INTERNATIONAL LAW

 Public International Law – Law of Nations

 Private International Law – Conflict of Laws

 Father of International Law

- Hugo Grotius (Dutch Jurist)

 De Jure Belli Ac Pacis – The Law of War and Peace

- Book by Hugo Grotius

 Term ‘International Law’ by – Jeremy Bentham

 Definition of ‘International Law’ by – Oppenheim

 Prize Law – Capture of ships and cargo in war time

Note: After – Indo Pak (1971) war

 Sources of International Law

1. Sources recognized by International Court of Justice

─ International Conventions

o General – law making treaties

eg. United Nations Charter

o Particular – specific treaties

i.e. Treaty contract between 2 states

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 Ratification – After signing the treaty it needs to be confirmed by the parliament of
the states according to their constituent procedures

Note: Ratification – confirming treaties according to constitution

Accession – Signing and Ratification of treaties is accession

Reservation in Treaty – Modifications made in the treaty by either state

Pacta Sunt Servanda – Performed in good faith

i.e. Treaties signed must be respected

Jus Cogens – Body of general rules of law that observe the essence of legal system

Rebus Sic Stantibus – Treaty’s binding so long as there is no vital change in the
situation which negatively affects either party

Note: International customs – by Kopelman

Opinio Juris Sive Necessities – Feeling that we are legally obliged to be bound by
customary practice

i.e. You are obliged to respect customs of other nations

─ General Principles:

o Res Judicata – Judgment given is final and same party cannot sue another party
for same case again

o Estoppel – To stop a party from raising right/claim by changing statement

o Equity – Based on reasonableness and fairness

Judicial Decisions – by Jurists

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2. Modern Sources of International Law

─ Security Council Resolutions (United Nations)

─ ILC Draft Code

Note: ILC – International Law Commission

International Law Commission – ILC

o Established – 1948

o by – United Nations

o 34 members – Elected by General Assembly after nomination by member states

─ ILC Draft Code – Subsidiary Source of International Law

─ Law of Sea

o Territorial Sea – upto 12 nautical miles

o Contiguous Zone – upto 24 nautical miles
o Continental Shelf – upto 200 to 350 nautical miles
o Exclusive Economic Zone (EEC) – upto 200 nautical miles
o High Seas – beyond all above 4 i.e. for everyone

─ Hot Pursuit

Done by only military warships or aircrafts

Note: Hot Pursuit ceases when foreign ship enters another Territorial Sea

─ International Seabed Authority

o Headquarter – Kingston, Jamaica

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─ United Nations

o 26 June 1945 – UN Charter signed by 50 countries

o Poland – signed at last i.e. 50 + Poland = 51 countries

o 24 October 1945 – UN came into existence officially

o Permanent Members of Security Council (United Nations) – 5

i.e. USA, UK, Russia, France, China

o Official Languages of UN – 6
i.e. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

o UN Day – 24 October

o Newest Member of UN – Sweden

o Non Member Observer of UN – Palestine

─ Rio + 20

o UN Conference on Sustainable Development

o Earth Summit

o Rio de Janerio, Brazil (2012)

o Document – The Future We Want

─ 1st UN Session - London (January, 1946)

─ 1st UN Secretary General - Trygve Lie (Norway)

─ UN Headquarters - New York, US

─ UN Flag - Adopted on 20 October 1947

─ UN Flag - White Emblem on Light Blue background

─ Working Languages of UN – 2
i.e. English and French

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─ 1st International Organization - International Telecommunication Union (1865)

─ Permanent Court of Arbitration - International Disputes

Note: League of Nations, 1919 (old) – United Nations, 1945 (new)

League of Nations (1919)

o Started after 1st World War

o Couldn’t stop 2nd World War
o League of Nations – Ended

United Nations (1945)

 Started after 2nd World War

Note: UN Secretary General – Chief Administrative Officer

Functions and Role of UN (United Nations)

1. International Peace and Security – Primary responsibility of UN Security Council

2. Humanity – Deliver Humanitarian Aid
3. Promote – Sustainable Development
4. Uphold – International Law

UN Charter

Signed on – 26 June 1945 (San Francisco)

Started from – 24 October 1945

 Chapter 1 (UN Charter) – Purposes and Principles

Article 1 – Purposes of United Nations

 Maintain International Peace and Security

 Friendly relations among nations

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 Article 2 – UN members shall act in accordance with principles of United Nations

Principle – Sovereign equality of members

Note: non-members of UN must act in accordance with these principles too

Article 1 – Purposes of UN (Chapter 1)

Article 2 – Principles of UN (Chapter 1)

 Chapter 2 – Membership

 Chapter 3 – Organs of UN

i.e. General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship
Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat

─ General Assembly

o 193 members
o Main organ of United Nations
o President – Miroslav Lajčák
o Session – 72nd General Assembly

