Samenvatting
Public International Law
RGBUIER002 - Universiteit Utrecht 2024/2025
Bevat:
1. Uitwerking Kennisclips
2. Uitwerking Verdiepingscolleges
3. Uitwerking Leerdoelen
4. Uitwerking relevante informatie uit werkgroepopdrachten
a. Selectie gemaakt gebaseerd op punt 1 - 3
5. Uitwerking relevante informatie uit voorgeschreven literatuur
a. Selectie gemaakt gebaseerd op punt 1 - 3
,Week 1
International law
- Rules and principles to manage the relations and conduct of states, international
organizations and individuals
- States have to consent to be bound (by international law)
- Kinds:
1. Private: relationship between individuals
2. Public: relationship between public individuals or states
- Relation to politics
- International law is (primarily) made by politicians because they negotiate
treaties → politics determine the law and the law determines politics
- Sources:
1. Treaties (to address issues)
2. Customary international law (through practice)
3. International courts (interpret the rules in treaties/decide on customary law)
History and development of international law
1. Late Middle Ages in Europe
a. Multiple levels of different allegiances/rights/obligations (feodalisme) +
universal political (network of knights/merchants) and religious forces
(Pope/Church) → people feel close to their community not their nationals
b. Jus naturale: natural law: applied to individuals + states as rulers (natuurlijk
persoon)
c. Jus gentium: law of people or nationals: inferior to natural law
d. Colonialism: conflict spanish/native americans should only be based on
natural law not by discovery/grant of the Pope
2. 17th and 18th century
a. Clearer distinction between naturale/gentium as different areas of law
b. Hugo Grotius was a leading figure in the systemisation of the international
legal system
c. Natural law was applied + regulated → to manage international relations
3. 1648: Peace of Westphalia (einde van de dertigjarige oorlog (protest vs, katholiek)
a. Marked the birth of the international legal system.
b. Peace treaties aimed to reduce transnational forces (empires/religion, see 1)
and instead compartmentalised territory+individuals into States of equal
importance → State is primary source of authority → people feel close to
nationals not community
c. International society = individual sovereign states
4. 19th century: era of positivism
a. True source of law was state will (not morality) → state consent important
i. States could express their will explicitly in the form of a treaty or
implicitly by customary practices
b. Consensual theory: state has to consent to be bound by a rule for an
international legal obligation to be formed
i. Difference to natural law: there is no universal legal system
, c. First multilateral treaties regulating armed conflicts + conventions on the
conduct of war + a Permanent Court of Arbitration
5. Interwar period
a. After WWI → creation of League of Nations to maintain world peace
i. League didn’t prohibit war but tried to limit outbreaks → states were
required to submit disputes to a settlement mechanism and wait until
they made a decision
ii. Establishment of the Permanent Court of Justice (PJIC) in the Hague
6. After WWII
a. League was succeeded by the United Nations (UN) which was tasked with
maintenance of international peace and security
i. Principles: Westphalia, equal rights, self-determination of peoples,
sovereign equality
ii. Founded on the Charter of the UN
b. European Union EU: motivation to avoid large-scale conflicts
i. The European Council;
ii. The Council of the European Union;
iii. The European Parliament;
iv. The European Commission; and,
v. The Court of Justice of the European Union.
vi. European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
vii. European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
7. Present
- International institutions were created to promote a world order based on Western
values like open markets, individual rights, and cooperation.
- This liberal international order is showing signs of break-up:
- Non-Western countries, such as China, are emerging, shifting global
economic power and diminishing the influence of the West
- There are disagreements between states on how to pursue their
interests (e.g., Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and China's
land-grab in the South China Sea)
- These disagreements make it harder for states to reach new global
agreements.
- Instead, states are opting for less ambitious non-binding political agreements
or regionally binding agreements with like-minded countries
- Criticism of institutional cooperation in Europe is growing, especially regarding loss of
national sovereignty and the activism of the Court of Justice of the European Union
(CJEU).
