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International Law

Paralegal Guide: International Law

When the nations of Earth emerged from the horrors of World War II, the formation of the United Nations, it was hoped, would pave the way for a new era of diplomacy. In the postwar world, a fully modernized form of international law provides a framework for the resolution of disputes outside of war. To help the student researcher, we’ve assembled a brief guide to the very basics of international law, with links to relevant journals, organizations, and resources working with international law.

What Is International Law?

Whereas the vast majority of law practices occur within the laws of a given nation, international law by definition spans the laws of multiple nations and works within the legal framework agreed upon by treaties between nation-states.

When the general public thinks of international law, they are most likely thinking of what is known as public international law. Public international law refers to the legal relationships between the various nations and between international organizations. This form of law has existed in some form since the 19th Century, but became properly codified with the League of Nations and the UN. Public international lawyers generally perceive the UN Charter as their equivalent of the Constitution, a master document that acts as the meta-law for all disputes.

When a case can be settled internally, but it is unclear which nation’s system of laws prevails, the resulting conflict is examined and settled by the field of private international law. This can pertain to a criminal case (which country will an individual defendant be tried in?) or a civil case (how do we cope with a corporation that does most of its business in one nation and is headquartered in another?). As the processes of globalization continue, private international law becomes more and more pertinent, developed, and articulated.

Supranational law is closely related to public international law, but bears a couple of differences. Unlike public international law, which deals with treaties between nations, supranational law requires one or more nations to submit to the authority of a larger entity. The United Nations is an umbrella organization, but it is not supranational. The European Union is an example of a supranational entity, and the only extant example in the world today.

This tripartite division of types of international law is a fairly new concept. Historically, international law was split into jus gentium and jus inter gentes. Nowadays, these (originally Roman) concepts refer to the two elements of public international law. Jus gentium is the “law of nations,” or the laws governing national boundaries and diplomatic exchanges. Jus inter gentes, the “law between nations,” is the law of treaties and other international agreements. So, for instance, an agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia on their maritime border would be jus gentium. A UN convention on how maritime borders are drawn would be jus inter gentes.

The nearest thing to a “supreme court” in public international law is the International Court of Justice, commonly referred to as the World Court. The World Court settles legal disputes between nations. A second United Nations-organized court, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutes individuals charged with crimes against humanities. They maintain a permanent tribunal, as well as operating specific tribunals regarding areas where genocide has taken place (Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia).

Further Reading

Below, we’ve included links of scholarly interest to those researching international law, including the organs responsible for overseeing international law.

IMAGE: A group of judges at the Nuremberg Trials, an important early war crimes tribunal that established the concept of “crimes against humanity” (Source: Wikimedia Commons)