Public International Law

CHAPTER I
What is international law?
- a body of rules and principles of action which are binding upon
civilized states in their relations to one another.
- law which deals with the conduct of states and of international
organizations and with their relations inter se, as well as with some of their
relations with persons, whether natural or judicial.
Scope of international law
- regulation of space expeditions, division of the ocean floor, protection
of human rights, management of the international financial system, and
regulation of the environment.
Is international law a law?
- Yes and No. Yes because men is constrained to believe that order and
not chaos is the governing principle of the world in which he lives and
generally, men respect law because of possible consequences of defiance
either to oneself or to the larger society. No because international law is
commonly disregarded.
Some theories about international law
Command Theory
- law consists of commands originating from a sovereign and backed
up by threats of sanction if disobeyed.
Consensual Theory
- international law derives its binding force from the consent of states
(e.g. treaties are an expression of consent).
Natural Law Theory
- law is derived by reason from the nature of man international law is
said to be an application of natural reason to the nature of the state-person.
Public and Private international law
- Public international law governs the relationships between and among
states and also their relations with international organizations and individual
persons.
- Private international law is really domestic law which deals with cases
where foreign law intrudes in the domestic sphere where there are questions
of the applicability of foreign law or the role of foreign courts.
CHAPTER II
Sources of international law
Formal Sources
- refer to the various processes by which rules come into existence
(e.g. legislation, treaties, and judicial decisions)
Material Sources
- concerned with the substance and content of the obligation (e.g.
state practices, UN Resolutions)

Art. 38 (1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.

1. The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law
such as disputes as are submitted to it shall apply:
a. international conventions, whether general or particular,
establishing rules expressly recognized by 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. subject to the provisions of Art. 59, 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.
Customary Law
- means a general and consistent practice of states followed by them
from a sense of legal obligation