l Laws

by
Ms. Elaine B.
Maderazo
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○ International law is the
set of rules generally
regarded and accepted as
binding in relations
between states and between
nations. It serves as a
framework for the practice
of stable and organized
international relations.
International law differs
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○ The International law arises not from the
work of some supranational legislature,
but because nations have agreed to follow
customary and accepted rules and norms
and to comply with the treaties and
conventions signed between them.
International law can be defined “as the
body of rules applicable to the conduct
of nations in their relationships with
other nations, the conduct of nations in
their relationship with the individuals
and rules for international or
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○ Approaches to International Law:
○ • Modern approach: “The body of law
that regulates the activities of
entities possessing international
personality” • Traditional
approach: A body of rules and
principles governing the relations
between states. Criticisms leveled
against this approach is that it
denied the quality of law proper
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○ Characteristics of International
Law:
○ • To help other countries govern
themselves better. • It could also
be used for conflict resolution
between countries.
○ • The legal procedure is quite
different.
○ • As there is no single central
supranational authority, to make
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○ General Principles of International
Law:
○ • The principle of good faith (Pacta
Sunt Servanda): This is found
expressed in Article 26 of the 1969
Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties (which came into force on 27
January 1980) and is to the effect
that every treaty in force is binding
upon the parts to it and must be
performed by them in good faith. As
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○ The principle of abuse of rights:
◦ It is to the effect that states must
exercise their rights in a manner
compatible with their various
obligations arising either from
treaties or from the general law. This
principle can be illustrated in the
Corfu channel case where it was
concluded that: “No state may utilize
its territory contrary to the rights
of other states. The principle has
been further restated in principle 21
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○ The latter states: - “states,

have, in accordance with the
UNC and the principles of
international law, the
sovereign right to exploit
their own resources pursuant to
their own environmental and
developmental policies and the
responsibilities to ensure that
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○ Sources of International
Law:
○ • Treaties: Treaties can
play the role of contracts
between two or more
parties, such as an
extradition treaty or a
defence pact. They can also
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○ Whether or not all treaties can

be regarded as sources of law,
they are sources of obligation
for the parties to them.
Article 38(1)(a), which uses
the term "international
conventions", concentrates upon
treaties as a source of
contractual obligation but also
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○ For a treaty-based rule to be a

source of law, rather than
simply a source of obligation,
it must either be capable of
affecting non-parties or have
consequences for parties more
extensive than those
specifically imposed by the
treaty itself Dr. Krati Jain
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○ Types of International Law:
○ Public international law: It
governs the relationship between
states and international entities.
It includes these legal fields:
treaty law, law of sea,
international criminal law,the laws
of war or international
humanitarian law and international
human rights law. Public
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○ Norms of international law

have their source in
either: 1. Custom, or
customary international law
(consistent state practice
accompanied by opinio
juris), 2. Globally
accepted standards of
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○ Private international law:

It is also known as
conflict of laws. It
addresses the questions of
which jurisdiction may hear
a case, and the law
concerning which
jurisdiction applies to the
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○ It is distinguished from public

international law because it
governs conflicts between
private persons, rather than
states (or other international
bodies with standing). It
concerns the questions of which
jurisdiction should be
permitted to hear a legal
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○ Supranational law: It is
also known as law of
supranational
organizations. It concerns
regional agreements where
the laws of nation states
may be held inapplicable
when conflicting with a
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Thank you!
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