In
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
, a persistent objector is a
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
which has consistently and clearly objected to a norm of
customary international law
Customary international law is an aspect of international law involving the principle of custom. Along with general principles of law and treaties, custom is considered by the International Court of Justice, jurists, the United Nations, and its ...
since the norm's emergence, and considers itself not bound to observe the norm. The concept is an example of the
positivist doctrine that a state can only be bound by norms to which it has consented.
Objection to the emergence of a norm may come in the form of statements declaring a state's position on an existing right, or action in which a state exercises an existing right in the face of an emerging norm which would threaten that right. Statements made at the time of a rule's establishment, such as in a
reservation __NOTOC__
Reservation may refer to: Places
Types of places:
* Indian reservation, in the United States
* Military base, often called reservations
* Nature reserve
Government and law
* Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty
* Reservation in India, ...
to a treaty, offer the clearest expression of a state's objection, but objections might also be expressed during treaty negotiations and even in statements by domestic lawmakers accompanying purely
municipal legislation.
Judicial support for the persistent objector rule is weak. The
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
has discussed the persistent objector rule in ''
dicta
In general usage, a dictum ( in Latin; plural dicta) is an authoritative or dogmatic statement. In some contexts, such as legal writing and church cantata librettos, ''dictum'' can have a specific meaning.
Legal writing
In United States legal ter ...
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