International Law

International law, often known as "public inter­national law" or the "law of nations," is the sys­tem of law that governs relationships among states. A state exhibits three basic characteristics: it must have a territory, a population, and a sovereign gov­ernment capable of controlling its territory and con­ducting international relations with other states. States possess sovereignty, which might be viewed as the supreme political authority from which the state derives other specific political powers. Sov­ereignty provides the international independence of a state and the right and power to regulate its inter­nal affairs free of foreign interference.

International law should be distinguished from an individual state's internal law, also known as its "national," "municipal," or "local" law. A country's national law may affect various aspects of international relations, though the extraterritorial effect of one country's law is necessarily limited by the sovereignty of other countries. For example, al­most every country has developed a system of pri­vate international law, a branch of conflicts of law that determines (1) when a domestic court should exercise jurisdiction over a case involving foreign persons or territories, (2) when foreign rather than domestic law should apply to a case, and (3) when judgments rendered by foreign courts should be recognized and enforced in a domestic court.

In the United States and other countries a legis­lature enacts law. The executive, among other functions, enforces it and the judiciary tries viola­tions of criminal law and resolves civil disputes. Violations of law are backed by legal sanctions in­cluding money damages, injunctions, fines, and imprisonment. Among the sovereign states no cen­tralized legislature exists, no court possesses man­datory jurisdiction, and no executive body imposes legally enforceable sanctions. This lack of sanc­tions—lack of an obligatory judicial forum whose judgments are enforceable by executive authority— has led some observers to conclude that the norms that govern human conduct in the world arena are not "law," in the traditional sense of the term, at all. Nevertheless, states normally obey principles of international law, which are derived from con­sensus or formal agreement, because it is in their individual self-interest to do so. States are few in number and cannot move; economic and other needs force most states to cooperate with their neighbors and to be reasonably reliable in interna­tional dealing. Violation of a rule may lead to re­taliation by other states, an unacceptable result in light of increasing interdependence among states.

Modern international law began to develop in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, corresponding to the development of modern Western European states. Article 38(1) of the Statute of the Interna­tional Court of Justice provides the most widely ac­cepted list of the sources of international law. It states:

The Court, whose function is to decide in accor­dance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:

(a) international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recog­nized by the contesting states;

(b) international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;

(c) the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;

(d) . . . judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.

Treaties. The first source, "international conven­tions" refers to treaties. A treaty is an agreement or contract between two or more nations or sover­eigns, formally signed by an authorized represen­tative and ratified by the sovereign or supreme power of each state. Because modern technology, communication, and trade have made states in­creasingly interdependent and willing to cooperate on a variety of common problems, treaties occupy an ever-expanding role in the orderly conduct of international relations. Some address critical na­tional interests of a political character, such as al­liances, peace settlements, and bans on atomic test­ing. Others involve less politically charged relationships between governments and government agencies, such as agreements on foreign aid or co­operation in provision of government services such as weather forecasting. Still others, such as tariff treaties, tax conventions, and treaties of friendship, commerce, and navigation, regulate business rela­tionships between nationals or residents of the par­ticipating countries.

Custom. Custom is the original source of interna­tional law. A practice is recognized as part of in­ternational custom if it involves a consistent course of conduct by a number of states over a consider­able period, a recognition that the practice is con­sistent with or required by international law, and general acquiescence in the practice by other states. Many international customs have been cod­ified in treaties in recent years, providing more pre­cision and predictability in the law.

General Principles of Law. General principles of law provide the third source of international law. These principles, derived primarily from the na­tional law of the developed countries, supplement and fill in the gaps in treaties and customary law, the primary sources of international law. Examples of general legal principles used by international tri­bunals include estoppel, laches, and res judicata.

Primarily since the end of World War II, treaties have been used to create international organizations using a permanent staff, buildings, and other assets to maintain continuous activity. These organizations play an important role in addressing international legal problems not easily resolved through customary international law, or noninstitutional bilateral or multilateral treaties. The organizations are formed for various purposes including peace-keeping and world order, and regulating, facilitating, and developing commercial or economic activities of member states. Some of the more important organizations are briefly introduced below.

United Nations. The United Nations was created at the end of the Second World War to promote resolution of international disputes and provide for collective action to stop aggression, the United Nations also is concerned with economic development, social welfare, and human rights. The United Nations Charter divides the organization into constituent parts. The Security Council is vested with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Council's nonprocedural decisions are subject to by its permanent members: China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The General Assembly is composed of rep­resentatives from all member states. Resolutions of the General Assembly have, in recent years, in­creasingly addressed trade, investment, and eco­nomic matters, rather than peace-keeping issues. General Assembly resolutions enjoy rather limited adherence in the international arena. The Secretar­iat, headed by the secretary general, administers the day-to-day affairs of the United Nations, and occasionally takes initiative in political matters.

International Court of Justice. Perhaps the most important United Nations body from a legal stand­point is its judicial branch, the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ issues advisory opinions and decides actual disputes. Its jurisdiction is lim­ited by two basic principles. First, only states may be parties to litigation before the ICJ. Second, ju­risdiction is not compulsory but is based upon the state's consent. The Court consists of fifteen judges, no more than two of whom may be from the same country. Judges are elected by the Gen­eral Assembly and the Security Council to nine-year terms with one-third of the Court being re-elected or replaced every three years. The ICJ is not the only international tribunal. Other international courts have been created, for example, under regional treaties of economic or political cooperation. Most notable among these is the Court of Justice of the European Economic Community.

All organizational products have one thing in common: derived demand. Derived demand means the demand for every organizational product depends on the demand for some other product. The demand for tempera paints, water colors, and chalk sold to the art departments of public schools is derived from the demand of students or their parents for

a basic, well-rounded education. Ultimately the demand for all organizational products depends on consumer demand for finished goods and services.

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