THE COLLECTIVE HUMAN RIGHT TO HISTORICAL REPARATION VERSUS THE PRECLUSION OF THE RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN MATTERS OF STATE RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

It is unanimous in International Law that the one who committed an unlawful act must make reparation, however, currently there has been an increasingly pressing debate in the sense of whether it is possible to hold colonial powers legally responsible for the acts and crimes committed in the past in their former colonies. The rules of international responsibility point out, among other issues, that time would have already exerted its preclusive influence on possible claims for reparation, according to the rules of intertemporal law, which leads us to believe that International Law still seems to be incapable of helping those who were colonized and enslaved, since in practice the issue of the collective human right to historical reparation versus the preclusion of the retroactive application of the Law is discussed International in terms of State responsibility, however, some issues have arisen currently, such as the recent statement by the then Portuguese president, in the sense of recognizing Portugal's responsibility for enslavement and for the crimes that occurred during the colonial period. Thus, and in the face of a whole context of the current scenario, it seems to be witnessing an important historical step in a larger political-legal process. It seems premature to talk about a collective human right to historical reparation, however, it seems that a period of a long and primary debate is beginning that is on the agenda of the day of major newspapers, social networks and academic research. Thus, this movement can lead in some way to an effective reparation for the serious violations committed in the past.