POLS 449 - International Law Midterm Review

Jus Cogens

Definition: Preemptory norms accepted as fundamental; states cannot legally override them by treaty.

Significance: They limit state consent/sovereignty and outrank conflicting ordinary rules.

Soft Law

Definition: Non-legally binding rules, declarations, or standards.

Significance: Influences state behavior and can eventually develop into binding international law.

Global Governance & International Law

Definition: Management of global problems through states, IOs, rules, institutions, and other actors.

Significance: IL provides rules and institutions that structure this cooperation without a world government.

ECOWAS

Definition: Economic Community of West African States, a regional organization in West Africa.

Significance: Shows regional organizations can promote governance, democracy, security, and legal norms.

UN Regional Cooperation

Definition: Cooperation between the UN and regional organizations.

Significance: Regional organizations can help implement international goals, especially peace and security.

ICJ

Definition: International Court of Justice; principal judicial organ of the UN.

Significance: Settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions, helping interpret and enforce IL.

Normative Compliance

Definition: States obey IL because they see rules as legitimate or believe compliance is appropriate.

Significance: Shows compliance can occur without coercion or punishment.

Instrumentalist Compliance

Definition: States comply when doing so serves their interests or the benefits outweigh the costs.

Significance: Explains compliance through rational calculations, incentives, and consequences.

Opinio Juris

Definition: A state's belief that a practice is legally required.

Significance: Along with state practice, it is necessary for creating customary international law.

Reciprocity

Definition: States cooperate expecting other states to do the same.

Significance: Encourages compliance because violating rules may cause others to stop cooperating.

Prevention Principle

Definition: States should prevent activities under their control from causing environmental harm to other states.

Significance: Creates responsibility for preventing transboundary environmental damage.

Kyoto Protocol

Definition: 1997 climate agreement under the UNFCCC that set binding emission targets for developed states.

Significance: Major attempt to turn climate responsibilities into specific legal commitments.

Collective Action Problem

Definition: Everyone benefits from cooperation, but individual actors have incentives to free-ride

Significance: Explains why environmental/climate agreements are difficult to create and enforce.

Normative Compliance - Instrumentalist Compliance

Both explain why states obey IL. Normative theory emphasizes legitimacy, obligation, and internalized norms, while instrumentalism emphasizes self-interest, costs, benefits, and incentives. Scicluna organizes major explanations of compliance around these two categories.

Opinio Juris - Customary International Law

Customary IL generally requires state practice + opinio juris. States must not only behave a certain way; they must generally regard the practice as legally required.

Soft Law - Hard Law

Soft law is not formally binding, while hard law creates legal obligations. However, soft law can influence behavior and may eventually contribute to binding rules.

Kyoto Protocol - Collective Action Problem

Climate change is a collective action problem because everyone benefits from lower emissions while individual states can benefit from others reducing emissions. Kyoto attempted to overcome this through coordinated international commitments.

Global Governance - International Law

Global governance manages international problems without a centralized world government; IL supplies many of the rules, organizations, and procedures through which that governance occurs.

How does the world cooperate on environmental problems, does it work, is it fair, and what role does IL play? (Essay 1)

International environmental law helps states cooperate on problems they cannot solve alone, but its effectiveness is limited by collective action problems, enforcement difficulties, and disagreements over responsibility between developed and developing states.

Why do States comply with International Law? (Essay 2)

States comply with international law for both instrumental and normative reasons, and compliance often depends more on legitimacy, reciprocity, reputation, institutions, and incentives than on direct coercion.

What is Global Governance? (Essay 3)

Global governance is the management of international problems through states, international organizations, law, institutions, and other actors without a single world government; IL provides many of the rules that structure their relationships.

Where does International Law come from? (Essay 4)

International law comes primarily from treaties and customary international law, but general principles, judicial decisions, scholarship, and soft law also influence its development. Unlike domestic law, IL is created through decentralized processes in which states remain major lawmakers.