Week 1
What is public international law?
- Rules governing conduct / international relations amongst states
- Rules governing establishment and operation of international organisations (intergovernmental
organisations)
Increasingly: non-states actor bear rights and/or obligations as subjects of PIL
History of Int. Law (from peaceful co-existence → international cooperation and law making)
● Francesco de vitoria - 1532
De indis et de Iure Belli Relectiones
- All human and we all have dignity (when european rulers encountered other peoples nations in
exploration they must be adorned with a certain amount of respect)
● Hugo Grotius - 1625
Freedom of the Seas/On the law of war and peace
- Ideas on what the laws should be on the sea, rules of engagement on the ocean, established basic
rules for such. Sea belongs to no one, resources belong to everyone
● Peace of Westphalia - 1648
Establishment of structure of states
- Era of wartime in Europe, trying to settle years-long war by parties dividing the continent into
different pieces of land. Leading to the creation of nation states, maintaining peace by
establishing sovereignty on the land owned by a ruler
● Louis XIV - 1655
‘L’etat c’est moi’
- Signaled the sovereignty of States
,Secularisation of law creation
17th - 19th century: furthering peaceful coexistence of states
❖ Age of enlightenment in europe → shift away from religion as a source of law
1. States are subject of the international law
2. State consent/will is the source of international law
- No higher authority than the state
3. States are equal sovereigns
- Sovereign equality implies non-intervention in internal affairs of other states
19th - 20th century
● Lassa Oppenheim
- ‘Since the law of nations is based on the common consent of individual states, and not of
individual human beings, states solely and exclusively are subjects of international law.’
Development of international legal positivism
- IL is made by states
- IL is made through state consent
- IL is found in specific sources of law
➢ This idea implies that sources of law are empty vessels, law is whatever the state
makes it to be. (can be just/unjust - moral/immoral)
● Berlin conference (1884) - Colonization of Africa
- “Scramble for Africa”
> Introduction of the idea of statehood, imposed on these nations despite opposition against such system
> Problem with different tribes being cut up, sliced placed together with other tribes and separated from
their own
How do people have rights under IL?
→ WW1
[1919]: Establishment of league of nations
[1926]: Treaty for Abolition and Suppression of Slavery
→ WW2
1945: establishment of the United Nations (explosive growth of IL + focus on Human Rights )
,(FIRST EVER, prohibition of war through UN charter Art 2(4))
[1948]: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
[1949]: Geneva Conventions on Armed Conflicts
United Nations (193 member states)
❖ UN General Assembly (all members, one vote)
❖ UN Security council (15 members)
➢ 5 permanent members: USA, UK, France, China, Russia
❖ International Court of Justice as main judicial organ
The subjects of international law
❖ Requirements for ‘subject’
➢ Possess international legal personality
Meaning the capacity to:
➔ possess rights and duties under international law
➔ maintain rights and duties bringing legal claims internationally
- E.g. International courts/tribunals
➔ create rights and duties under IL
❖ Subjects of IL in any legal system are not necessarily identical in nature or the extent of their
rights
➢ Legal personality is relative depending on needs and developments of relations amongst
different actors in international community
➢ See ICJ Reparation Case → describes what counts as legal int personality + established
the legal personality of the UN
Subjects of IL
❖ States - main subjects of international law → have full legal personality
➢ Main creators and bearers of rights and obligations in international law
➢ States are creators and members of intergovernmental organisations
■ E.g. UNC art. 4 “states which accept the obligations contained in the present
charter”
How to qualify as a state
❖ Montevideo Convention (1933), Article 1
a) Permanent population
b) Defined territory
c) (Effective) government
d) Capacity to enter into international relations
- Legally allowed to act as an independent state
, ➢ Does NOT mean ‘recognition’
➢ Under own constitution
➢ Not under legal authority of other state
Example:
Montevideo Convention (1933), Article 1
› E.g. UN Report on Status of Palestine (2011) & UNGA Resolution 67/19 (2012) on Status of Palestine.
● Montevideo-criteria assessed by UNGA in 2011
● Non-member ‘observer’ State awarded by UNGA in 2012
› UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/23 (May 2024): “Determines that the State of Palestine is
qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the UN Charter”
● Additional rights and privileges of participation for State of Palestine
● 143 votes in favour, 9 against, 25 abstentions.
Is recognition of statehood necessary?
● Two legal views:
1. Declaratory theory: not necessary, only the objective criteria in art. 1 of the Montevideo
Convention must be met (most widely accepted)
+ See Art 3 Montevideo Convention: recognition is NOT a requirement for statehood
2. Constitutive theory: necessary, recognition is requirement for statehood
Importance of statehood
❖ Ability to function as ‘state’, with rights and obligations
❖ Struggles to be admitted for UN membership (consolidating statehood)
- If a referendum is made by the country within itself to determine if it wants to become a
state and it passes, then it is a state → Art 4 UN Charter
⇔ ‘collective recognition’
Subjects of IL (Part 2)
❖ Non-state actors
➢ International Organizations (IO)
➢ Individuals
What is public international law?
