To bind (bound) binding non-binding law-abiding
to abide by something (=to comply with)
The contract is ________________on everyone who signed it.
You have to ____________ the referee’s decision.
We all know why so many ______________ citizens own guns.
Two nations ______________ together by a common history.
It is set out in a legally ____________ protocol which forms an integral part of the treaty.
They ___________ him to remain silent.
The law allows the president to appoint a three-member presidential emergency board to examine the contract dispute and produce ______________ recommendations.
Nations agreed on international rules – rules they ___________ themselves to observe in a convention.
They promised to ______________ the rules of the contest.
Task 3. Choose one of the statements and comment on it.
Law means good order. (Aristotle)
Laws are made in order that people in authority may not remember them. (O. Wilde)
The execution of laws is more important than the making of them. (Thomas Jefferson)
Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made. (Otto Von Bismarck)
Law is a bottomless pit. (John Arbuthnot)
Famous people
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States and one of the leading Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), the first Secretary of State (1789-1793), the founder of one of the world's two first political parties, the Republican Party (1793). Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest of U.S. presidents. Biographer James Parton said Thomas Jefferson could "calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play the violin."
Unit I. Section 2 Historical Overview of the Development of International Law
Brush up your knowledge
Name the forerunner of the United Nations.
What qualifications does a state as a subject of international law possess?
Task 1. Complete the text using the words from the box.
the League of Nations; Protestantism; an integral part; Switzerland; Roman law; 58; the Peace of Westphalia; the Renaissance; pacta sunt servanda; 1945; World War I; the sovereign state; the Permanent Court of International Justice; obsolete; the exchange of diplomatic emissaries; the Treaty of Versailles
International law came into its own as a separate legal system or discipline with the emergency of the modern nation-state in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Of course, practices such as _____________________, the conclusion of peace treaties, etc., and some of the rules, applicable to them can be traced back far into antiquity. But it was not until modern times that the rules governing relations between states came to be seen as a distinct body of law. Many of these rules were derived either from _____________ or Canon law, which drew heavily on principles of natural law. These two sources of law also formed the basis of much of the domestic law of the nation-states that came into being in Europe as the medieval period drew to a close with the dawn of ________________. Roman law and Canon law exerted great influence on the European statesmen and legal scholars of the period who created and systematized what became modern international law.
A number of events or historical milestones mark the development of modern international law. Among these are ________________________, the Congress of Vienna, the establishment of _____________________ and the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations.
The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and established a treaty-based system or framework for peace and cooperation in Europe, which endured for more than a hundred years. The Peace of Westphalia established __________________ as the principal political actor in the system of states.
It provided, inter alia, for the coexistence in certain parts of Europe of Catholicism and __________________, thus planting early seeds of religious freedom in Europe. The foundations for multi-state diplomatic congresses and negotiations were laid at the conferences that produced the two basic treaties comprising the Peace of Westphalia. These agreements also proclaimed the doctrine of ____________________ (treaties are to be observed) and established a machinery for the settlement of disputes arising between the signatories.
The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna (1815) formally ended the Napoleonic Wars and fashioned a sophisticated multilateral system of political and economic cooperation in Europe. The major aspects of this system survived until the outbreak of the First World War. The Congress adopted the first comprehensive set of rules governing diplomatic protocol, it formally condemned the slave trade, and it established the principle of free and unimpeded navigation on international rivers traversing the region. The Congress laid the foundation for the recognition of the neutrality of ____________________ and its guarantee by the principal European powers.
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of ______________________ in 1919–1920. The League's primary goals as stated in its Covenant included preventing war through collective security, disarmament, and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. The Covenant formed ___________________of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended _______________.
Although the failure of the League of Nations to prevent World War II is a well-known historical fact, it is important to remember that this organization constituted the first serious effort by states to create a permanent inter-governmental institutional framework for the resolution of political disputes and the preservation of peace. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had __________ members.
It was the League that established _____________________________, the first such international tribunal open to all states. The machinery created by the League for the protection of the rights of minorities in eastern and southeastern Europe and for the supervision of certain non self-governing territories constituted the first international attempt to establish international institutions for the protection of human rights.
The League contributed in numerous other ways to the development and codification of international law. Moreover, the modern law of international organizations came into being with the establishment of the League of Nations.
The United Nations was founded in __________. The UN has been called everything from “the best hope of mankind” to “irrelevant” and “_____________.” Here it needs to be emphasized only that the mere existence of the UN, whatever its weaknesses, constitutes a further advance in the efforts of the international community to make international law a more effective tool, for the preservation of international peace and the improvement of the human condition throughout the world.
Task 2. Focus on Definitions. Find in the text the words that mean the following:
a person who is sent with an official message or to do special work
a formal solemn agreement between two or more people or groups
to express very strong disapproval of something
forming a necessary part of something (adj.)
concerning or including more than two groups or nations
among other things (Latin)
no longer useful because something newer and better has been invented; out-of-date
to officially accept that an organization, document etc has legal or official authority
Task 3. Focus on Words. Study the definitions and translate the following sentences from English into Russian.
to impede – to make it difficult for someone or something to move forward or make progress
1) Progress has been impeded by a number of economic factors.
2) War is one of the greatest impediments to human progress.
3) Shortage of money was not the only impediment to higher education.
4) We observed that you were movingly slowly on a wide road, unimpeded by any other traffic.
5) In May the Soviet Union proposed the abolition of 75 percent of the existing stocks of weapons and offered unimpeded inspection.
outbreak - if there is an outbreak of fighting or disease in an area, it suddenly starts to happen
The day I arrived in Texas, the war broke out.
Late last night, fighting broke out between gangs of rival football fans.
The only effective means of controlling outbreaks of this disease are mass vaccination campaign.
The recent outbreak of street violence and protests reflect the frustration of young people unable to find jobs.
multilateral - involving several different countries or groups
EU ministers proposed a multilateral agreement on arms control.
The talks were due to include discussions of measures to reduce tensions between the two states and to promote bilateral exchanges.
Not so long ago that representative was strongly committed to unilateral disarmament.
Task 4. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following expressions:
Европейские державы, естественное право, церковное право, оказывать существенное влияние, исторические вехи, Вестфальский мир, сохранение мира, Лига Наций, способствовать развитию, Устав ООН, Заключительный акт Венского конгресса, договоры должны выполняться, подписавшая сторона, нейтралитет Швейцарии, международные суды, государственные деятели, начало Первой мировой войны, урегулирование спора, разрешение спора, принимать устав, внутригосударственное право
Task 5. Answer the following questions:
What are the origins of the modern system of international law?
Enumerate the historical milestones which marked the development of modern international law.
Why can we call the Peace of Westphalia an early international human rights law? What is the importance of the doctrine pacta sunt servanda?
How did the Vienna Congress contribute to the development of modern international law?
Why did the League of Nations fail? What was its contribution to the development of international law?