Public International Law GOVT 2047 PDF

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW GOVT 2047  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Main Sources - international conventions (treaties) - international customs ( customary) - international (Law) - general principles (jus cogens) Subsidiary Sources - judicial decisions an...

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW GOVT 2047  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Main Sources - international conventions (treaties) - international customs ( customary) - international (Law) - general principles (jus cogens) Subsidiary Sources - judicial decisions and treaties of the most highly qualified publicists Art 38 (1) Statute of the International Convention of Justice (ICJ) Sometimes also subdivided into  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Treaties have a formal proceedure - every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith - Art 26 Vienna Convention in law of treaties (VC) 1969  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 2 Customary international law are not signed)documents but requires (a) State practice - (duration, consistency and conformity generality) (i) Duration ( longer the better) however a short time wont prevent it being a custom North Sea Continental Shelf Case (Federal Republic of Germany v Denmark and Netherlands) Recognised that there is no precise length of time during which a practice must exist simply it must exist long enough to show that  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (ii) Consistency and uniformity- Asylum case ( Columbia v Peru ) 1950 ‘Practice should continue in a constant and uniform way’ Court did not describe the degree of uniformity and over what duration would be sufficient to be construed as 'constant and uniform'. E.g. Fishing at certain point in a river.  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Also Military and Para Military Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v USA) Held: Perfect consistency was not essential. Sufficient that practice is in general consistent i.e. does not have to do it every day  SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Principle of Jus cogens ‘A peremptory norm of general international law accepted and recognised by the international community of states as a whole as a norm from which no derogation (detraction/ take away) is permitted and which can be modified by a subsequent norm of general international law having that effect’ - Art 53 VC 1961 Types - [Convention rules jus cogens] which include - prohibition of force - genocide - slavery - torture Note a treaty is void if it conflicts with jus cogens: Art 53 UK 1961