IEL - International law weeks 1-4

Domestic Law

Exists as a hierarchical legal system within a country, with officials enforcing laws on citizens.

Public International Law

Law made by states to regulate their interactions with each other, primarily regulating the conduct of states.

Domestic Law

Exists as a hierarchical legal system within a country, with officials enforcing laws on citizens.

Public International Law

Law made by states to regulate their interactions with each other, primarily regulating the conduct of states.

Law of Coexistence

Includes rules inherently of interest to multiple states that cannot be solved individually, such as the Law of the Sea.

Law of Cooperation

Involves rules that could be dealt with under national law but are brought into the international legal system, like Human Rights law.

Private International Law

Regulates relations between persons and entities in different states, distinct from Public International Law.

European Law

The body of law developed within the European Union, separate from Public International Law.

Hugo Grotius

Considered the 'Father' of International Law, he developed the idea that law can be derived from nature and man-made.

Peace of Westphalia

Marked the shift from legal pluralism to legal monism in Europe, establishing the principle of cuius regio, eius religio.

Legal Positivism

Holds that the will of sovereign states is the primary source of law in international law, emphasizing sovereign equality.

Subjects of International Law

Include entities with legal personality like states, international organizations, individuals, and peoples.

State

An entity with defined territory, permanent population, government, and capacity to enter into international relations.

Recognition of Statehood

A controversial issue involving declaratory and constitutive theories, determining when an entity is considered a state in international law.

Issue of relativism

If a state attributes its existence solely to the recognition of other states, its absolute existence is impossible.

Montevideo Convention Art 3

Dominant view in international law explicitly outlined in the Montevideo Convention Article 3.

Quantity for Statehood Recognition

The question of how many states must recognize an entity for it to attain statehood, considering if more priority is given to the opinions of certain states.

International Organization (IO)

An organization established by a treaty or other instrument governed by international law, possessing its own international legal personality.

Principle of Speciality

The concept that international organizations only have legal personality in a specified field, with no general competence beyond that.

Powers of International Organizations

Limited to what has been given to them by states, with rights, powers, privileges, and immunities necessary to exercise their functions.

UN Reparations for Injuries

The test for establishing international legal personality based on the UN's ability to bring forward international claims against states for injuries or death to its personnel.

Sources of Law

Criteria used to mark the body of rules that are legally binding, with different accepted sources in various legal systems.

PCIJ

Permanent Court of International Justice, which handled cases such as the SS Lotus case.

Lotus Principle

States are free to act as they see fit unless there is a legal restriction on their conduct, emphasizing consent, sovereignty, and state jurisdiction.

Statute of the ICJ, Article 38

Primary and secondary sources of international law, including conventions, customary international law, general principles, teachings of legal publicists, and judicial decisions.

Customary International Law

The oldest and most fundamental form of international law, laying down the criteria of legal validity for all other international laws.

ICJ - North Sea Continental Shelf Cases

Case involving the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany disputing the delimitation of the continental shelf in the North Sea, applying customary international law.

Usus and Opinio Iuris

Criteria used to determine whether a rule is considered customary international law, involving uniform state practice and the belief in the existence of a legally binding rule.

State Practice and Opinio Iuris Examples

Various actions and statements by states that contribute to state practice and opinio iuris, influencing the formation of customary international law.

Law-MAKING vs Law-BREAKING

Explanation of how states may violate customary international law but as long as they do not claim justification from international law, the violation does not modify the law.

International Treaties

One of the oldest fields of international law, forming the fundamental basis for all other laws.

Public statements

Statements made on behalf of a state

Material acts

Actions like seizures of vessels or sending diplomats

Diplomatic acts

Official diplomatic actions and correspondence

Official publications

Governmental legal opinions and publications

Adoption of legislation

Process of enacting national laws

Courts' judgments

Decisions made by national courts

Conscious abstentions

Deliberate refraining from actions

Treaty provisions

Specific clauses within international agreements

Resolutions

Decisions made by international organizations or conferences

Law-MAKING

Creating new international laws

Law-BREAKING

Violating customary international law

Prohibition of torture

Despite violations, the prohibition remains valid

Treaties

Written agreements between states governed by international law

Bilateral treaties

Involving two parties

Multilateral treaties

Involving more than two parties

Constitutive treaties

Establishing international institutions

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Treaty governing treaties, codifying customary international law

Consent to be bound

Explicit agreement to be legally bound by a treaty

Pacta sunt servanda

Principle that states must honor treaty obligations

Full powers

Authority to express a state's consent to be bound by a treaty

Object and purpose

Intention behind a treaty, must be respected by parties

Ratification

Formal confirmation of a state's intent to be bound by a treaty

Third-party obligations

Treaties cannot impose obligations on states not party to them

General principles of law

Gap-fillers in international law, like equity and good faith

Judicial rulings

Past court decisions clarifying law, not creating it

Scholarly contributions

Academic interpretations of legal principles

Unilateral declarations

States creating legal obligations through pronouncements

Soft law instruments

Non-binding norms reflecting political and moral contexts

Monism

Incorporating international law directly into national law without transformation.

Dualism

Transforming international law into national law to make it official, treating them as two distinct systems.

Mixed approach

A combination of monism and dualism where international and domestic law are seen as independent but may create direct obligations within the domestic legal order.