General Flashcards
Four Categories of International Law
- Public
- Private
- International Business Transactions
- Comparative Law
Public International Law
- Applies to actors with international legal personality (states and international orgs)
- Political interactions
Private International Law
- Disputes (recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments)
- Jurisdiction, choice of law
- International economy
International Actors
- States
- International Organizations
- Non-governmental Organizations
- Individuals
International Law
(Law of Nations)
The way nations do things in relation to each other
Blackstone’s Causes of Action
- Violation of safe conditions
- Infringement on the rights of ambassadors
- Piracy
Erga Omnes
Obligations of a state toward the international community as a whole
Charming Betsy Doctrine
An act of Congress cannot be construed to violate the law of nations or natural rights if any other interpretation remains
Government
Institution that acts on behalf of a state in international law
Proprio Motu
Preliminary Question
Ex Acquo Et Bono
Agreement to resolve conflict according to what is fair and just rather than by what the law says
Key: parties must agree
Effectivity Principle
Illegal act (secession) may acquire status if it is recognized on the international plane
- must have effective control
- must be recognized
Ratione Personae
Personal Jurisdiction
Ratione Materiae
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Nullum crimen sine lege nulla poena sine legen
There exists no crime and no punishment without preexisting penal law
Rebus six estantibus
Nothing more than a fundamental change in circumstances (Vienna Convention Article 62)
Opinio Juris
A general practice accepted as law; states act in a certain way due to a sense of legal obligation
Jus Cogens
Peremptory Norm: accepted and recognized by the international community of states as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted
Binding irrespective of will of individual parties
Alien Tort Statute
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the U.S.
Key: jurisdiction only
Hostis Humani Generis
Enemy of all mankind
Pirates, slave traders, torturers
Ker-Frisbie Doctrine
Criminal defendants may be prosecuted in US courts regardless of whether their presence was obtained through the use of applicable extradition treaties
US v. Alvarez-Machain confirms this doctrine: US court’s jurisdiction is not affected by the manner in which the defendant is brought before it (i.e. abduction)
