International Legal System

The legal process that concerns relations among nations is called international law. Such law differs greatly from national systems. No court has the authority or power to give judgments backed by coercive sanctions. Even in its most modern developments, international law is almost wholly based on custom. The precedents on which it rests are the acts of independent governments in their relations with one another, including treaties and conventions. Behind many of its rules is only a moral sanction: the public opinion of the civilized world. When treaties or conventions are involved, however, machinery to enforce them exists – either an arbitration or conciliation procedure or the submission of the dispute to a regional or international court.

A body of rules and principles is observed or at least acknowledged in international relations. These rules concern such matters as territorial titles and boundaries, use of the high seas, limits on war, telecommunication, diplomatic and consular exchange, and use of air space. The major sources of international law on these matters are multilateral treaties, international custom, and such general principles recognized by civilized nations. The United Nations is one of the primary mechanisms that articulate and create international law. The General Assembly and other agencies of the UN bring a combination of diplomacy, negotiation, and propaganda to bear on world affairs in ways that produce effective international treaties and affect world opinion. Certain courts also have indirect impact, including the international Court of Justice. Domestic courts in various nations at times also engage in the articulation of international law.

International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together sovereign states in adherence to recognized values and standards. It differs other legal system in that it primarily concerns states rather than private citizens. However, the term “international law” can refer to three distinct legal disciplines:

Public international law, also known as law of nations, was traditionally a question of custom, i.e. countries behaved towards each other as they chose, and rights came from military power. Countries had treaties with each other, but since breath of a treaty could only be remedied by diplomatic pressure, sanctions and the threat of war, they were often ignored. Public international law grew enormously during the 20^th century, particularly, after World War II, when there was a widespread desire to manage trade and disagreements between countries in a more civilized manner. Early examples of public international law were the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907, dealing with the rules for declaring war) and the Geneva Conventions (begun in 1864, completed in 1940 dealing with humane treatment of prisoners, civilians and the sick and wounded in times of war). Countries submitted to these conventions, and many others that came later, voluntarily, and in theory could withdraw (or breach the conventions and be expelled), but in practice the advantages of being inside such legal frameworks often outweigh the limitations they impose. But if enough countries (and especially powerful countries) chose to ignore a particular international law, the law will cease to have any force.

The creation of the United Nations (1945) was a huge step in the development of international law. In addition to military and international trade issues, public international law also regulates the law of the sea, of space, of the environment and, most recently, international criminal law and the international humanitarian law.

Private international law, also known as conflict of laws, aims, to solve disputes involving individuals and businesses from more than one jurisdiction, it addresses the question of:

(1) in which legal jurisdiction may a case be heard;

(2) the law concerning which jurisdiction(s) apply to the issues in the case.

The term private international law was coined by American lawyer and judge Joseph Story. Private international law has no real connection with public international law, and is instead a feature of municipal law which varies from country to country. Its three branches are: jurisdiction – whether the forum court has the power to resolve the dispute at hand; choice of law – the law which is being applied to resolve the dispute; foreign judgements – the ability to recognize and enforce a judgement from an external forum within the jurisdiction of the adjudicating forum.

The areas of private law are family law, inheritance law, labor law, commercial law etc. The most important for foreign commerce is the area of obligation relationship.

Private international law is rather the internal law of the country that, from the standpoint of a domestic legal system, governs issues important for legal relations with an international element (“foreign element”).

Although international agreements are among the important sources of private international law, these international agreements, too, are part of the domestic internal legal system if a country is bound by them, i.e. was an original signatory or signed them later and they have passed through the ratification process including subsequent publication in the appropriate forum – the collection of laws, the bulletin etc.

Supranational law or the law of supranational organization, which concerns at present regional agreements where the special distinguishing quality is that laws of nation states are held inapplicable when conflicting with a supranational legal system. It currently is relevant mainly for the European Union, where EU laws may override the laws of Member States.

4. Word study: Key Terms