Summary international law

It is a mark of how far international law has evolved that this original definition omits individuals and international organizations —two of the most dynamic and vital elements of modern international law. Furthermore, it is no longer accurate to view international law as simply a collection of rules; rather, it is a rapidly developing complex of rules and influential—though not directly binding—principles, practices, and assertions coupled with increasingly sophisticated structures and processes. In its broadest sense, international law provides normative guidelines as well as methods, mechanisms, and a common conceptual language to international actors—i. The range of subjects and actors directly concerned with international law has widened considerably, moving beyond the classical questions of warpeace, and diplomacy to include human rightseconomic and trade issues, space lawand international organizations.

Summary international law

March 28, by Janet Munro-Nelson Download pdf In matters of world-wide concern, Summary international law is international law that determines the responsibilities and obligations of each State, organisation or individual.

In the past 50 years, the world has become even more interconnected with the huge leaps in communication and technology, and a growing dependency on other countries for resources and services. Despite recent bad press from some governments, international law is both necessary and important for international cooperation at every level.

On a day-to-day level, international law functions effectively with little or no awareness by the participants and without any noticeable seams.

Summary international law

One can travel internationally, television events are broadcast world-wide and postal and electronic mail is delivered across borders due to international agreements. A short overview of both private international and public international law is given below. As the common law name—conflict of laws—implies, where more than one jurisdiction has an interest in a legal action, there may be a conflict between laws of the different jurisdictions involved.

Conflict of laws will apply in situations such as marriage, birthrights, divorce, settlement of property, and commercial disputes when more than one jurisdiction is involved.

Summary International Law - International Law, General Course - Stuvia

The two questions that need to be settled in these cases are, 1 does the proposed court or tribunal in a certain nation-state State have the jurisdiction to hear and decide this case?

An example involving conflict of laws would be the situation where a husband and wife who live in London, England decide to divorce.

The wife is a Brazilian national and the husband is a British national. Together, they own property in England and in France. If the wife believes she would get better treatment in a Brazilian court than an English court, she may want to bring divorce proceedings in Brazil rather than in England.

The husband may decide to bring his own court action in England if he believes this court would give him a better result than a Brazilian court would.

Because States have different divorce laws, each court to which an action is brought must decide if it has the jurisdiction to hear and rule on the underlying case before it.

Summary international law

It must also decide if it is the appropriate forum for deciding the dispute. Here, the appropriate court in Brazil and in London will first have to resolve the conflict of laws questions before the particulars of the divorce case can proceed.

If a court decides it has the jurisdiction to hear the case, it will then decide which law should apply to the case. This may mean that a Brazilian court applies English law to the divorce case. Generally, the more foreign law elements that are present in a conflict of laws situation, the more complex is the analysis to reach a resolution.

Public International Law i Generally International law previously referred to as the law of nations consists of rules, laws and principles that govern the relations between States and which bind all international actors.

In practice, international law is based on reciprocity of treatment; one State treats other States as it wants to be treated. The development of international law has occurred over time. Initially, international law exclusively applied only to international diplomatic situations and to the conduct of war.

Until the last half of the twentieth century, international law only applied to and between States. Now it has been expanded to cover international organisations such as the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and certain individuals such as for war crimes.

One important factor to realise and understand about international law is that it works in a totally different way to domestic or municipal law.Chapter A The nature and development of international law. The principal actors in international law are nation-states, not individual citizens like in domestic or municipal law.

International law is divided into conflict of law, private international law and public international law. The latter is usually termed ‘international law’. “Private international law” (as civil law countries such as France, Italy and Spain refer to it) or “conflict of laws” (as common law countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada refer to it) is a body of law developed to resolve private, non-state disputes involving more than one jurisdiction or one foreign law element.

Summary International Law – after M. DIXON, International Law (6 th Edition) Chapter 1 The Nature of International Law and the International System Criticism of international law: 1. existence of set of rules governing inter-state relations 2.

the entitlement of being called law 3.


effectiveness in controlling states and other international actors (invasion Iraq by the US, invasion of Isreal %(1). Under international law, refusal to accept lawful surrender in combat and instead killing the person surrendering is also categorized as a summary execution (as well as murder).

Law of the Sea: Law of the Sea, branch of international law concerned with public order at sea.

What Are the Sources of International Law? | Globalization

Much of this law is codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed Dec. 10, The convention, described as a “constitution for the oceans,” represents an attempt to codify international law.


Law of the Sea | international law [] |