- Rules governing conduct / international relations amongst states
- Rules governing establishment and operation of international organisations (intergovernmental
organisations)
Increasingly: non-states actor bear rights and/or obligations as subjects of PIL
History of Int. Law (from peaceful co-existence → international cooperation and law making)
● Francesco de vitoria - 1532
De indis et de Iure Belli Relectiones
- All human and we all have dignity (when european rulers encountered other peoples nations in
exploration they must be adorned with a certain amount of respect)
● Hugo Grotius - 1625
Freedom of the Seas/On the law of war and peace
- Ideas on what the laws should be on the sea, rules of engagement on the ocean, established basic
rules for such. Sea belongs to no one, resources belong to everyone
● Peace of Westphalia - 1648
Establishment of structure of states
- Era of wartime in Europe, trying to settle years-long war by parties dividing the continent into
different pieces of land. Leading to the creation of nation states, maintaining peace by
establishing sovereignty on the land owned by a ruler
● Louis XIV - 1655
‘L’etat c’est moi’
- Signaled the sovereignty of States
,Secularisation of law creation
17th - 19th century: furthering peaceful coexistence of states
❖ Age of enlightenment in europe → shift away from religion as a source of law
1. States are subject of the international law
2. State consent/will is the source of international law
- No higher authority than the state
3. States are equal sovereigns
- Sovereign equality implies non-intervention in internal affairs of other states
19th - 20th century
● Lassa Oppenheim
- ‘Since the law of nations is based on the common consent of individual states, and not of
individual human beings, states solely and exclusively are subjects of international law.’
Development of international legal positivism
- IL is made by states
- IL is made through state consent
- IL is found in specific sources of law
➢ This idea implies that sources of law are empty vessels, law is whatever the state
makes it to be. (can be just/unjust - moral/immoral)
● Berlin conference (1884) - Colonization of Africa
- “Scramble for Africa”
> Introduction of the idea of statehood, imposed on these nations despite opposition against such system
> Problem with different tribes being cut up, sliced placed together with other tribes and separated from
their own
How do people have rights under IL?
→ WW1
[1919]: Establishment of league of nations
[1926]: Treaty for Abolition and Suppression of Slavery
→ WW2
1945: establishment of the United Nations (explosive growth of IL + focus on Human Rights )
,(FIRST EVER, prohibition of war through UN charter Art 2(4))
[1948]: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
[1949]: Geneva Conventions on Armed Conflicts
United Nations (193 member states)
❖ UN General Assembly (all members, one vote)
❖ UN Security council (15 members)
➢ 5 permanent members: USA, UK, France, China, Russia
❖ International Court of Justice as main judicial organ
The subjects of international law
❖ Requirements for ‘subject’
➢ Possess international legal personality
Meaning the capacity to:
➔ possess rights and duties under international law
➔ maintain rights and duties bringing legal claims internationally
- E.g. International courts/tribunals
➔ create rights and duties under IL
❖ Subjects of IL in any legal system are not necessarily identical in nature or the extent of their
rights
➢ Legal personality is relative depending on needs and developments of relations amongst
different actors in international community
➢ See ICJ Reparation Case → describes what counts as legal int personality + established
the legal personality of the UN
Subjects of IL
❖ States - main subjects of international law → have full legal personality
➢ Main creators and bearers of rights and obligations in international law
➢ States are creators and members of intergovernmental organisations
■ E.g. UNC art. 4 “states which accept the obligations contained in the present
charter”
How to qualify as a state
❖ Montevideo Convention (1933), Article 1
a) Permanent population
b) Defined territory
c) (Effective) government
d) Capacity to enter into international relations
- Legally allowed to act as an independent state
, ➢ Does NOT mean ‘recognition’
➢ Under own constitution
➢ Not under legal authority of other state
Example:
Montevideo Convention (1933), Article 1
› E.g. UN Report on Status of Palestine (2011) & UNGA Resolution 67/19 (2012) on Status of Palestine.
● Montevideo-criteria assessed by UNGA in 2011
● Non-member ‘observer’ State awarded by UNGA in 2012
› UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/23 (May 2024): “Determines that the State of Palestine is
qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the UN Charter”
● Additional rights and privileges of participation for State of Palestine
● 143 votes in favour, 9 against, 25 abstentions.
Is recognition of statehood necessary?
● Two legal views:
1. Declaratory theory: not necessary, only the objective criteria in art. 1 of the Montevideo
Convention must be met (most widely accepted)
+ See Art 3 Montevideo Convention: recognition is NOT a requirement for statehood
2. Constitutive theory: necessary, recognition is requirement for statehood
Importance of statehood
❖ Ability to function as ‘state’, with rights and obligations
❖ Struggles to be admitted for UN membership (consolidating statehood)
- If a referendum is made by the country within itself to determine if it wants to become a
state and it passes, then it is a state → Art 4 UN Charter
⇔ ‘collective recognition’
Subjects of IL (Part 2)
❖ Non-state actors
➢ International Organizations (IO)
➢ Individuals
