The Legal Character of International Law

1. The Legal Character of International Law

2. International Law • Public and private international law • Sources of international law • The International Court of Justice • The Legal Character of International Law

3. Public and Private International Law • Public International Law: rules and principles which govern the relations and dealings of nations with each other • Private International Law (Conflict of Laws): disputes between persons, natural or legal, arising out of situations having significant relationship to more than one nation

4. Public International Law • Questions the rights between several nations or nations and citizens or subjects of other nations • Deals with environmental issues, arms control, asylum, human rights, immigration, international crime, maritime law, piracy, war crimes

5. Sources of Public Int. Law • Treaties and international conventions • Customary international law • General principles common to systems of national law • Subsidiary means (court decisions and doctrines)

6. Treaties • Treaties and international conventions – written agreements concluded by two or more sovereign nations or by a nation and an international organization (such as the European Union)

7. Customary Law • Regulations and procedures contained in treaties and conventions often develop into general customary usage • Even those states that did not sign and ratify them come to consider them as binding

8. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) • The principal judicial body of the UN • Its seat is in The Hague (Netherlands) • Began its work in 1946 • Composition: 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the UN General Assembly and Security Council

9. Functions of the Court • To settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by States • To give advisory opinion on legal questions referred to it by authorized international organs and agencies

10. Legal Character of Int. Law • International law v. international morality • A branch of law or a branch of ethics?

11. A branch of law - arguments • Questions of international law are treated as legal questions • Legal forms and methods are used in judicial and arbitral proceedings • Authorities and precedents are cited in arguments • The alleged breach of international law is defended by claiming that no rule has been violated

12. Law as a will of a political superior • Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) – a British political philosopher • In his book Leviathan he claimed that, since people think only of themselves and behave badly, it is best if they are ruled by one powerful authority

13. Law depending on a political community • Sir Frederick Pollock – the only essential conditions for the existence of law are the existence of a political community, and the recognition by its members of settled rules binding upon them in that capacity

14. Instead of conclusion The mistake of confusing international law withinternational morality must be avoided. While they may meet at certain points, the former discipline is a legal one, both as regards its content and its form, while the concept of international morality is a branch of ethics. This does not mean that international law can be divorced from its values. Malcolm Shaw, International Law, CambridgeUniversity Press, 2003 (p. 19)