International Law Study guides, Class notes & Summaries

Definition (and nature) of PIL - ANSWER-PIL - area of law that deals with private law matters involving a foreign element --'private' e.g. contract, delict, UE, marriage/divorce, adoption + succession --'foreign element' connects a matter to more than one legal system e.g. parties could be domiciled or habitually resident in different countries; --or the event giving rise to the claim may have occurred abroad; --or a party may claim ownership of a moveable property that is situated ...

What is public international law? - ANSWER-law applicable on international community; tool to regulate the relations in international community through binding rules of conduct What is the International community? - ANSWER-originally interstate community → international law today: international recognition of an individual + creation and multiplication of international organizations It's no longer interstate but IL is about the role of states in international relations and about the in...

Filartiga v. Pena - ANSWER-Officials who violate the rights of their own citizens can be brought to justice in US courts under Alien Tort Act Jus Cogens - ANSWER-A Preemptory norm of international law from which there can be no derogation. Sources of International Law/Article 38 of the ICJ Statute - ANSWER-Treaties Customs General principles of law recognized by civilized nations Judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations [but not...

What are the sources of international law? - ANSWER-The Statute of ICJ 38.1: 1. International treaties 2. International customs 3. The general principles of law recognized by civilized nations 4. Judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. What is the international community? - ANSWER-Subjects of international law = Actors submitted to the rule of IL What is a legal p...

What, if any, is the difference between 'Conflict of Laws' and 'Private International Law'? - ANSWER-There is no significant difference between "conflict of laws" and "private international law." These terms are often used interchangeably to refer to the branch of law that deals with legal issues that involve more than one jurisdiction, such as determining which law applies to a particular case, and how to enforce foreign judgments. Private international law (also known as conflict of l...

__________ Law sources include... • constitutions • legislative bodies • statutorily authorized rule making by government agencies and officials • judicial decisions • custom - ANSWER-Domestic _________ law sources include... • treaties • international custom • general principles of law • judicial decisions and scholarly legal writing. • the resolutions and other pronouncements of the UN General Assembly - ANSWER-International 5 sources of International ...

Even when IL is broken, - ANSWER-this does not derogate from its authority To understand IL, one must - ANSWER-have some knowledge of world politics: it is the politics and not the IL of any situation which provides the context through which one should understand the law and its application Roy Smitt, 2004 - ANSWER-Politics and law appear to be intertwined in contemporary international relations; we must struggle to understand their complex interplay Henken - ANSWER-IL is the law of the...

Private International Law - ANSWER-Part of State's domestic law and is utilized to determine the legal system applicable to a dispute and which the jurisdiction will resolve. Public International Law* - ANSWER-Comprises rules and norms that regulate the conduct of States and other entities which at any time are recognized as being endowed with International Personality. Characteristics of International Law - ANSWER-- States are equally Sovereign - founded by the practice of States and ag...

How is International Law Made? - ANSWER-- Law-making in international law, a 'horizontal' system, different from national law. - In domestic systems, sources of law are primary and secondary legislation and judicial decisions, and we do not think much more about it. - International law is primarily made by States, who are formally equal. - To be bound by international law, it is necessary that States consent to be bound. - This consent can be expressed in a number of ways. - Whe...

Definition of IL - ANSWER-The law that governs the relationship between states Austin - IL is not law Higgins - Il is a continuing process of authoritative decisions Mutua - a predatory system that legitimizes, reproduces and sustains the plunder and subordination of the third world by the West Legal positivism - ANSWER-Hart, Austin and Kelsen Brierly defines IL as state consent as the source of legal rules. In the absence of a sovereign state, IL is always derived from state consent. Thr...