International Law

Meaning. Sources. Weakness. Enduring Value.

The Meaning of International Law

• Defining international law:– The customs, norms, principles, rules and

other legal relations among states and other international legal personality that establish binding obligations.

– A body of rules which binds states and other agents in world politics with one another.

Sources of International Law

• Sources:

1. Conventions and treaties

2. International customs

3. Generally recognized principles of law

4. International judicial decisions, writing of recognized scholars and treatises.

Weakness of International Law

• Vague and conflicting obligations—largely the result of importance of treaties and conventions

• No effective legal system1. Lack of compulsory jurisdiction

a. International Court of Justice

b. Optional Clause

2. Absence of judicial hierarchy

Weakness of International Law

• Law and Power

1. Powerful states able to ignore law when it conflicts with their interests

2. Law itself is often a reflection of power and interests

The Enduring Value of International Law

• False lessons of spectacular failures1. Example: Kellogg-Briand Pact

2. Need realistic vision of what international law can and cannot accomplish

3. Positive v. normative law traditions

The Enduring Value of International Law

• States usually abide by international law1.Identitive compliance2.Utilitarian compliance3.Coercive compliance (possibility of

reprisals)• Liberalism and international law:

embodying shared values• Constructivism and international law:

shaping norms and identities

Conclusion

International Law, neither an irrelevancy

nor panacea.