ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 seeks to show that an international obligation is an interpersonal legal relationship concretised as to parties and object, in which the rights and obligations of the parties are correlated around a consideration (required behaviour). The connecting element between the parties is the international claim and the complement is responsibility. An obligation so understood is to be distinguished from a source of international law or its norms. The chapter examines and establishes the essence of an international obligation. In addition, its subject structure (the concept of the party to the international obligation; status of states, international organisations, non-state actors as parties to the obligation), object structure (rights, obligations), and functional structure (claim and its maturity, responsibility) are considered. Given the fundamental importance of obligations (legal duties) in the structure of international obligations and the need for a deeper reflection on obligations and their impact on the typology of international obligations, these issues are addressed in the next chapter.
