48. 对国际法的常规分析，包括前殖民国家所作的分析发现了对奴隶制和殖民主义追索赔偿所面临的若干法律障碍。经发现，一项最突出的法律障碍是国际法中的跨时期原则，该原则以条款形式载列于国家对国际不法行为的责任条款第 13条中。跨时期原则强调，一个国家对违反国际法行为负有责任的唯一情况是，在违反行为发生或其影响延续之时，遭到违反的法律规定对违反规定的国家具有约束力。许多国家援引了国际法适用范围的非追溯性以推卸本国作出赔偿的法律义务。例如，关于德国对纳米比亚 Ovaherero 人和 Nama 人的种族灭绝行为，德国强调了跨时期原则作为解除其对种族灭绝和赔偿承担国际责任的壁垒。158德国未接受它负有作出赔偿的法律义务这一事实，而是辩称其义务是“历史上的”和“道德性的”。159
48. Conventional analysis of international law, including by former colonial nations, identifies a number of legal hurdles to the pursuit of claims for reparations for slavery and colonialism. Among the most salient legal hurdles identified is the intertemporal principle in international law, codified in article 13 of the articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts. The intertemporal principle stresses that a State is responsible for violations of international law only if, at the time of the violation or its continuing effects, the State was bound by the legal provisions it transgressed. Numerous States have appealed to the non-retroactive application of international law to deny that they have a legal obligation to provide reparations. For example, with regard to its genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama peoples of Namibia, Germany has stressed the intertemporal principle as a barrier to its international responsibility for both the genocide and reparations. 158 Rather than accepting that it has a legal obligation to provide reparations, Germany has argued that its obligations are “historical” and “moral”.159