Public International Law – Comprehensive Vocabulary Review

A vocabulary-style set of flashcards covering principal terms, doctrines, treaties, institutions, and cases discussed in the lecture notes on Public International Law, suitable for exam preparation.

International Law

The body of rules created by states to regulate their mutual relations and, increasingly, their relations with individuals and other entities.

Public International Law

Branch of international law governing legal relations between states and other international actors; distinct from private international law, which addresses transboundary private disputes.

Private International Law

Conflict-of-laws rules determining which domestic legal system applies to transboundary private matters.

Foreign Law

The domestic law of another state examined for comparative or conflict-of-laws purposes.

Chicago Convention (1944)

Treaty establishing rules for international civil aviation, enabling routine global air travel.

Berne Convention (1886)

Treaty protecting literary and artistic works, basis for international copyright.

Double Taxation Agreement

Bilateral treaty preventing the same income from being taxed in two states.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Body that issues technical standards facilitating, inter alia, global passport readability.

UN Convention on Road Traffic

Treaty allowing reciprocal recognition of driver licences and vehicle standards.

Interpolitic Legal Arrangements

Historical treaties or norms devised between political communities before modern states existed.

Doctrinal Classical International Law

15th–16th-century scholarly phase developing concepts to justify European colonial expansion.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Settlement ending the Thirty Years’ War; recognised state sovereignty and equality.

Sovereignty

Supreme and exclusive authority a state exercises over its territory and population.

Positivism (in international law)

Legal approach focusing on state practice and consent rather than moral or natural law.

League of Nations

Post-WWI organisation aimed at maintaining peace; precursor to the United Nations.

Treaty of Paris (Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928)

Agreement in which states renounced war as a means of dispute settlement.

Sacred Trust of Civilisation

League of Nations notion used to justify mandate administration of former colonies.

Cold War Period (1945–1990)

Era of bipolar international order shaping and constraining UN action.

Non-Aligned Movement

Group of states pursuing independence from both Cold War blocs and advocating equitable economic order.

New World Order (post-1990)

Optimistic concept of universal values and collective security following Cold War’s end.

Just War Revival

Post-9/11 tendency of states to frame military action as morally necessary justice.

International Legal Order

Horizontal legal system governing an international society composed primarily of sovereign states.

Law of Co-existence

Rules ensuring peaceful sovereign interaction, e.g., diplomatic law and territorial boundaries.

Law of Cooperation

Specialised regimes where states collaborate on common interests such as trade or environment.

Sovereign Equality

Principle that all states possess equal legal status regardless of power disparities.

Law-Making Function

Process by which states create international norms through consent—principally treaties and custom.

Judicial Function (international)

Resolution of disputes by courts or tribunals only with parties’ consent.

Executive Function (international)

Implementation and enforcement of international obligations, largely reliant on domestic authorities.

Compliance Mechanism

Procedures established by states to encourage or monitor fulfilment of international obligations.

Subject of International Law

Entity capable of possessing international rights and duties—e.g., states, IOs, individuals.

Montevideo Convention (1933)

Instrument articulating four classical criteria of statehood: population, territory, government, capacity to enter relations.

Permanent Population

Stable community of persons residing within a state’s territory, irrespective of size or ethnicity.

Defined Territory

Geographical area over which a state exercises sovereignty; need not be large or fully delimited.

Government (criterion of statehood)

Effective and independent authority exercising control over territory and population.

Effectiveness (government)

Practical ability to maintain order, legislate, and protect within the state’s territory.

Juridical Independence

Freedom of a government from control by other states in conducting internal and external affairs.

Capacity to Enter International Relations

Ability of an entity to engage in treaty-making and diplomacy without external consent.

Recognition of States

Unilateral act whereby a state acknowledges the existence of another state; declaratory, not constitutive.

Declaratory Theory

View that statehood depends on objective criteria, not on recognition by others.

Constitutive Theory

Minority view that recognition is a necessary element of statehood.

Puppet Government

Government entirely controlled by a foreign power, lacking independence.

Government in Exile

Administration operating from foreign territory claiming to represent an occupied state.

Failed State

State whose government cannot exercise effective authority over territory or population.

International Organization (IO)

Intergovernmental entity established by treaty, possessing legal personality to pursue specific functions.

Functionalism (IO theory)

Doctrine that an IO’s powers derive from and are limited by its assigned functions.

Universal Organization

IO open to membership of all states, e.g., the United Nations.

Regional Organization

IO restricted to states from a particular geographic area, e.g., African Union.

Open vs. Closed Organization

Distinction based on whether new members may join subject to criteria (open) or not (closed).

Legal Personality (international)

Status enabling an entity to hold rights, duties, and capacity to act on the international plane.

