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Public International Law Summary
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A summary of the whole first year course of Public International Law.
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Public international lawWeek 1 Introduction to Public International Law
Public International Law as ‘Law’
Definition: rules and principles that regulate the relations between States
It could be between States
It could be between States and other entities
It could cover wild range of activities (agreements, diplomatic relations)
Historical development of international law
1648- Peace of Westphalia (the birth of modern intern. Law)
17th century- Hugo C. (the father of intern law)
after WW1- permanent court in the Hague
Relationship between national and international law
Scope of international law is determined by the inadequacy of national law
Globalization & global government
Week 2 Sources of Law (Treaties and Customary International Law)
Theory of Sources
Dominant positivist theory- a state is only bond by the legal obligations it
has consented to
Primary and subsidiary sources
Primary sources- treaties, intern. custom and general principles of law
Secondary sources-judicial decisions
Law of treaties
Pacta sunt servada - Article 26 of Vienna Convention - a treaty in force is
binding on the parties and must be performed by them in good faith
What is a treaty - Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties - treaty means inter agreement concluded between states in
written form and governed by international law
Customary law, elements and application
Article 38 of ICJ Statue- international custom as evidence of a general
practice, accepted as law. There are two main requirements: state practice
accompanied by opinion juris.
Opinion juris- belief that an action was carried out as a legal obligation
(henriksen, international law p 27) (the state is acting in a certain way just
because it is required by Rule of law)
Objective elements: the existence of State practice- the actions by the state
must support the custom
, Subjective elements: acceptance as law (opinion juris)
o = opinion juris sire necessitas = opinion of law or necessity
o In customary international law it is the 2nd element necessary to
establish a legally binding custom
o -> Art. 38 (1)b: International custom as evidence of (1) a general
practice and (2) accepted as law
o 2 main requirements: state practice accompanied by opinion juris
The state practice must be: consistent and uniform (еднакъв), generally
accepted, of a certain duration(продължителност)
General principles of law
Derived from a comparison of the various legal systems
Shared by a majority
Rarely legislated
Pacta sunt servanda - binding obligations (Klabbers p 44)
Ne bis in idem
Hierarchy: rules jus cogens and obligations erga omnes
jus cogens-important rules that are way too important and they exist
without consent. (Klabbers, international law p 27)
o = universal law
o Most frequently cited candidates for jus cogens: (1) the prohibition
of aggressive use of force, (2) the right to self-defense, (3) the
prohibition of genocide, (4) crimes against humanity
erga omnes
o was introduced into positive law by the ICJ in the Barcelona
traction case 1970
o the ICJ identified a category of international obligations called
erga omnes, namely obligations owed by states to the international
community as a whole, intended to protect and promote the basic
values and common interests of all
Soft law
Soft law documents may be evidence of state practice or opinion juris and
on that basis become relevant to the creation of binding international law
The soft law’s instruments are not in themselves legally binding under
intern law and they do not constitute independent sources of law
(Henriksen, international law p 37)
Week 3 Actors in the International Legal System
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