§ 488. Notification is the technical term for the communication to other States of the knowledge of certain facts and events of legal importance. But a distinction must be drawn between obligatory and merely usual notification.
Notification has of late been stipulated in several cases to be obligatory. Thus, according to article 34 of the General Act of the Berlin Congo Conference of 1885, notification of new occupations and the like on the African coast is obligatory. Thus, further, according to article 84 of the Hague Convention for the peaceful adjustment of international differences, in case a number of States are parties to a treaty and two of the parties are at variance concerning the interpretation of such treaty and agree to have the difference settled by arbitration, they have to notify this agreement to all other parties to the treaty. Again, according to article 2 of the Hague Convention concerning the Commencement of Hostilities, 1907, the outbreak of war must be notified to the neutral Powers, and so must the declaration of a blockade,[845] according to article 11 of the Declaration of London, 1909.
[845] See also Declaration of London, articles 11 (2), 16, 23, 25, and 26.
Apart from such cases in which notification is stipulated as obligatory, it is in principle not obligatory, although in fact it frequently takes place because States cannot be considered subject to certain duties without the knowledge of the facts and events which give rise to these duties. Thus it is usual to notify to other States changes in the headship and in the form of government of a State, the establishment of a Federal State, an annexation after conquest, the appointment of a new Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and the like.
Protest.
§ 489. Protest is a formal communication on the part of a State to another that it objects to an act performed or contemplated by the latter. A protest serves the purpose of preservation of rights, or of making it known that the protesting State does not acquiesce in and does not recognise certain acts. A protest can be lodged with another State concerning acts of the latter which have been notified to the former or which have otherwise become known. On the other hand, if a State acquires knowledge of an act which it considers internationally illegal and against its rights, and nevertheless does not protest, such attitude implies renunciation of such rights, provided a protest would have been necessary to preserve a claim. It may further happen that a State at first protests, but afterwards either expressly[846] or tacitly acquiesces in the act. And it must be emphasised that under certain circumstances and conditions a simple protest on the part of a State without further action is not in itself sufficient to preserve the rights in behalf of which the protest was made.[847]
[846] Thus by section 2 of the Declaration concerning Siam, Madagascar, and the New Hebrides, which is embodied in the Anglo-French Agreement of April 8, 1904, Great Britain withdrew the protest which she had raised against the introduction of the Customs tariff established at Madagascar after the annexation to France.
[847] See below, § [539], concerning the withdrawal of Russia from article 59 of the Treaty of Berlin, 1878, stipulating the freedom of the port of Batoum.
Renunciation.
§ 490. Renunciation is the deliberate abandonment of rights. It can be given expressis verbis or tacitly. If, for instance, a State by occupation takes possession of an island which has previously been occupied by another State,[848] the latter tacitly renounces its rights by not protesting as soon as it receives knowledge of the fact. Renunciation plays a prominent part in the amicable settlement of differences between States, either one or both parties frequently renouncing their claims for the purpose of coming to an agreement. But it must be specially observed that mere silence on the part of a State does not imply renunciation; this occurs only when a State remains silent, although a protest is necessary to preserve a claim.