7 The Effect of Acts before the Main Temporal Limits on the Determination of Breach through Later Acts

Subject(s):

Time limitations (and jurisdiction) — Jurisdiction — Existence of a dispute — International courts and tribunals, decisions — International courts and tribunals, powers

This chapter addresses the effect of acts before the period of a tribunal’s temporal jurisdiction on the decision whether or not the act within the period of the tribunal’s jurisdiction has breached the obligation. The chapter explains that tribunals have universally accepted that they can take into account earlier acts when deciding if acts within the period of their temporal jurisdiction breached an obligation. It then explains that there is little uniformity on the degree to which a prior act has been taken into account when it is part of a series, or part of a single act, that continues into the period of temporal jurisdiction.