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PIL Review chapters 1 -5

Jan 07, 2024, 6 min read

PIL Review chapters 1 -5

Public International Law

Review for Final Exams

Chapters 1 -5

I. Key termsDefine the following key terms based on your own understanding in your own words.

  1. International law: Rules, principles, standards, customs, norms, Laws that govern states’ interactions
  2. Customary international law: A general and consistent practice that states follow, eventually turning into law due to feel of legal obligation or the incentive to fit in.
  3. Positive law: are human-made laws different to natural law
  4. Natural law: is a theory or system of law stating that every being is created by god to justify equality, justice, and morality between all humans upholding that Human beings should treat each other equally and fairly.
  5. jus gentium: The first traditional international law codified to govern interaction between Roman-people and non-Roman people
  6. Peace of Westphalia: The Peace of Westphalia treaties in 1618 ended the thirty years war which is the first treaty or framework for peace and cooperation in Europe. The foundations for multi-state diplomatic congress and negotiations were laid at the conferences Established a machinery for the settlement of disputes arising between the signatories
  7. State practice: widespread repetition by States of similar international acts over time
  8. Opinio juris: The belief that states react to an issue in a certain way from legal obligations
  9. Jus cogens: prohibits states from conducting genocide, war crime, crime of aggression, Torture, Slavery, Piracy, Crime Against Humanity.
  10. Effect control: is the degree to which the government or body can command the obedience of the majority of the population or members.
  11. Legal personality: Legal personality is the capacity to have all the rights and duties under International laws
  12. Monism: formal international legal order is what establish rule of law among nations.
  13. Dualism: prioritize the role of individual states, as self-deterministic with sovereignty
  14. Ratification: to formally accept the treaty and be bounded by the treaty in question.
  15. Accession: Method by which states consent to be bound by/join a treaty which has already been negotiated
  16. Reservation: A state may be a member state even if it doesn’t accept some article of the treaty, therefore, a statement made by a state to which article it accepts and which it does not accept.
  17. Amendment: changes made to accepted article.
  18. Declaration: A milder reservation that is a statement that the states will implement and perform the article they the way it sees fit, without interpretation from others.
  19. Pacta sunt servanda: ‘agreements must be kept’, members of a treaty must perform their duties in good faith with other members.
  20. Material breach: If a state violate article of the treaty, other member could request for termination/compensation of violator

II. Comprehension questions

Answer the following questions based on what you have learned in PIL course.

  1. What are the purposes of international law? International laws can be created for a wide range of objectives
  • Promote international Peace and security
  • promoting economic and social development
  • Promote technological advancements
  1. What are the differences of international law and municipal law? National Law

National Laws are the constitution

How is Laws made?

  • From constitutional process
  • legislative process
  • administrative or judicial process

International Law

  • International Law lacks a constitution that could act as a baseline for laws
  • Lack Institution to spread application of the law
  • No agency to produce regulations
  • ICJ only legally bind involving parties in dispute, not indirectly involved

  1. What are the sources of international law? The formal sources of national law are the constitutional, legislative, administrative or judicial process from which law emanates, decision of judicial tribunals and certain accepted as legal principles. The formal sources of International law is still unclear since there is lack a constitution that can be a fundamental source of law.

    Weakness of International Law:

     No institution comparable promulgate laws of general applicability or administrative agencies to produce regulations

     The ICJ lacks plenary jurisdiction over dispute arising and the decision of court could only implement on the involved parties

     No precedential value in a formal sense

  2. What are the two criteria of customary international law?

  • General practice: how state react toward a certain issue
  • Accepted as law (opinion juris):
  1. What are the four criteria of states in the Montevideo Convention?
  • Defined territory
  • Permanent population
  • Effective government
  • Capacity to enter into international relation with other states

  1. What are the criteria of international organizations?

  2. Must be created by a treaty/agreement (UN Charter, ASEAN Charter)

  3. Must have states as members

  4. Must be regulated by International Law (follow int’ laws)

  5. Endowed with legal personality

  6. Legal Personality: to have all the rights & duties to perform under international law.

    • Creating conventions, agreements, with same rights as states

  7. Explain declaratory theory of recognition and constitutive theory of recognition.

  1. What are the subjects of international law? Explain briefly.

  1. What are the methods for states to give consent to be bound? Ratification

    Accession

    Reservation

    Declaration

  2. In what occasions can a state not be allowed to enter reservations? If a state does not accept a point that is crucial to the treaty in question, they cannot be a member.

  3. How is a treaty interpreted? States must interpret treaties in good faith

  • Interpreting the original meaning when it was created

  • Normally though, states interpret it in their interests

    In interpreting past treaties, states will find exploitable meanings in their favor

  1. What are the grounds of invalidity of a treaty? Explain briefly. 6.1. Absolute Reason of Validity

100% invalid without a doubt

  • Any treaty that contradict ’Jus Cogens’ is 100% invalid

6.2. Relative Reason of Validity

Reasons that has gray areas, interpretable by ICJ

  • Error: signed treaties that has unintentional errors on statistics, numbers, facts
  • Fraud: treaty that has intentional errors by a cheater state.
  • Corruption: when state’s representative are bribed into signing or not signing a treaty
  • Coercion: to force a state into an agreement
    1. forcing a state representative to sign using deadly threat.
    2. Putting deterrent in not signing the treaty for interest of state
  2. How is a treaty terminated? A treaty may be terminated after
    • it passes the prescribed time from the date of notice .
    • by agreement of the parties
    • by breach by one of the parties
  3. Is it true that international law is not enforceable? Give at least one situation or example to support your answer.
  4. How would international law be made more effective?
  1. What are the flaws of international law? List three and explain with examples.

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