Dr. Elena Valdez, a young international law scholar, had spent weeks preparing her argument on state responsibility for a UN committee. But she was stuck. The crux of her case hinged on a subtle distinction between "subjective" and "objective" responsibility of a state for the acts of non-state actors.
She read the paragraph again. It wasn't the main text that helped—it was a footnote. Seara Vázquez, in that footnote, cited a rarely invoked arbitration award from 1928. In it, the tribunal had stated that a state could not hide behind its internal structure to evade international obligations. But Seara Vázquez added his own comment: "La apariencia de lo interno no disfraza la realidad de lo internacional." derecho internacional publico modesto seara vazquez pdf 139
"Turn to page 139," he said quietly.