What is International Law Flashcards
Denmark and UNSC
2 Years mandate, Jan 2025-2026.
Priorities:
1. Standing up for International Law, including International Humanitarian Law,
2. and pushing for a more Accountable, Effective and Representative Security Council.
3. Implementing Women peace and security agenda.
International law
Includes rules, principles and concept governing international relations.
UN Charter
- Founding document of UN as an international organisation.
- Codification of major international principles (sovereignty).
- Base for six principal organs.
Treaties
Agreements between states. For the treatis to step into force it must:
1) Be signed by a legal personality,
2) Ratified by the state
- The treaty steps into force from when ratified by the required number except the treaty notes anything else.
Extradition treaty
An agreement between states to extradite an individual to deliver justice.
Constitutionally independent
UN principal organs are independent of one another.
UN charter artikel 51
Right to self defence
Measures must be announced to UNSC
Measures of self defence should be proportionel
UN and legislature body
Does not have this.
Exists as a facilitator to make cooperation between sovereign states.
Countermeasures
Measures taken by a state to make the offender of the IL to enforce compliance.
Sovereign equality to the law
Alle people (states) are equal to the law
UNC article 2(1)
Soft law
No binding force as treaties, but are more like guidellines and other agreements. If not following the agreement it can still lead to a bad reputation.
Purpose of IL
To mitigate, war, conflicts, human rights, poverty etc.
Law based international order
Political neutrality, meaning that all states, regardless of their power or influence, are subject to the same legal framework.
Binding agreements
Rule-based international order
Expansive scope (agrees on soft law as a thing)
Volatility, inconsistent interpretation of rules.
Parochalism
Narrow minded. To believe what exists from your own perspective is the right belief.
Cosmopolitanism
All human beings are member of the same state.
ICJ art. 38
Article of relevant international law sources.
1) International conventions
2) International customary law
3) The general principles recognized
4) Judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nation
Primary rules vs doctrine of source (secondary rules) statue of international court of justice
Primary rules: 3 first points of art. 38
Secondary source, doctrine of sources: d) in art. 38
“judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law”
Persistent objector
- A state that ever since the beginning of an customary law actively objects the states intention of having it as opinio juris and state act within it’s own borders. This can be communicated through an
1) official state statement,
2) diplomatic notes, (statement sent to other states)
3) Statement at IO ex. GA.
Customary law
Opinio juris + state practice
Several states must have the experience of they have a legal obligation as well as the act behind the legal obligation must be consistent and widespread.
Codification
The process of putting together a legal act
1.Making a customary law into a treaty. Usually ILC (under GA) makes a draft and this is a base for debate in GA or other diplomatic fora.
Reservations
When a single state has specific notes on a treaty that they not have opinio juris on and doesn’t want to be bound be, they can have a reservation. This might be if a customary law i adapted in a treaty and a State still wants practical includement in the treaty.
Unilateral declarations
A state creates a binding legal obligations.
- Nuclear weapons.
- If a state violates its obligation it can be settled as a dispute in ICJ.
Local custom
Danish exclusively norms of doing things (human rights).
GA resolutions
Can make recommendations but based on art 10 UN Charter: “may discuss any questions or any matters within the scope of the present Charter” and “may make recommendation”.
VCLT
Vienna Convention on the law of treaties
Treaties of treaties. How to shape them, define them and interpret them.
VCLT art. 31
General steps of treaty interpretation.
1) in good faith
2) Ordinary meaning
3) The treaty’s context
VCLT art. 32
If the meaning is
1) Obscure or ambigious
Travaux preparatoires can be used,
Pacta sunt servanda
VCLT art. 26
Agreements must be kepts.
Jus Cogens
VCLT art. 53,
Some rules of international law are so fundamental (like the prohibition of genocide) that NO treaty can violate them.
When is it jus cogens:
ICJ have been discussing them,
Scholarly writings, experts
State behavior.
VCLT art. 54
Withdrawal or termination of / from a treaty.
Lithuania withdrawal from Cluster munition Convention.
Montevideo Convention
The Montevideo Convention outlines four criteria for statehood, but meeting them doesn’t guarantee recognition.
Decaltory doctrine.
15 States ratified.
Many states refers to the criterias for statehood from Montevideo convention.
Permanent Population
Defined Territory
Government
Capacity to Enter into Relations with Other States
The Constitutive doctrine
An entity is not considered a state unless recognized as such by other states
Rome Statute
Established the ICC to investigate and prosecuting individuals for the most serious crimes of international concern:
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords were a series of agreements reached between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1990s.
The goal of the Oslo Accords was to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
State jurisdiction
A state’s authority to legislate a person, property and events.
Territorial Jurisdiction
The basic principle that state has jurisdiction of crimes happening within their own borders.
Subjective territorial principle
A state have jurisdiction over a crime which leading imitatives happened within their borders.
Objective territorial jurisdiction
If a crime is committed and completed within a state, the state has objective terriotrial jruisdiction
Nationality principle
Allows a state jurisdiction to their own nationalities who committed a crime in other countries.
Protective principle
If acts recognized as a vital threat to a country, despite the threat is not directly in the country and ny non-nationalities, there are state jurisdiction. (spionage
Universality principle
Grants a State jurisdiction over any nationalities if committed crime against humanity.
Extradition
An agreement between states to surrender a convicted individual to another state.
Effects jurisdiction
An effect of a harmful act not occurred within the State, but it is felt in the state.