International Law Review

International Law Review

The Status of Clean Hands Doctrine in the Certain Iranian Assets Case

Document Type : academic

Author
Ehsan Shahsavari
Member of department of law- Faculty of Law and Political Sciences- university of Mazandaran- Babolsar-Iran
10.22066/cilamag.2024.2021478.2502
Abstract
The "Certain Iranian Assets" case provided an opportunity for the International Court of Justice to examine applicability of the Clean Hands Doctrine. In its judgment, the Court explicitly stated that the Clean Hands Doctrine cannot be regarded as part of customary international law or does not constitute a general principle of law. This case study explores the Clean Hands Doctrine, its evolutions in legal precedent and doctrine, and analyzes the Court’s judgment in light of the opinions of the Court’s judges and relevant legal instruments. The study concludes that the Court, by adhereing its precedent (stare decisis), notably in the Jadhav Case, and endorsing the International Law Commission approach in the 2001 Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (the ARSIWA) and the Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection, affirmed that the Clean Hands Doctrine is not a determinative factor in the admissibility of a claim, the establishment of rights, or their denial. This judicial approach facilitates international adjudication, especially in cases where States have initiated proceedings with unclean hands and, may in some cases, exempt disputing parties from proving their clean hands.
Keywords
Central Bank of Iran (Bank Markazi)
Clean Hands Doctrine
Competence
Admissibility
Treaty of Amity

Subjects

  1. - Books

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    - Articles

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    7. Laplante, Lisa J. "The Law of Remedies and the Clean Hands Doctrine: Exclusionary Reparation Policies in Peru's Political Transition", American University International Law Review, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2007.
    8. Lawrence, William J. “Application of the Clean Hands Doctrine in Damage Actions”, Notre Dame Law Review, Volume 57, Issue 4, 1982.
    9. Lekkas, Sotirios-Ioannis. “The Uses of the Outputs of the International Law Commission in International Adjudication: Subsidiary Means or Artefacts of Rules?”, Netherlands International Law Review, Volume 69, issue 2, 2022.
    10. Seifi, Jamal, and Kamal Javadi. "The Consequences of the “Clean Hands” Concept in International Investment Arbitration", in: Asian Yearbook of International Law, Volume 19, 2013.
    11. Shapovalov, Aleksandr. "Should a Requirement of ‘Clean Hands’ Be a Prerequisite to the Exercise of Diplomatic Protection? Human Rights Implications of the International Law Commission's Debate", American University International Law Review, Volume, 20, Issue 4, 2005.
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    - Judgments, Orders, and Advisory Opinions (and Related Materials)

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    - Documents

    1. Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts with commentaries (the ARSIWA), ILC, 2001.
    2. Executive Order 13599 on Blocking Property of the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions, February 5, 2012.
    3. First report on subsidiary means for the determination of rules of international law, ILC (A/CN.4/760), 2023.
    4. Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act, 2012.
    5. Second report on State responsibility, Yearbooks of the ILC, Volume II (Part I), 1999.
    6. Sixth report on diplomatic protection, Yearbooks of the ILC, Volume II (Part I), 2005.
    7. USA Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, 2002.
    8. Yearbooks of the ILC, Volume I, 2004.

  • Receive Date 30 January 2024
  • Accept Date 12 February 2024