- This dissatisfaction was evident when Britain voted to leave the EU in June
2016 (Brexit).
Structures of international law
- International law complements national law, which regulates disputes within a state.
- When an issue involves the interests of more than one state, national law is
insufficient, and international law steps in.
- Two ways an issue becomes international:
1. Colliding interests
a. When two or more states have conflicting interests on an issue
, i. The international character comes from the content of the
issue
2. Agreement through treaties
a. When states agree in a treaty to make an issue international
i. The international character comes from the form (treaty
agreements).
- Issues may be internationalized either due to content (international law of
coexistence) or due to form (international law of cooperation).
International law of coexistence
- General international law
- Ensures that States can pursue their different/separate interests without
disrespecting the sovereignty/rights of other States.
- Provides legal answers to questions that are of interest to more than one state
- Required to separate the powers of sovereign states and uphold peaceful
coexistence
- Example of topics where interests could collide: territory, jurisdiction, immunity,
force/armed hostilities, neutrality during armed conflict
International law of cooperation
- Optional for sovereign States
- Provides legal answers to issues that have become a matter of international concern
through the adoption of a treaty.
- After WWII: topics that used to be only of national interest became part of a variety of
‘societal’ goals on an international level → how is sovereign authority exercised
within a state
- EX of topics: international human rights law, environmental law, economic law
Basis of international obligation
- Logical consequence of sovereignty
- Multiple Sovereign States → international relations → justifies international
law
- States remain sovereign while also bound by international legal obligations
Implementation of international law
- International law is supreme to national law: international law justifies a breach of
national law, not the other way around
- States are free to decide how they implement international commitments except for
certain EU regulations that have to be adopted in a specific way into their domestic
legal system
- Two abstract models which describe the relationship between international and
national law:
1. Monism
a. International law has a direct effect on national law after it has been
ratified
b. Grundnorm: international law and national law are one single system
c. International law is superior to national law if there’s a conflict of
norms
Public International Law
RGBUIER002 - Universiteit Utrecht 2024/2025
Bevat:
1. Uitwerking Kennisclips
2. Uitwerking Verdiepingscolleges
3. Uitwerking Leerdoelen
4. Uitwerking relevante informatie uit werkgroepopdrachten
a. Selectie gemaakt gebaseerd op punt 1 - 3
5. Uitwerking relevante informatie uit voorgeschreven literatuur
a. Selectie gemaakt gebaseerd op punt 1 - 3
,Week 1
International law
- Rules and principles to manage the relations and conduct of states, international
organizations and individuals
- States have to consent to be bound (by international law)
- Kinds:
1. Private: relationship between individuals
2. Public: relationship between public individuals or states
- Relation to politics
- International law is (primarily) made by politicians because they negotiate
treaties → politics determine the law and the law determines politics
- Sources:
1. Treaties (to address issues)
2. Customary international law (through practice)
3. International courts (interpret the rules in treaties/decide on customary law)
History and development of international law
1. Late Middle Ages in Europe
a. Multiple levels of different allegiances/rights/obligations (feodalisme) +
universal political (network of knights/merchants) and religious forces
(Pope/Church) → people feel close to their community not their nationals
b. Jus naturale: natural law: applied to individuals + states as rulers (natuurlijk
persoon)
c. Jus gentium: law of people or nationals: inferior to natural law
d. Colonialism: conflict spanish/native americans should only be based on
natural law not by discovery/grant of the Pope
2. 17th and 18th century
a. Clearer distinction between naturale/gentium as different areas of law
b. Hugo Grotius was a leading figure in the systemisation of the international
legal system
c. Natural law was applied + regulated → to manage international relations
3. 1648: Peace of Westphalia (einde van de dertigjarige oorlog (protest vs, katholiek)
a. Marked the birth of the international legal system.