Reparation for Injuries (1949)

ICJ advisory opinion recognising the UN’s international legal personality.

Universal Postal Union

19th-century IO created to standardise and facilitate international mail services.

Associate Membership

Limited participation status in an IO conferring some but not all member rights.

Observer Status

Non-member participation in IO meetings without voting rights.

State Succession

Legal consequences for state obligations and memberships following territorial or governmental change.

United Nations (UN)

Universal IO founded in 1945 to maintain peace, promote friendly relations, and foster cooperation.

UN Charter Article 2(4)

Provision prohibiting the threat or use of force against territorial integrity or political independence of states.

General Assembly (UNGA)

UN plenary organ where all member states deliberate and pass resolutions.

Security Council (UNSC)

UN organ with primary responsibility for peace and security; possesses binding authority.

P5

Permanent members of the UNSC: United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China.

Veto Power

Ability of any P5 member to block substantive UNSC decisions.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

UN organ coordinating economic, social, and related work of the UN and specialised agencies.

Trusteeship Council

UN body overseeing decolonisation; operations suspended in 1994 after Palau’s independence.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

UN principal judicial organ adjudicating disputes between states and issuing advisory opinions.

Optional Clause (ICJ)

Article 36(2) declaration accepting the Court’s compulsory jurisdiction.

Sources of International Law

Treaties, customary law, general principles, and subsidiary means (judicial decisions, scholarship).

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969)

Treaty codifying customary rules on treaty formation, interpretation, and validity.

Consent to be Bound

State’s agreement—via signature, ratification, accession, etc.—to undertake treaty obligations.

Treaty Reservation

Unilateral statement excluding or modifying a treaty’s legal effect for the reserving state.

Severability (reservations)

Doctrine allowing invalid reservation to be severed while leaving treaty obligations intact.

Interpretative Declaration

Statement clarifying a state’s understanding of treaty provisions without altering legal effects.

Objective vs. Subjective Interpretation

Approaches focusing on textual meaning versus parties’ actual intent; VCLT favours textual.

Customary International Law

Unwritten rules derived from general state practice accepted as law (opinio juris).

State Practice

Consistent and general conduct of states constituting the objective element of custom.

Opinio Juris

Subjective belief of states that practice is legally obligatory.

Persistent Objector

State that persistently rejects an emerging custom, thereby not bound by it.

Jus Cogens

Peremptory norms from which no derogation is permitted, e.g., prohibitions of genocide, torture.

Erga Omnes Obligation

Duty owed to the international community as a whole; all states have legal interest in its observance.

Self-Determination

Right of peoples to freely determine political status and pursue economic, social, and cultural development.

External Self-Determination

People’s right to independence from colonial, occupying, or racist regimes.

Internal Self-Determination

Right of a population to democratic governance within an existing state.

Remedial Secession

Contested doctrine allowing secession when serious rights violations deny internal self-determination.

Uti Possidetis Juris

Principle that emerging states retain existing administrative borders at independence.

Jurisdiction to Prescribe

State power to enact laws applicable to persons or conduct.

Territorial Principle

Basis for jurisdiction over acts occurring within a state’s territory.

Nationality Principle

Jurisdiction over nationals regardless of where conduct occurs.

Protective Principle

Jurisdiction over acts threatening a state’s vital interests.

Universal Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction allowing any state to prosecute certain grave crimes regardless of nexus.

Lotus Principle

Presumption that states may exercise jurisdiction absent a prohibitive rule.

Immunity from Jurisdiction

Protection preventing courts from exercising authority over foreign states or certain officials.

Functional Immunity (ratione materiae)

Immunity covering official acts, persisting after an official leaves office.

Personal Immunity (ratione personae)

Broad immunity for incumbent heads of state, heads of government, and foreign ministers.

Diplomatic Inviolability

Absolute protection of diplomats and embassy premises from coercive measures of host state.

Nicaragua v. United States (1986)

ICJ case defining unlawful intervention and confirming customary prohibition of force.

Use of Force (jus ad bellum)

Rules regulating when states may resort to military force.

Self-Defence (Article 51 UN Charter)

Inherent right of a state to use force against an armed attack, subject to necessity and proportionality.

Collective Self-Defence

States’ right to assist a victim of aggression, upon its request.

Anticipatory Self-Defence

Controversial concept permitting pre-emptive force when an armed attack is imminent.

Humanitarian Intervention

Disputed doctrine allowing force to halt large-scale human rights abuses without UNSC authorisation.

UNSC Chapter VII Action

Binding measures—including sanctions and force—authorised to address threats to peace.

Countermeasures

Otherwise unlawful acts taken by an injured state in response to another state’s wrongful act to induce compliance.