public acts of the United States Government — Whether United States had absolute immunity — State Immunity Act 1980-81

Human rights — Right of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure — Right guaranteed by the Charter of Rights — Action by United States Government to collect taxes — Receiver executing court order without authority from Canadian court — Whether infringement of constitutional right — Whether enforceable against a foreign government — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982, Section 8 — The law of Canada

Sea — Continental shelf Offshore — mineral rights — Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, 1958 — Rights of coastal States to explore and exploit the continental shelf — Whether such rights giving rise to proprietary rights in municipal law — Right of Newfoundland to mineral and other natural resources offshore Newfoundland — Whether proprietary rights — Whether acquisition of such rights under municipal law — Newfoundland entering into Confederation — Whether federal or provincial property and jurisdiction — Date at which rights respecting the continental shelf came into existence

Sea — Territorial sea — Rights of coastal State to exploit natural resources — Position of Newfoundland as part of Canada — Whether offshore rights vest in federal or provincial government — Relevance of original status of Newfoundland as a self-governing dominion

States — Dominions of the British Commonwealth — Newfoundland — Whether possessing sovereign rights over territorial sea — Commission for Government of Newfoundland between 1933 and 1949 — Accession to Canada in 1949 — The law of Canada

Territory — National waters — Waters of straits and submerged lands — Proprietorship — Dispute over ownership of the bed of Juan de Fuca, Georgia, Johnstone and Queen Charlotte straits surrounding Vancouver Island — Whether waters of straits internal waters of the United Colony of British Columbia — Whether “territories” refers to dry lands only — Whether federal or provincial property — Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878 (UK) — An Act for the Union of the Colony of Vancouver Island with the Colony of British Columbia 1866 (UK)

Sea — Straits — Waters and submerged lands — Dispute over ownership of the bed of Juan de Fuca, Georgia, Johnstone and Queen Charlotte straits surrounding Vancouver Island — Whether waters of straits internal waters of the United Colony of British Columbia — Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878 (UK) — An Act for the Union of the Colony of Vancouver Island with the Colony of British Columbia 1866 (UK) — The law of Canada

Economics, trade and finance — General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — Anti-dumping measure — Subsidies and Countervailing Duties Agreement — Concept of dumping — Whether causal connection between subsidised imports and damage to domestic producers required — Whether sufficient that damage caused by general subsidy programme

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — Implementation by statute — Reference to treaty as aid to interpretation of statute — Duty of court, where possible, to construe statute in accordance with treaty — Whether court entitled to disregard plain words of statute — General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — Implementing legislation in Canada

Treaties — Effect in municipal law — Implementing legislation — Interpretation — General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — Subsidies and Countervailing Duties Agreement — Implementing legislation in Canada — The law of Canada

States — Federal States and Confederations — Application of international law in dispute between States within Federation — Treaty dispute between Länder of Federal Republic of Germany

States — Conduct of foreign relations — Treaty-making powers — Role of executive — Role of legislature — Discretionary powers of executive — Whether denunciation requiring ratification by legislature

Treaties — Termination — Denunciation — Multilateral treaties — Effects of denunciation — Treaty providing for denunciation without determining its effects — Whether denunciation resulting in withdrawal of denouncing party or dissolution of treaty relationship — Lack of general rule under customary international law — Whether dissolution or withdrawal more closely corresponding to hypothetical intention and interests of the parties

Treaties — Termination — Legal validity — Denunciation — Whether requiring ratification by legislature — Counter-denunciation — Conditions for effectiveness — Principle of good faith — Whether residual obligations are created by withdrawal from multilateral treaty relationship by one of the parties

Treaties — Interpretation — Rules of interpretation — Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969, Articles 31 and 32 — Intention of parties — Supplementary means of interpretation — Preparatory work — Circumstances of conclusion — Object and purpose of treaty — Subsequent practice of parties — Application of rules of international law to dispute concerning gap in provisions of treaty between Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany

Sources of international law — General principles of law — Loss of rights — Mistake in interpretation of treaty — Estoppel — Acquiescence

International organizations — Legal status — Common institutions established by multilateral treaty — Effect on operation of institutions of withdrawal of one of the parties to treaty — Norddeutscher Rundfunk — The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

