Sources of International Law
Article 38 of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Statute enumerates the sources of "international law"...
(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) … 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.
Key Concepts
Public International Law
- Governs the relationships between national governments, the relationships between intergovernmental organizations, and the relationships between national governments and intergovernmental organizations
- Topics covered in public international law include:
- Human rights
- International trade
- International environmental law
- Issues of intellectual property
- Most of these topics will revolve around treaties as the primary body of law but they will also include the work of international organizations, both intergovernmental and nongovernmental bodies
Private International Law
- Governs the choice of law to apply when there are conflicts in the domestic law of different countries that relate to private transactions between individual parties
- Deals with topics such as:
- Contracts
- Marriage and divorce
- Jurisdiction
- Recognition of judgments
- Child adoption
- Abduction
Foreign Law
- The national or subnational law of a sovereign nation
- It defines the role of governments with relation to the people they govern and controls relationships between people.
- It may regulate foreign persons and entities when they are within the borders of the national entity, but it does not affect outside the boundaries of a nation.
- Foreign law is embodied in constitutions, statutes, regulations, and court decisions.
Comparative Law
- The study of the similarities and differences between the laws of two or more countries, or between two or more legal systems.