─ Security Council

o Responsibility to maintain peace and security

o 15 members
o 5 permanent members – China, France, Russia, UK, USA
o 10 non permanent members – Elected by General Assembly for 2 years each
o Majority – 9 votes (out of 15)
o Important decisions – If negative vote of any one of permanent members then no
decision i.e. Veto
o Appointment of Secretary General – Security Council gives recommendation to
General Assembly
o Appointment of new members to UN – Security Council gives recommendation
to General Assembly to add new members to UN
o Voting in important decisions – Total 9 votes including positive votes of all 5
permanent members

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 Chapter 5 – Security Council

─ Composition
─ Functions and Powers
─ Voting

 ECOSOC – Economic and Social Council

o 54 members

o Economic growth of developing countries, human rights, fight against poverty

and under development

o ECOSOC coordinates the work of other UN agencies like – WHO, UNICEF,

UNESCO, UNHCR, UNDP

 Trusteeship Council

o To supervise administration of Trust Territories

Note: Trust Territories – former colonies or dependent territories

o UN formally suspended operation of Trusteeship Council because all Trust

Territories had become independent by 1994

 International Court of Justice

o 15 Judges
o Term – 9 years
o Elected by – General Assembly and Security Council

o Official Languages – English and French

o Functions:
- Settle disputes between states
- Opinion on legal questions to UN Organs

Note: Doesn’t settle disputes between individuals

o Permanent Court of International Justice – old name of ICJ

o Headquarters of ICJ – Peace palace, The Hague, Netherlands

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─ Statue of International Court of Justice (ICJ)

o Article 1 – ICJ is principal judicial organ of UN

o 15 Judges – each from different country

 Secretariat

o Head – Secretary General

o Appointed by – General Assembly on recommendation of Security Council

o Term of Secretary General – 5 years

o Function – Responsible for implementing decisions taken by various organs of

UN to maintain International Peace and Security

o Secretary General – Antonio Guterres (Portugal)

Note: To do the right thing we need to earn the right to do the right thing –
Antonio Gueterres

World Bank – (remove poverty)

IBRD – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

IMF – International Monetary Fund (economic growth and balance of payments)

WHO – World Health Organization (highest possible health)

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(declare cultural and heritage sites)

ILO – International Labour Organization (abolition of forced labour)

FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization (fight hunger)

IFAD – International Fund for Agricultural Development

IMO – International Maritime Organization (shipping regulation)

WMO – World Meteorological Organization

(international exchange of meteorological data)

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 WIPO – World Intellectual Property Organization

UNWTO – World Tourism Organization (sustainable tourism)

UNDP – United Nations Development Program

UNODC – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund (birth of children is safe)

UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

(international trade i.e. main driver of development)

UNRWA – United Nations Relief and Works Agency

(for – palestine refugees)

UN Women – (gender equality and women empowerment)

UN Habitat – (human settlement and human shelter)

WTO – World Trade Organization (solve trade problems and negotiate trade)

 Human Rights

o Abraham Lincoln (US President) – 1st to ban slavery

o Henry Dunant – Founder of Red Cross

 UDHR – Universal Declaration of Human Rights

o 10 December 1948 – signed in Paris by UN General Assembly

o All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
(fundamental rights of humans - justice for all of us)

 International Bill of Human Rights = UDHR + International Covenants

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 HRC – Human Rights Council

o Headquarters – Geneva
o 47 members (elected by majority of General Assembly)
o Term – 3 years (for each member)
o Functions – Human Rights

 International Criminal Court

o Governed by – Rome Statute

o Independent Institution
o ICC is not a part of UN
o Headquarters – Hague, Netherlands
o 4 organs of ICC – President, Judicial Division, Office of Prosecutor; Registry
o Proprio Motu – ICC Prosecutor can initiate investigations
o Rome Statute – Founding Treaty of ICC

o Jurisdictions of ICC (International Criminal Court)

- Genocide – mass killing
- Crimes against humanity
- Killing or Torture of persons
- Destroying – religious buildings
- Crime of Aggression – against independence of another state

 International Trade Law

o GATT – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1948)

o WTO – new name of GATT (1955)
o GATT – included in WTO (1994)

o Goal of GATT – to make trade easier

o WTO – replaced GATT (1 January 1995)
o WTO Headquarters – Geneva
o 1st WTO Conference – Singapore

Note: WTO Conference – after every 2 years

 TRIPS – Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights

o Administered by WTO (World Trade Organization)

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 BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa

o Term BRICS coined by – Jim O’Neill

o Initially – BRIC
i.e. South Africa – non member

o 1st full meeting – Yekaterinburg, Russia (2009)

o South Africa became member in – 2010

 New Development Bank (NDB)

o Headquarters – Shanghai, China

o 1st NDB branch – Johannesburg, South Africa

o 1st President of NDB – KV Kamath (India)

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