Summary Public International
Law
Week 1
Chapter 1
Public international law deals with legal issues of concern to more than one state.
PIL: the system of law that regulates the interrelationship of sovereign states and their rights
and duties to one another.
must be added: international organizations and individuals that may also possess rights
and obligations under IL
Examples of how IL affects our lives:
- Creation of states
- Jurisdiction
- State immunity
- Prevention and regulation of armed conflict
- The governing of the seas and oceans
- Also closer to us: the preparation, production and shipping of every product were
subject to a host on international legal instruments
IL is devided in sub-disciplines:
- IL of the sea
- International human rights law
- International environment law
- International economic law
- The laws of armed conflict, etc.
International Law differs a lot from National (domestic) law: most notably, unlike in a
domestic system, there is neither a legislative nor an executive branch in the international
legal system
A brief history of IL
Cultures an communities have been trading and interacting for a long time they felt a need
for international rules and principles and the certainty and predictability they bring to their
international relationships
Late middle ages (15th and 16th century): Europe was characterized mainly by the Catholic
Church Pope had a great power over princes, emperors and kings who governed their
territories
Stroming: natural law
, There was not an elaborate international legal structure yet, but legal obligations and
contracts about treatment of merchants, the conduct of war and the exchange of prisoners of
war, were created daily between communities.
17th and 18th centuries: we begin to see the contours of a modern international legal system
Natural law became a distinct discipline because of different lawyers who wrote about
‘freedom of the seas’, ‘the Law of War and Peace’ and ‘Law of Nations’
1648: Peace of Westphalia – birth of the international state system: the major European
powers sought to establish a semblance of order and structure in an anarchical and
disorderly European world
the idea was to reduce the powers of transnational forces, like empire and religion, and
instead compartmentalize territory and individuals into sovereign states
19th century: the rising idea on that acts of states could be judged according to whether or not
they conformed to transcendent ideals of fairness or divine will
Era of positivism (opponent of natural law): idea of which was that the only true
source of law was state will
During this period the first multilateral treaties regulating armed conflict were concluded
for example: Declaration of Paris
for example: Declaration of St Petersburg: banned the use of explosive bullets
Interwar period (between WWI and WWII): creation of the League of Nations: an organization
tasked with maintaining world peace
Treaty of Paris: obliged parties to refrain from going to war as a means of settling their
international controversies and as an instrument of national policy
Establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice: the Court build a substantial
body of case law and was the forerunner to the present day International Court of Justice
Period after the end of WWII: a time of major achievements in IL
The world reacted to the cruel actions of the Nazis by prosecuting top German officials for
international crimes before a war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg
League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations: entrusted with the maintenance of
international peace and security
build on Westphalian principles
based on respect for the principle of equal rights and on the sovereign equality of all its
member states
From then on, the maintenance of peace and the conduct of war were to be a
collective effort
UN establish a General Assembly where all member states are presented: it offers an
organizational structure where all states can voice their opinions and raise their concerns
played an important role in the decolonialization process
The General Assembly established the International Law Commission whose primary
purpose is to promote the progressive development of international law and its codification
,Creation of the most important international organizations for the regulation of trade and
monetary policy: the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
1949: NATO was created to counter the threat for the Soviet Union
1951: European Coal and Steel Community was created
1992: European Union was created
today has 27 members
Important regional organizations have also been created outside Europe
Organization of American States: to create a peaceful order and to promote solidarity
and collaboration and to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence
of its members
The present
The international competition is increasing
for instance China is creating more and more influence and power on the West
Therefore the major states seem increasingly unable to reach agreements on ambitious
collaborative effort to create new legally binding global agreements on important
contemporary issues
The structures of international law
Since the Westphalia, the centre of the international system has been the sovereign state
