#lotuscase

That famous case of the ICJ where the Court held that (almost) anything is possible, as long as it not prohibited by international law. The principle survived  Kosovo - would it survive Crimea? The jurisprudence is advance for its time as it set the bench mark for, what we now call, subjective and objective territoriality. The ICJ took a positivist approach on State consent and sovereignty: a fact criticised by some. Here is an excerpt of the famous two principles. Note the distinction between what is permissible within a State's territory and what is permissible extra territorially. "The first principle of the Lotus case said that jurisdiction is territorial: A State cannot exercise its jurisdiction outside its territory unless it an international treaty or customary law permits it to do so. The second principle of the Lotus case: Within its territory, a State may exercise its jurisdiction, on any matter, even if there is no specific rule of international law permitting it to do so. In these instances, States have a wide measure of discretion, which is only limited by the prohibitive rules of international law." You can read the full summary here.