ABSTRACT
Articles 1 (2) of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic Social and
Cultural Rights (ICCPR and ICESCR respectively hereafter) read:
This paragraph sets out the right to own and dispose of property, but also sets limits to the use of
that property. No property right is absolute,1 as Parkinson points out:
The analogy with companies is an apt one in this context as we are concerned with the property
rights of large organisations, in this case nation states, and the way in which that property is used
on the international stage, in particular the restraints to which that usage is subject because of
obligations to render international assistance, in particular those set out in the ICESCR: ‘obligations
arising out of international economic co-operation, based on the principle of mutual benefit, and
international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.’3 As with
corporate property, the rules are created and followed by representatives of individuals.
