Conflitto armato nella Repubblica Democratica del Congo e principio della sovranità permanente degli Stati sulle proprie risorse naturali

In its judgment rendered on 19 December 2005, in the RDC vs Uganda case, the ICJ refused to apply the principle of permanent sovereignty of states over their natural resources to the illicit pillaging and exploitation of congolese resources in time of armed conflict and of military occupation. It held that only international humanitarian law applied. However, it seems that the principle experienced a normative evolution and that, in contemporary international law, it coesists with legal regimes applicable in time of war. It appears functionally limited by the need to protect collective values, in light of the emerging concept of responsible sovereignty, for the protection of resources of common interest to the international community.