Weblecture 1

Weblecture 1 – Introduction to International and European Union Law

 Foundations and structure of International Law:
 What is international law?
 Traditionally, a system regulating the relationships among sovereign States. Yet other actors
might have rights and duties under international law.
 Substance-wise, it covers a significant array of issues, ranging from the creation of States to the
regulation of trade in goods among countries, to the protection of intellectual property, climate
change and access to vaccine.
 From national legal systems: no centralized legislative or executive bodies, absence of mandatory
dispute settlement procedures, decentralized system of norm creation and enforcement.
 A long way to the current international legal system:
 Roman Empire: the notion of ius gentium as a set of rules dictated derived from natural reason
common to all peoples. Natural law as such stems from assumptions about the nature of man and
society and as such has universal value.
 Middle Ages: coexistence of different normative levels and communities. The international society was
composed of a transnational network of diverse entities and individuals. Overlapping layer: Holy
Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. Emergence of lex mercatoria and maritime custom.
 Emergence of conolialism: Western European reigns subjugating native Indian populations.
 17th/18th century: first emergence of modern international law applying to international relations ->
1648 Peace of Westphalia and consolidation of nation States, State sovereignty and the principle of
equality among States.
 From the 19th century to the present:
 The positivist turn in international law: the primary source of law is State will, hence State consent to
be bound to an international obligation.
 Ravaging colonialism and partition of Africa (Berlin Conference).
 Creation of the League of Nations (1919): maintaining world peace -> towards peaceful dispute
settlement and establishment of the PCIJ.
 Replacement of the League of Nations with the UN -> major introductions of the UN Charter: outright
ban on use of force; principle of self-determination of peoples; equality of States; collective effort in
maintaining peace and security via UNSC.
 UNGA started the decolonization processes.
 Emergence of multiple regional organizations -> most advanced example: the European Union.
 While originally international law was mainly concerned with the horizontal relationship among States
(coexistence), increasingly vertical and transnational issues are taking center stage (cooperation).
 Subjects and actors in international law:
 Who or what is a subject of international law?
 A subject of international law can be defined as an entity capable of holding international rights
and duties and having capacity to protect its rights by bringing international claims. (International
legal personality as a relative concept).
 Traditionally the only subjects were States.
 Now also other entities such as:
 Entities which can potentially become States (de facto regimes).
 International Governmental Organisations such as the UN*.
 Individuals and NGOs (rights through international human rights law / duties through
international criminal law).
 *Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations – Advisory Opinion subjects
of law in any legal system are not necessarily identical in their nature or in the extent of their
rights.
 States:
 Montevideo criteria (art. 1):
 Permanent population. On a certain territory there needs to be a number of individuals that
responds to the legal commands from the government. There doesn’t need to be a specific
number.
 Defined territory*.
 Government (authority over territory, internal dimension of sovereignty -> a certain level of an
internal entity that is able to impose certain commands, which are responded to by the