IRELAND
POSITION PAPER ON THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN CYBERSPACE
Introduction
1.
International law, including the Charter of the United Nations, applies in cyberspace. This
has been acknowledged in two processes established by the United Nations General
Assembly, namely the Group of Governmental Experts on advancing responsible state
behaviour in cyberspace in the context of international security (GGE) as well as the
Open-ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and
communications technologies (OEWG).
2.
Ireland has published the present paper as a contribution to discussions at UN level,
particularly in the context of its participation in the OEWG, aimed at developing a better
shared understanding of how international law applies in cyberspace. It is hoped that
these discussions will contribute to promoting responsible state behaviour in cyberspace
and a more stable, secure, open, accessible and peaceful cyber environment with
international law and the rules-based international order at its centre.
3.
This paper does not by any means purport to offer an exhaustive or comprehensive
analysis; rather it is aimed at providing a reasonably concise expression of Ireland’s
national position on some of the more relevant issues arising.
Principle of Sovereignty
4.
State sovereignty and international norms and principles that flow from sovereignty
apply to the conduct by states of ICT-related activities and to their jurisdiction over ICT
infrastructure within their territory.1 The principle of state sovereignty encompasses the
concepts of territorial integrity and territorial authority, the independence of state
powers, and the equality of states in the international order. A state enjoys a right to
exercise jurisdiction in terms of regulation, adjudication and enforcement in relation to
cyber infrastructure as well as persons engaging in cyber activities on its territory. A state
may also be entitled, in limited circumstances, to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction in
accordance with international law.
5.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Nicaragua case noted that “the principle of
respect for state sovereignty […] is closely linked with the principles of prohibition of the
1
A/70/174 Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the
Context of International Security, Report (22 July 2015), [27].