Week 7: International Law in Domestic Legal Orders

Week 7: The Reception of International Law in Domestic Legal Orders

• International law is ordinarily applied through state organs.
• Monism and dualism are relevant to differentiate between legal systems.
• Self-executing obligations are directly applicable in domestic legal systems.
• Enforcement of international law and international dispute settlement are related.
• A 'dispute' is a disagreement of legal, factual aspects that must be through legal norms.
• International law is normally observed by states.
• Treaties are binding and parties must honour good faith in performing them.
• States may not invoke internal law as justification for non-performance of a treaty.
• Conditions of international law application are determined by domestic legal orders.
• These conditions involve bringing domestic rules to be in conformity with international norms.
• Adopting new laws or administrative regulations is also a condition.
• International law looks mainly at the results.

Week 8: International Responsibility and Sanctions

• Circumstances Precluding Wrongfulness in ARSIWA: Explore the circumstances that negate wrongfulness in the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA). Analyze the conditions and implications of these circumstances on state responsibility.
• Shared Responsibility: Define and provide a detailed explanation of shared responsibility in international law contexts, showcasing relevant examples.
• Responsibility of International Organizations: Determine circumstances where international organizations bear responsibility for internationally wrongful acts.
• Sanctions vs. Countermeasures: Examine the concepts of sanctions and countermeasures, discussing their definitions and comparing them through specific examples.
• UN Security Council Practice: Analyze the evolution of UN Security Council practice in the adoption of sanctions over time.
• Aggravated Responsibility: Define and interpret the meaning of aggravated responsibility and its implications in international law.

Week 9: International Courts and Tribunals

• Adjudication as an exception: International courts are not the default mechanism for resolving disputes. They are typically used as a last resort after other methods have failed.
• Third-party adjudication: Refers to an external body (the court) making the final decision on resolving disputes. It differs as it involves the process of 'loss of control' in which the disputing parties no longer have control over the dispute's resolution.
• Not exhaustive: Courts do not always address every aspect of a dispute; they typically focus on legal solutions, not political ones.
• Options: Parties involved in disputes can explore various mechanisms for resolving their disputes.
• Rigid and costly: Judicial processes are formalized and expensive.
• Limitations: International courts do not always work for every dispute type, especially those involving complex or non-legal issues.

Week 10: The Role of the State Throughout History

• State role has evolved over time, impacting economic, social, and political developments.
• 19th and 20th centuries focused on maintaining order, defense, and governance.
• Late 20th and 21st centuries focused on providing public services and addressing economic inequality.
• Contemporary states fulfill diverse functions in welfare, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Week 11: General Principles of Administrative Law

• Scope of administrative law: Covers government actions, agency operations, and their connection with the public.
• Administrative authorities: Identify governmental entities and individuals responsible for implementing state functions.
• Powers of administrative authorities: Analyze authority limits and legal parameters for actions that agencies are capable to handle.
• Procedural rules: Administrative actions must abide by legal norms, ensuring fairness and transparency to public and the government.
• Substantive requirements: Administrative practices must satisfy legal standards of consistency, equity, and propriety.
• Judicial protection: Legal oversight and review mechanisms ensure administrative accountability and align with legal boundaries.

Week 12: Procedural and Substantive Principles

• Procedural principles: Focus on how administrative decisions are made. Ensures fairness, transparency, and adherence to legal procedures
• Substantive principles: Focus on the content of administrative decisions: ensures government actions are reasonable, lawful, and maintain equity. Guaranteeing the limits of government powers, to avoid excess or improper actions.
• Challenging unreasonable decisions: Public administration is subject to legal challenges when decisions are flawed, unjust, or incorrect. This is a safeguard against improper and unlimited government actions.
• Limits of Governmental Powers: Government actions are bound by law, with courts overseeing the parameters of this power and ensuring that the administration operates within prescribed bounds, thereby preventing abuses of power.

Week 13: The Rule of Law, Legitimate Expectations and Proportionality

• Rule of Law: Fundamental principle that ensures all government actions, notably administrative decisions, must be law-based, and within the boundaries of established legal frameworks.
• Legal Limits on Government Actions: Legal limits on government actions are crucial to prevent abuses of public power.
• Legality Principle: Guarantees government actions are founded on legal basis, avoiding arbitrary actions.
• Principle of Legitimate Expectations: Protects reasonable expectations of individuals arising from actions and pronouncements made by the government.
• Principle of Proportionality: Ensures that government actions do not exceed what is necessary to achieve their objectives, and avoid disproportionately affecting individual rights and the public.

Other Weeks (not specified in the prompt):

• International Responsibility: Case Law review, including examples.
• International Court of Justice (ICJ): Structure, Jurisdiction, Procedure, and specific case laws.

This quiz covers the key concepts of how international law is received and applied within domestic legal systems. It explores the principles of monism and dualism, the role of treaties, and the obligations of states regarding enforcement and conformity with international norms. Understand the relationship between international law and domestic legal orders through various scenarios and conditions.