National Law is adequate to deal with the majority of legal disputes that merely involve the
relationship between citizens of a sovereign state or between the citizens and the state
problem: ill-suited to a situation where the interests of more than one sovereign state
collide
answer: International Law
Two ways in which an issue becomes of interest to more than one state:
1. Where two or more states may have colliding interest in the substance of the issue –
due to its content
a. The international law of coexistence: to separate the powers of the sovereign
states an thereby uphold peaceful coexistence
i. Not concerned with binding states closer together in some sort of
international community
ii. Relatively stable and not subject to much change
2. When the involves states have agreed in a treaty to turn the issue into one of an
international character – due to its form
a. The international law of cooperation
i. Optional: states decide for themselves if they want to turn a matter
previously dealt with by NL into a matter of IL
for ex.: reduction of poverty
The basis of international obligation
, - The existence of a plurality of sovereign states justifies the binding character of
international law
o Perceiving international legal obligations is a logical consequence of
sovereignty
- The peaceful coexistence of sovereign states requires the existence of a number of
basic rules that dictate how states may behave and may not behave in their mutual
relations
The relationship between IL and NL
- Monism: IL and NL essentially form a single legal order or a set of mutually
intertwined legal orders that are presumed to be coherent
o Therefore IL can be applied directly in the national legal system of states and
the international norm prevails in the case of conflict
- Dualism: IL and NL are two separate legal systems that operate independently
o IL primarily regulates the relationship between states
o NL governs the relationship between citizens or citizens and the state
o Neither of the two legal systems creates rules for the other
- Since treaties often govern issues that are not inherently of an international nature,
they will not necessarily be applied in a national legal system
The issue of enforcement of international law
- IL has no police force and a mandatory judicial system that can enforce the law like
NL has
- However a number of courts and tribunals do exist in IL
o International Court of Justice
o Permanent Court of Arbitration
o International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
o Dispute Settlement Body
- The Security Council’s (van UN) role is not to enforce IL but to uphold international
peace and security
- EU has created an elaborate system for enforcing various forms of breaches of EU
law
- States generally honour their legal obligations towards each other
o States are well aware of the long-term benefits to everyone of a well-
functioning international legal system where promises are kept and
agreements are honoured
o States care about their reputation
The alleged inadequacy of international law in the 21st century
- Critique: International legal system is outdated and at times counterproductive to
creating a more fair and just world
- !!: the international legal system around sovereign states was never motivated by a
desire to create a more just and equitable world it was instead led by a desire to
find an organizing principle for upholding international order and stability
- IL is primarily preoccupied with finding the answers that are required to sperate the
powers of the sovereign states and to ensure the maintenance of order and stability
Law
Week 1
Chapter 1
Public international law deals with legal issues of concern to more than one state.
PIL: the system of law that regulates the interrelationship of sovereign states and their rights
and duties to one another.
must be added: international organizations and individuals that may also possess rights
and obligations under IL
Examples of how IL affects our lives:
- Creation of states
- Jurisdiction
- State immunity
- Prevention and regulation of armed conflict
- The governing of the seas and oceans
- Also closer to us: the preparation, production and shipping of every product were
subject to a host on international legal instruments
IL is devided in sub-disciplines:
- IL of the sea
- International human rights law
- International environment law
- International economic law
- The laws of armed conflict, etc.
International Law differs a lot from National (domestic) law: most notably, unlike in a
domestic system, there is neither a legislative nor an executive branch in the international
legal system
A brief history of IL
Cultures an communities have been trading and interacting for a long time they felt a need
for international rules and principles and the certainty and predictability they bring to their
international relationships
Late middle ages (15th and 16th century): Europe was characterized mainly by the Catholic
Church Pope had a great power over princes, emperors and kings who governed their
territories
Stroming: natural law
, There was not an elaborate international legal structure yet, but legal obligations and
contracts about treatment of merchants, the conduct of war and the exchange of prisoners of
war, were created daily between communities.
