15. 15) What is international law?

International law can include public international law, private international law and, more recently, supranational law.

Public international law is the body of rules, laws or legal principles that govern the rights and duties of nation states in relation to each other. It is derived from a number of sources, including custom, legislation and treaties.

International organizations such as the United Nations, World Health Organization, (the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund) play a huge role in the making, applying, implementing and enforcing public international law.

Private international law refers to the body of rights and duties of private individuals and business entities of different states.

Supernational law is a form of international law, based on limitation of the rights of severing nations between one another.

Also, important to say that the laws of a nation state can’t be applied if they conflict with a supranational legal framework.

16. 16) Sources of international law.

Customary law and conventional law are primary sources of international law. Customary international law results when states follow certain practices generally and consistently out of a sense of legal obligation. Conventional international law derives from international agreements and may take any form that the contracting parties agree upon. Customary law and law made by international agreement have equal authority as international law.

General principles are a secondary source of international law. There are situations when neither conventional nor customary international law can be applicable.

international law deals with the acquisition of territory, state immunity and the legal responsibility of states (in their conduct with each other.) The law is similarly concerned with the treatment of individuals within state boundaries. International law is also used to govern issues relating to the global environment, the global commons (such as international waters and outer space, global communications and world trade.)

International law is horizontal, with all states being sovereign and theoretically equal. (Most states enter into legal commitments to other states out of enlightened self-interest rather than adherence to a body of law that is higher than their own.)

17. 17) Subjects of international community.

The fundamental or primary subjects are not individuals, but States. States are the backbone of the community. They possess full legal capacity. If they to disappear, the present international community would either full apart or change radically.

There is another category of international subjects, namely, insurgents, who come into being through their struggle against the State to which they belong. They either win and turn into fully fledged States or are defeated and disappear.

Also there are international organizations, national liberation movements and individuals. The emergence of these relatively new subjects is a distinct feature of modern international law. They possess a limited capacity in the area of international rights and obligations.