International Law Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts in international law.

Public International Law

Governs relations between governments; a system regulating interrelationships of sovereign states and their rights/duties.

Treaty

A contract defining relationships between states/entities.

Customary Law

Non-written rules deriving from constant state practice considered compulsory.

Nature of International Law

Law of international society, primarily made of states; rules mainly come from and regulate relations between states.

Why States Engage in International Legal Obligations

Respect borders and coexist.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

States are structural units; power structured on a state basis, compartmentalizing territory and individuals into sovereign states.

Sovereign Equality

Fundamental principle implying a low degree of institutionalization.

Sovereignty

Basic principle shaping international legal rules, such as borders.

Independence

Non-interference in domestic affairs.

Erga Omnes

Obligations and jus cogens norms protecting general indivisible interests.

Prohibition of Force

Contemporary international law principle prohibiting the use of force to solve disputes.

Legal Subject

Having rights and duties in a legal order.

States

Governing entities over a territorial community, primary subjects of international law.

Sovereignty

Implies independence and exclusivity of government function.

Res Communis Omnium

Territory under state authority that is shared by all.

Population

Individuals living together permanently/stably within borders, forming a community with its own political identity.

Government

Exercise of authority by a state upon a population within a territory.

Effectiveness

Objectively considered capacity to create/apply law and protect the population.

Independence

Juridical or formal independence, existing by virtue of its own constitutive act.

Failed States

Unable to be considered states anymore; can be apprehended by another state with effective government.

Recognition

Political act expressing a will to enter legal relations, not a requirement for state existence.

Insurrectional Movements

Movements connected to a territory, recognized with limited and temporal subjectivity if it effectively controls a territory.

Self-Determination

Principle stating a community having its own identity can't be governed by another state but must constitute its own proper state.

Internal self-determination

Right of a people to choose its own form of government.

International Organizations

Organizations that Express the state's will to cooperate through the establishment of institutions through which states will cooperate.

Fluvial Commissions

Regulates shipping in a river crossing several states.

Plenary Organ

Collects all members, make the political decisions of the organization.

Non Plenary Organ

Doesn't collect all member states, has executive power

The Secretariat

The administrative organ with specific powers in the Secretary General.

General Assembly

One representative per member state. One state, one vote

Opinio Juris Sive Necessitatis

The belief by a State that a conduct must be adopted because it is in accordance with the law, not courtesy but actual law.

Jus Cogens

Binding law that cannot be derogated; it prevents conduct different from what is provided

Principle of relative effects

Binding force of treaties only concerns the parties

Interpretation of Treaties

involves understanding the rights, obligations, and meaning of treaty provisions

Termination of a Treaty

Ceases to produce effect from a certain point on

Tabula Rasa

Treaties concluded by the predecessor do not bind the successor

Mobility of Frontiers

When a part of a state detaches itself to join another existing state.

Customs

From the life of international society, spontaneous phenomenon, not pre-governed, not foreseen.

Breach/Violation

Wrongful conduct contravenes a legal rule