Skip to main content

international law

Sources of international law

in

Sources of international law refers to where states, organizations, individuals and courts can find principles of international law.  One broadly accepted definition of sources of international law includes Article 38 of the ICJ Treaty.  According to this article, the International Court of Justice shall apply the following sources of law, ranked in order of precedence: 

conventional international law

in

Conventional international law is the body of international legal principles contained in treaties versus customary international law or other sources of international law. 

International humanitarian law

in

International humanitarian law (law of war) is a field of international law regulating armed conflict between states, and more recently, between states and informal groups and individuals.  See Jean Pictet, Development and Principles of International Humanitarian Law (1985).  International humanitarian law governs both the legality of justifications for war (jus ad bellum, or when states can resort to war) and the legality of wartime conduct (jus in bello, or how states must behave themselves during war).

International Monetary Fund

in

International Monetary Fund (IMF) was concieved in July 1994 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire and entered into force on March 1, 1947.  IMF was established in order to promote international monetary cooporation, facilitate expansion and balanced growth in international trade and maintain exchange arrangement among its members.  The IMF established a Par Value where countries that joined agreed to keep their exchange ratein terms of U.S. dollar, and the value of dollar in terms of gold.

Recognition (international law)

in

In international law, recognition is the process of formally acknowledging the legal existence of a state or government.  See Christopher Joyner, International Law in the 21st Century 47 (2005). 

See Also:

Statehood (international law)

in

The attributes of statehood under international law have traditionally been considered the following:  territory; population; recognition by other states.  See Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law 83-85 (5th ed., Oxford, 1998); Hans Kelsen, Principles of International Law 206-207 (1952).  Previously the 'elements' of statehood required: (1) territory; (2) population; (3) government.  Georg Jellinek, General Theor

Subjects of international law

in

In Public international law, the subjects of international law traditionally included states.  Since the establishment of international criminal tribunals, individuals are also proper subjects of international law.  Other international actors include transnational corporations, nonstate actors, terrorist groups.  The regulation of these actors' activities in the international sphere is one of the most pressing concerns of contemporary international law.  See Christopher Joyner

International Bank of Reconstruction and Development

in

International Bank of Reconstruction and Development was established in 1944 as the original intritution of the World Bank group.  Its aim is to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries by promoting sustainable development through loans, guarantees and risk management products.  This is to assist in the the reconstruction and development of its member countries by facilitating the investment of capital for productive purposes.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

in

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) was adopted in Vienna on May 23, 1969 at the United Nations Conference on the law of treaties and entered into force on January 27, 1980.

Diplomatic law

in

Diplomatic law is a field of international law concerning the practice of diplomacy, and the rights and obligations of state representatives on the territory of other states.  The broad corpus of diplomatic law derives from one of the oldest principles of customary international law, that of state immunity and sovereign immunity.  See Gerhard von Glahn, Law Among Nations: An Introduction to Public International Law 136 (6th ed., Macmillan 1992). 

Syndicate content