The Asylum Case | Columbia v. Peru case brief

The Asylum Case (Columbia v. Peru in ICJ 1950; p. 97)

• Peru guy sought asylum in Columbian embassy in Lima. Peru rejected Columbia’s assertion of diplomatic asylum.
• In L Amer, normally host states accepted diplomatic asylum in embassies.
• Columbia tries to prove custom by using:
  • # of extradition treaties.
  • Cases where this has happened.
  • Montevideo Treaty (1993)---Columbia says the convention is codification of existing custom.
• Columbia fails b/c Peru didn’t agree—no ratification of the Montevideo Treaty.
• Ct takes a VERY positivist approach by saying, for custom to exist, Peru must accept this custom and the no ratification shows they don’t consent.
• Ct seems to be rejecting custom as a source.
• Persistent objector (p. 99, n. 3)—a state can remove itself from custom in this way—this is a very positivist view.
• Mutharika: Thinks Columbia has better sources than Justice Gray in Paquete b/c Gray’s sources were so old.
• How courts weigh evidence is subjective.