Apple Dawn D. Tamba Llb-2 June 12,2012 Is Public International Law a real law?

The issue of whether or not the public international law is a real law can be best resolved when the scope and purposes of these two legal terms are defined and discussed. This output deals with the discussion of the definition of a real law, its requisites and purposes vis-a vis that of the public international law to resolve the issue at hand. Furthermore, this output reveals that public international law is not a real law for a reason that public international law does not possess all the basic requisites of a real law. Absence of single requisite for a real law excludes the public international law to the classification as such. Blacks dictionary, sixth edition defines law as That which is laid down, ordained, or established, a rule or method according to which phenomenon or actions co-exist or follow each other. In general, law is a set of rules of conduct promulgated by the duly constituted authorities to govern the body politic by providing penalties and sanctions. It is the mass of the obligatory rules established for the purpose of governing relations of persons in society1. Law is a rule of conduct. It is obligatory, promulgated by legitimate authority, and of common observance and benefit.2 The law secures justice, resolves social conflict, orders society, protects interests and controls social relations. On the other hand, Public International Law is the law of the political system of nation-states. It is a distinct and self-contained system of law, independent of the national systems with which it interacts, and dealing with relations, which they do not effectively govern. Since there is no overall legislature or law-creating body in the international political system, the rules, principles, and processes of international law must be identified 3 through a variety of sources and mechanisms. A rule of international law is one that has been accepted as such by the international community of states in the form of customary law; by international agreement; or by derivation from general principles common to the major legal systems of the world.

Public International law governs the relations among nations or states. Unlike the real law, which mandates a rule of conduct, telling us what shall be done and what shall not be done, the public international law has no specific provisions governing the citizens of the state for in general, its subjects are only the states concerned. A law is obligatory which imposes a duty to obey and a sanction, which forces obedience; the public international law deals with relations that they do not effectively govern. Unlike the law, which is promulgated by legitimate authority, the public international law has no law-creating body recognized as an international political system to formulate rules or sanctions. Despite the differences in several aspects between the two laws, both the public international law and real law is important. They are intended by man to serve man. The real law regulates the relations of men as an individual citizen of the state to maintain harmony in the society and to make order and co-existence of the citizens possible. On the other hand, public international law comes in to govern individual states since the need for internal order is as constant as the need for external defense.
1

Tolentino, Civil Code of the Philippines,1953 ed Vol.1,p1) The Law on Obligations and Contracts, Hector S. de Leon 3 Restatement of the Law (Third), the Foreign Relations of the United States
2

(2) Customary international law results from a general and consistent practice of states followed by them from a sense of legal obligation. (3) International agreements create law for the states parties thereto and may lead to the creation of customary international law when such agreements are intended for adherence by states generally and are in fact widely accepted. (4) General principles common to the major legal systems, even if not incorporated or reflected in customary law or international agreement, may be invoked as supplementary rules of international law where appropriate.