This chapter offers an essential introduction to the normative framework of the protection of human rights under international law. It is of particular relevance to those less acquainted with the discipline of public international law. The chapter discusses the fundamental topics of sources, obligations, and subjects of international law, as applicable to the international law of human rights. It explains that the international law of human rights remains attached to its traditional structures that overwhelmingly focus on the responsibility of States, but discusses how other actors have an ever-increasing role in the field. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the interaction between the international and domestic legal orders when dealing with the protection of rights.