b. Peace treaties aimed to reduce transnational forces (empires/religion, see 1)
and instead compartmentalised territory+individuals into States of equal
importance → State is primary source of authority → people feel close to
nationals not community
c. International society = individual sovereign states
4. 19th century: era of positivism
a. True source of law was state will (not morality) → state consent important
i. States could express their will explicitly in the form of a treaty or
implicitly by customary practices
b. Consensual theory: state has to consent to be bound by a rule for an
international legal obligation to be formed
i. Difference to natural law: there is no universal legal system
, c. First multilateral treaties regulating armed conflicts + conventions on the
conduct of war + a Permanent Court of Arbitration
5. Interwar period
a. After WWI → creation of League of Nations to maintain world peace
i. League didn’t prohibit war but tried to limit outbreaks → states were
required to submit disputes to a settlement mechanism and wait until
they made a decision
ii. Establishment of the Permanent Court of Justice (PJIC) in the Hague
6. After WWII
a. League was succeeded by the United Nations (UN) which was tasked with
maintenance of international peace and security
i. Principles: Westphalia, equal rights, self-determination of peoples,
sovereign equality
ii. Founded on the Charter of the UN
b. European Union EU: motivation to avoid large-scale conflicts
i. The European Council;
ii. The Council of the European Union;
iii. The European Parliament;
iv. The European Commission; and,
v. The Court of Justice of the European Union.
vi. European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
vii. European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
7. Present
- International institutions were created to promote a world order based on Western
values like open markets, individual rights, and cooperation.
- This liberal international order is showing signs of break-up:
- Non-Western countries, such as China, are emerging, shifting global
economic power and diminishing the influence of the West
- There are disagreements between states on how to pursue their
interests (e.g., Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and China's
land-grab in the South China Sea)
- These disagreements make it harder for states to reach new global
agreements.
- Instead, states are opting for less ambitious non-binding political agreements
or regionally binding agreements with like-minded countries
- Criticism of institutional cooperation in Europe is growing, especially regarding loss of
national sovereignty and the activism of the Court of Justice of the European Union
(CJEU).
- This dissatisfaction was evident when Britain voted to leave the EU in June
2016 (Brexit).
Structures of international law
- International law complements national law, which regulates disputes within a state.
- When an issue involves the interests of more than one state, national law is
insufficient, and international law steps in.
- Two ways an issue becomes international:
1. Colliding interests
a. When two or more states have conflicting interests on an issue
, i. The international character comes from the content of the
issue
2. Agreement through treaties
a. When states agree in a treaty to make an issue international
i. The international character comes from the form (treaty
agreements).
- Issues may be internationalized either due to content (international law of
coexistence) or due to form (international law of cooperation).
International law of coexistence
- General international law
- Ensures that States can pursue their different/separate interests without
disrespecting the sovereignty/rights of other States.
- Provides legal answers to questions that are of interest to more than one state
- Required to separate the powers of sovereign states and uphold peaceful
coexistence
- Example of topics where interests could collide: territory, jurisdiction, immunity,
force/armed hostilities, neutrality during armed conflict
International law of cooperation
- Optional for sovereign States
- Provides legal answers to issues that have become a matter of international concern
through the adoption of a treaty.
- After WWII: topics that used to be only of national interest became part of a variety of
‘societal’ goals on an international level → how is sovereign authority exercised
within a state
- EX of topics: international human rights law, environmental law, economic law
Basis of international obligation
- Logical consequence of sovereignty
- Multiple Sovereign States → international relations → justifies international
law
- States remain sovereign while also bound by international legal obligations
Implementation of international law
- International law is supreme to national law: international law justifies a breach of
national law, not the other way around
- States are free to decide how they implement international commitments except for
certain EU regulations that have to be adopted in a specific way into their domestic
legal system
- Two abstract models which describe the relationship between international and
national law:
1. Monism
a. International law has a direct effect on national law after it has been
ratified
b. Grundnorm: international law and national law are one single system
c. International law is superior to national law if there’s a conflict of
norms