State responsibility — Acts and omissions of State organs and officials — Duty to provide diplomatic protection to nationals in relation to foreign States — Discretionary nature of duty — Scope of judicial review

States — Conduct of foreign relations — Attempt to secure release of war criminal sentenced by International Military Tribunal — Proceedings instituted by individual to require his State of nationality to take more effective measures at international level to obtain his release

War and armed conflict — Enforcement of the laws of war — Crimes against peace — Charter of the International Military Tribunal, 1945 — Execution of sentences on war criminals — Imprisonment in Allied Military Prison in Spandau-Berlin — Prolonged detention of Rudolf Hess — Scope of duty of Federal Republic of Germany to seek to obtain his release — Division of responsibilities for detention between Federal Republic and Four Allied Powers

International organizations — United Nations — Powers — United Nations Charter 1945, Article 107 — Execution of sentences on war criminals handed down by International Military Tribunal — Prolonged imprisonment of Rudolf Hess in Allied Military Prison in Spandau-Berlin — Whether Article 107 of Charter precludes reference to organs of the United Nations of dispute over continued imprisonment — Division of responsbilities for imprisonment between Federal Republic of Germany and Four Allied Powers — Lack of appropriate forum for settlement of dispute

States — Continuity of States — Status of Germany after 1945 — Status of Berlin — Allied Military Prison in Spandau-Berlin — Division of responsibilities between Four Allied Powers and Federal Republic of Germany

Human rights — Punishment of crimes against peace — Prolonged imprisonment of war criminal convicted by International Military Tribunal — Attempt to obtain release on humanitarian grounds — Advanced age and fragile health — Scope of duty of Federal Republic of Germany to seek to obtain release — Delay in proceedings instituted before municipal courts to require Federal Republic to take more effective measures to obtain release — Right to hearing and decision within a reasonable time — Justifiable delay — The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

War and armed conflict — Occupation of foreign territory — Termination — Legal status of Soviet forces stationed in German Democratic Republic — Treaty concerning Relations between USSR and German Democratic Republic, 1955 — Agreement on Questions relating to the Temporary Presence of Soviet forces on the Territory of the German Democratic Republic, 1957 — Reserved rights of Occupying Powers — Whether right of intervention of Soviet forces conflicts with termination of occupation

States — Recognition — German Democratic Republic as State and subject of international law — Attitude of Federal Republic of Germany — De facto recognition

Territory — Occupation of foreign territory in time of peace — Status of German Democratic Republic — Effect of Treaty on the Basis of Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, 1972 — The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

Jurisdiction — Territorial — Territorial limits of jurisdiction — International judicial assistance — Jurisdiction of court to grant application for obtaining evidence abroad — Whether judicial assistance can be claimed in the absence of any treaty arrangements

State immunity — Jurisdictional immunity — Administrative proceedings — Application for summons for obtaining evidence from minister of foreign State — Evidence relating to military operations of Indian army in Sri Lanka — Whether Indian Defence Minister entitled to jurisdictional immunity — Whether State military operations constituting a sovereign activity

Sources of international law — Comity — As basis for international judicial assistance — Obtaining evidence abroad — Whether principle of comity requiring foreign State to make available to municipal courts evidence regarding its sovereign activities

Treaties — Application — Multilateral treaties — Scope of application — Extension by analogy — Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, 1970 — Whether application of Convention may be extended to administrative matters by analogy

War and armed conflict — Armed intervention — Consent of host State — Deployment of Indian forces in Sri Lanka — The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

Extradition — Double criminality test — United States requesting extradition of applicant charged with the offence of continuing criminal enterprise — Whether equivalent offence in Hong Kong — Whether double criminality test to be abandoned in favour of “conduct test” — Extradition Acts 1870-1935 (UK) — Extradition (Hong Kong) Ordinance — United States of America (Extradition) Order 1976 — The law of Hong Kong

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, 1973 (CITES) — Statute implementing treaty — Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance 1976 — Whether Ordinance to be interpreted by reference to the Convention — Purposive construction

Environment — Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, 1973 (CITES) — Implementation in municipal law — The law of Hong Kong