PSIR120INTRODUCTION TO LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW

Lecture Plan Defining international law The roles of international law ‘Is international law a real law?’ debate Traditional and modern approaches

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Definition “International law is the collection of rules and norms that states and other actors feel an obligation to obey in their mutual relations and commonly do obey” Conwey W. Henderson, Understanding International Law, 2010.

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Definition In the past, international law was commonly described as “the law that regulates the relations between states, amongst each other” or “the system of legal norms regulating mutual relations between states”, or “the set of rules recognized by states and concerning their external relations”, or “the set of rules binding within the international community”.

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW The Roles of International Law: To arrange for the cooperation most actors wish to have most of the time; To identify the membership of an international society of sovereign states; To regulate the competing interests of the various actors and to carry theit agreements into the future;

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW To empower weaker states as they press for change against the will of the powerful; To promote justice; To outlaw war.

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Is international law a ‘real’ law? International law is practiced on a daily basis in the Foreign Offices, national courts and other governmental organs of states; “The evidence is that reference to international law has been a normal part of the process of decision-making” I. Brownlie States do not claim that they are above the law or that international law does not bind them;

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW The overwhelming majority of international legal rules are consistently obeyed; “It is probably the case that almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law and almost all of their obligations almost all of the time” (L. Henkin, How Nations Behave, p. 47).

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Basic characteristics of international law: International law has only a limited number of developed legal institutions; In comparison with national law, international law is decentralised:

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Basic characteristics of international law Decentralised international law-making; Decentralised international law enforcement; Decentralised, voluntary international law adjudication.

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Why is international law binding on States and other actors? The command theory; The consensual theory/consensus; Natural law.