International Law Legal Language
“If legislation is the enactment of laws by a person or assembly that binds the whole community, there is no international law. Because contracts only bind those who sign them. For example, there are various international treaties promoting fundamental human rights, justice and equality, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since international law exists in a legal environment without a global “sovereign” (i.e. an external power capable and willing to uphold international norms), the “application” of international law is very different from the domestic context. In many cases, the application takes on coasic characteristics when the standard is self-applied. In other cases, deviating from the norm can pose a real risk, especially if the international environment changes. If this happens, and if enough States (or enough powerful States) constantly ignore a particular aspect of international law, the norm may in fact change according to the concepts of customary international law. Thus, unrestricted submarine warfare before World War I was considered a violation of international law and allegedly a casus belli for the United States` declaration of war on Germany.
During World War II, however, the practice was so widespread that during the Nuremberg trials, charges against German Admiral Karl Doenitz for ordering unrestricted submarine warfare were dropped, even though the activity was a clear violation of the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. Unlike national or national law, international law is not enshrined in legislation passed by a parliament. Even multilateral treaties do not apply to all States, but only to those that have agreed to be bound by signature and ratification or accession to them. As a result, the exact rules of international law are often more difficult to identify than national laws and can be found in a variety of sources. The modern international legal system is only a product of the last four hundred years, testifying to the influence of various writers and jurists from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, who formulated some of its most fundamental principles. International law includes the basic classical legal concepts in national legal systems (i.e. laws, property law, tort liability, etc.). It also includes substantive law, procedural law, due process guarantees and remedies. The important substantive areas of international law are: IN STATU NASCENDI In its original form / birth status / just born In international law, this term is generally used to refer to an emerging state or political entity seeking recognition of statehood. It is also used to refer to laws, rules or emerging principles of customary international law. It is the idea that the state comes first and cannot be subject to the rules and regulations of other states. No State can be compelled to sign a treaty.
They are free to accept or reject an international treaty or agreement. The State is considered the main and original subject of international law. But it also regulates the actions of other entities: the existence of international law is the result of increased intergovernmental engagement. Its main objective is to maintain international peace and security among different States. It also assists: According to Article 2(7) of the Charter of the United Nations, the UN cannot interfere in the internal affairs of States. It has been shown in such situations that international laws are ineffective and weak. Until the middle of the 19th century, relations between states were mainly dictated by treaties, agreements between states to behave in a certain way, unenforceable except by force, and non-binding, except as matters of honor and loyalty. One of the earliest instruments of modern international law was the Lieber Code of 1863, which regulated the conduct of U.S. forces during the American Civil War and is considered the first written recitation of the rules and articles of war observed by all civilized nations. This led to the first war crimes indictment, in which a Confederate commander was tried and hanged for holding prisoners of war in cruel and depraved conditions in Andersonville, Georgia. In the following years, other states pledged to restrict their conduct, and many other treaties and bodies were created to regulate the conduct of states among themselves, including the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 1899 and the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the first of which was adopted in 1864. The view was expressed that resolutions adopted outside Chapter VII could also be binding; The legal basis for this is the broad powers conferred on the Council by Article 24, paragraph 2, which provides that “in carrying out these tasks (exercising primary responsibility for international peace and security), it shall act in conformity with the purposes and principles of the United Nations”.
The binding nature of these resolutions was confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its advisory opinion on Namibia. The binding nature of such decisions can be inferred from an interpretation of their language and intent. For more information on civil, common law and other legal systems, see the Legal Systems page of this guide. The above provisions are general rules of interpretation which do not preclude the application of specific rules to certain areas of international law. The concept of sovereignty was spread by European powers around the world, which had established colonies and spheres of influence over virtually every society. Positivism reached its peak in the late 19th century and its influence began to decline after the unprecedented bloodshed of World War I, which inspired the creation of international organizations such as the League of Nations, established in 1919 to ensure peace and security. International law has begun to incorporate more naturalistic concepts such as self-determination and human rights. The Second World War accelerated this development and led to the creation of the United Nations, whose charter enshrines principles such as non-aggression, non-interference and collective security. This was followed by a stronger international legal order, supported by institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Security Council, as well as multilateral agreements such as the Genocide Convention. The International Law Commission (ILC) was established in 1947 to support the development, codification and strengthening of international law.
The Commission`s work on a topic generally covers certain aspects of progressive development as well as the codification of international law, the balance between the two varying from topic to topic. Many scholars agree that the fact that sources are arranged sequentially suggests an implicit hierarchy of sources. [27] However, the wording of Article 38 does not explicitly contain such a hierarchy and the decisions of international tribunals do not support such a strict hierarchy.
