UNILATERAL ACT

A unilateral act of State may be defined as an expression of will emanating from one
State or States which produces legal effects in conformity with international law
is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in
disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction
which other parties may find agreeable.
Unilateral acts do not create international norms for themselves, but they can have sufficient capacity
to create legal obligations if this is the clear and unequivocal will of the state in this regard

Unilateral act refers to an act in which only one partys will operate.
Testamentary disposition or exercise of a power of appointment are
unilateral acts as both involve the will of one party alone. In case of
testamentary disposition the person who makes the will decides to
whom the property should be given.

Like wise a unilateral contract is one in which only one party makes an
express promise, or undertakes a performance without securing a
reciprocal agreement from the other party.
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There is a very wide spectrum of behaviours covered by the designation unilateral acts and
the differences among legal cultures partly account for the misunderstandings to which this
topic has given rise. The former tentative definition is the result of the consensus between
two different positions: a) the concept of a juridical act necessarily implies an...

8. Legal Effects of Unilateral Acts

As a basis for the binding nature of unilateral acts one may consider the principle of
good faith. In 1974, both ICJ decisions on Nuclear Tests Cases, concerning the
statements made by some representatives of France about thesuspension of nuclear tests
in the South Pacific Region, pointed out that:One of the basic principles governing the
creation and performance of legal obligations, whatever their source, is the principle of
good faith. Trust and confidence are inherent in international co-operation, in particular
in an age when this co-operation in many fields is becoming increasingly essential. Just
as the very rule of pacta sunt servanda in the law of treaties is based on good faith, so
also is the binding character of an international obligation assumed by unilateral
declarations. Thus interested States may take cognizance of unilateral declarations and
place confidence in them, and are entitled to require that the obligation thus created be
respected.
(Nuclear Tests Case para. 46 [an analysis