17th and 18th centuries: we begin to see the contours of a modern international legal system
Natural law became a distinct discipline because of different lawyers who wrote about
‘freedom of the seas’, ‘the Law of War and Peace’ and ‘Law of Nations’
1648: Peace of Westphalia – birth of the international state system: the major European
powers sought to establish a semblance of order and structure in an anarchical and
disorderly European world
the idea was to reduce the powers of transnational forces, like empire and religion, and
instead compartmentalize territory and individuals into sovereign states
19th century: the rising idea on that acts of states could be judged according to whether or not
they conformed to transcendent ideals of fairness or divine will
Era of positivism (opponent of natural law): idea of which was that the only true
source of law was state will
During this period the first multilateral treaties regulating armed conflict were concluded
for example: Declaration of Paris
for example: Declaration of St Petersburg: banned the use of explosive bullets
Interwar period (between WWI and WWII): creation of the League of Nations: an organization
tasked with maintaining world peace
Treaty of Paris: obliged parties to refrain from going to war as a means of settling their
international controversies and as an instrument of national policy
Establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice: the Court build a substantial
body of case law and was the forerunner to the present day International Court of Justice
Period after the end of WWII: a time of major achievements in IL
The world reacted to the cruel actions of the Nazis by prosecuting top German officials for
international crimes before a war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg
League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations: entrusted with the maintenance of
international peace and security
build on Westphalian principles
based on respect for the principle of equal rights and on the sovereign equality of all its
member states
From then on, the maintenance of peace and the conduct of war were to be a
collective effort
UN establish a General Assembly where all member states are presented: it offers an
organizational structure where all states can voice their opinions and raise their concerns
played an important role in the decolonialization process
The General Assembly established the International Law Commission whose primary
purpose is to promote the progressive development of international law and its codification
,Creation of the most important international organizations for the regulation of trade and
monetary policy: the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
1949: NATO was created to counter the threat for the Soviet Union
1951: European Coal and Steel Community was created
1992: European Union was created
today has 27 members
Important regional organizations have also been created outside Europe
Organization of American States: to create a peaceful order and to promote solidarity
and collaboration and to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence
of its members
The present
The international competition is increasing
for instance China is creating more and more influence and power on the West
Therefore the major states seem increasingly unable to reach agreements on ambitious
collaborative effort to create new legally binding global agreements on important
contemporary issues
The structures of international law
Since the Westphalia, the centre of the international system has been the sovereign state
National Law is adequate to deal with the majority of legal disputes that merely involve the
relationship between citizens of a sovereign state or between the citizens and the state
problem: ill-suited to a situation where the interests of more than one sovereign state
collide
answer: International Law
Two ways in which an issue becomes of interest to more than one state:
1. Where two or more states may have colliding interest in the substance of the issue –
due to its content
a. The international law of coexistence: to separate the powers of the sovereign
states an thereby uphold peaceful coexistence
i. Not concerned with binding states closer together in some sort of
international community
ii. Relatively stable and not subject to much change
2. When the involves states have agreed in a treaty to turn the issue into one of an
international character – due to its form
a. The international law of cooperation
i. Optional: states decide for themselves if they want to turn a matter
previously dealt with by NL into a matter of IL
for ex.: reduction of poverty
The basis of international obligation
, - The existence of a plurality of sovereign states justifies the binding character of
international law
o Perceiving international legal obligations is a logical consequence of
sovereignty
- The peaceful coexistence of sovereign states requires the existence of a number of
basic rules that dictate how states may behave and may not behave in their mutual
relations
The relationship between IL and NL
- Monism: IL and NL essentially form a single legal order or a set of mutually
intertwined legal orders that are presumed to be coherent
o Therefore IL can be applied directly in the national legal system of states and
the international norm prevails in the case of conflict
- Dualism: IL and NL are two separate legal systems that operate independently
o IL primarily regulates the relationship between states
o NL governs the relationship between citizens or citizens and the state
o Neither of the two legal systems creates rules for the other
- Since treaties often govern issues that are not inherently of an international nature,
they will not necessarily be applied in a national legal system
The issue of enforcement of international law
- IL has no police force and a mandatory judicial system that can enforce the law like
NL has
- However a number of courts and tribunals do exist in IL
o International Court of Justice
o Permanent Court of Arbitration
o International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
o Dispute Settlement Body
- The Security Council’s (van UN) role is not to enforce IL but to uphold international
peace and security
- EU has created an elaborate system for enforcing various forms of breaches of EU
law
- States generally honour their legal obligations towards each other
o States are well aware of the long-term benefits to everyone of a well-
functioning international legal system where promises are kept and
agreements are honoured
o States care about their reputation
The alleged inadequacy of international law in the 21st century
- Critique: International legal system is outdated and at times counterproductive to
creating a more fair and just world
- !!: the international legal system around sovereign states was never motivated by a
desire to create a more just and equitable world it was instead led by a desire to
find an organizing principle for upholding international order and stability
- IL is primarily preoccupied with finding the answers that are required to sperate the
powers of the sovereign states and to ensure the maintenance of order and stability
