BLAW CHAPTER 5 Flashcards
What are the 2 branches of international law
-Public international law
-Private International law
Public international law
-The law governing relations among governments/ international organizations
-Laws of war, acquisition of territory, etc.
-Sea, environment, outer space
-Basic rules of human rights
Private International Law
-Applies to businesses and individuals in international commercial and legal transactions
What are the 2 fundamental questions of Private Law?
-Which law applies to a private government?
-How will people from one country settle their private disputes with parties on foreign soil?
3 major sources of international law
-Treaties
-Customs
-General Principles of Law
Binding, written agreement between 2 or more states or international organizations that states their duty to eachother
TREATY
Convention
A treaty on a specific issue that affects multiple participants
Adopted treaty
-When those who have drafted the treaty agree that it is in final form and ready to be ratified
Ratified treaty
-When a nation indicates its intent to be bound by the treaty
Customary international law
-Widely accepted way of doing something so over time the patterns of behavior/actions are crystallized into the rules
-BINDING ON ALL STATES UNLESS THEY SPECIFICALLY OBJECT OR ENACT A CONTRARY TREATY
Jus Cogens
AKA “Compelling Law”
-Norms that have attained the highest legal status in international law
General Principles of Law
-Legal norms existing among nations
-Binding on all states unless they specifically object or enact a treaty
-Based on mutual respect and courtesy
Comity
-When states share common values and public policy, they defer to the laws and judicial decrees of the other as long as they are fair
Soverignty
-A country’s absolute authority to rule its people and territory
Examples of general principles of law
-Comity
-Sovereignty
-Sovereign immunity
Sovereign Immunity
-The courts of one nation lack the jurisdiction to hear lawsuits against foreign governments as defendants
4 ACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
- States/Nations
- Regional alliances
- International organizations and dispute resolution
- Individuals
Actors of international law: States/Nations
-Most influential/most responsibilities
-Liable for breaches of their international obligations
Reparations of States/Nations
-The amends states must make to one another after a breach of international law
-Restitution
-Compensation
-Apology
Actors of international law: Regional alliances
-Collection of sovereign nations that band together for both political and economic reasons