Municipal public law (by which is meant the public law of national or sub-national polities, including but not limited to local government) is always influenced by events taking place elsewhere in the world and the activities and norms of other polities. For example, the existence of a state depends at least partly on its recognition by other states, and political theories and legal ideas have always flowed across and between regions of the world even if they provoked opposition rather than adoption or adaptation. Yet despite, or perhaps because of, this, any state has good reasons for controlling the introduction of foreign legal and constitutional norms to its own legal order. It is important to check that the norms are compatible with one’s own national values and interests before allowing them to operate within one’s own system. A state which values a commitment to the rule of law, human rights, or democratic accountability is entitled to place national controls over potentially disruptive foreign influences. This chapter considers the nature and legitimacy of those national controls, particularly as they apply in the UK, in the light of general public law standards, bearing in mind that influences operate in both directions, not only between states but also between municipal legal standards and public international law.
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5. The Internationalization of Public Law and its Impact on the UK
David Feldman
Book
James Crawford
Serving as a single-volume introduction to the field as a whole, Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law seeks to present international law as a system that is based on, and helps structure, relations among states and other entities at the international level. It aims to identify the constituent elements of that system in a clear way. This ninth edition has been completely updated to take account of the many developments in international law that have occurred since the 8th edition (2012).
Chapter
1. Introduction and Overview:
The Ambit of International Law
Celebrated for their conceptual clarity, titles in the Clarendon Law Series offer concise, accessible overviews of major fields of law and legal thought. This book is a text about international law, not a text of international law. It tries to explain what international law does and how the international legal system operates, but not to set out a comprehensive or systematic account of what the rules of international law are. This introductory chapter provides a brief outline of the scope and nature of international law. It discusses the changing scope of international law; the emergence of international organizations; the emergence of new international actors; why people should comply with international law; and how international law is invoked and applied.
Chapter
9. Postscript
Celebrated for their conceptual clarity, titles in the Clarendon Law Series offer concise, accessible overviews of major fields of law and legal thought. This chapter presents some brief, final thoughts concerning the declining influence of the individual nation-State. It suggests that the power of the State is in decline when measured against the increasing power of other actors, such as international and supranational organizations. The result, however, is not so much an expansion in the scope of international law so as to claim all these other actors as its own, but rather that the boundaries between international law and neighbouring legal subjects are breaking down. The most important point is that all of the ground occupied by international law is shared with others who are not lawyers but men and women in the vast range of other professions and businesses whose cumulative efforts shape the world. While lawyers have a contribution to make going about resolving some of the most crucial problems that face the world, it is only one way among many.
Chapter
1. Fundamentals of international criminal law
Antonio Cassese, Paola Gaeta, Laurel Baig, Mary Fan, Christopher Gosnell, and Alex Whiting
International criminal law (ICL) is a body of international rules designed both to proscribe certain categories of conduct (war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, torture, aggression, international terrorism) and to make those persons who engage in such conduct criminally liable. These rules consequently either authorize states, or impose upon them the obligation to prosecute and punish such criminal conducts. This chapter discusses the main features of ICL; the sources of ICL; and the notion of international crimes.
Chapter
Hungary v Slovak Republic (Case C-364/10), EU:C:2012:630, 16 October 2012
Essential Cases: EU Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Hungary v Slovak Republic (Case C-364/10), EU:C:2012:630, 16 October 2012. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Noreen O'Meara.
Chapter
1. The Nature of the International Legal System
International law is a description of an entire legal system: the international legal system. It is an international legal system by which legal rules are created in order to structure and organise societies and relationships. It acknowledges the influence of political, economic, social and cultural processes upon the development of legal rules. This chapter discusses the relevance of international law; the international community and international law; theories of international law; and the practice of international law.
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11. State Responsibility
State responsibility arises from the violation by a State (or other international legal person) of an international obligation that can be one of customary international law or arising from a treaty. The violation must be due to conduct attributable to a State. This chapter discusses the nature of State responsibility; attribution; breach of an international obligation of the State; circumstances precluding wrongfulness (defences); consequences of a breach; enforcement of a claim; and treatment of aliens.
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15. The Use of Force, Collective Security and Peacekeeping
International law aims to regulate the use of force in two ways. First, it stipulates that there is a paramount obligation not to use force to settle disputes, with only limited exceptions; and second, it has at its disposal a procedure whereby the international community itself may use force against those using violence. These are known respectively as the rules on the ‘unilateral use of force’ and the rules of ‘collective security’, both of which are discussed in this chapter.
Chapter
5. Personality and Recognition
International law is unlike the law of national legal systems in that the persons or entities to which it applies are not always immediately apparent. National law applies to natural or legal persons within the territorial borders and to ‘nationals’ of the home State. In a general way, the ‘subjects’ of national law, being the persons to whom the legal system is addressed, are reasonably well defined geographically and legally. International law has no territorial boundaries in the same sense and no comparable concept of ‘nationals’. Consequently, its ‘subjects’ are harder to define and even to identify. This chapter discusses the types of international legal personality and recognition in international and national legal systems.
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6. International Human Rights Law
Human rights are a matter of international law, as the rights of humans do not depend on an individual’s nationality and so the protection of these rights cannot be limited to the jurisdiction of any one State. This chapter introduces the principal ideas, issues and framework of international human rights law. It discusses human rights theories; human rights and the international community; international protection of human rights; regional human rights protections; limitations on the human rights treaty obligations of States; the right of self-determination; and the protection of human rights by non-State actors.
Chapter
8. Jurisdictional Sovereignty
A State’s administrative, judicial, executive and legislative activity is part of the exercise of its sovereignty, sometimes known as its jurisdictional sovereignty. This chapter examines the objects of a State’s jurisdictional sovereignty (both natural and legal persons) and the circumstances in which it may be exercised. It considers the general principles of jurisdiction; grounds for the assertion of jurisdiction by national courts; and state jurisdiction and persons apprehended in violation of international law.
Chapter
1. The Nature of the International Legal System
International law is a description of an entire legal system: the international legal system. It is an international legal system by which legal rules are created in order to structure and organise societies and relationships. It acknowledges the influence of political, economic, social and cultural processes upon the development of legal rules. This chapter discusses the relevance of international law; the international community and international law; theories of international law; and the practice of international law.
Chapter
5. Soft Law in International Law-Making
Alan Boyle
From a law-making perspective the term ’soft lawʼ is in most cases simply a convenient description for a variety of non-legally binding instruments used in contemporary international relations by States and international organizations. Soft law in this sense can be contrasted with hard law, which is always binding. Non-binding soft law instruments are not law per se, but may be evidence of existing law, or formative of the opinio juris or State practice that generates new customary law. They may additionally acquire binding legal character as elements of a treaty-based regulatory regime, or constitute a subsequent agreement between the parties regarding interpretation of a treaty or application of its provisions. Other non-binding soft-law instruments are significant mainly because they are the first step in a process eventually leading to conclusion of a multilateral treaty, or because they provide the detailed rules and technical standards required for the implementation of a treaty. An alternative view of soft law focuses on the contrast between ’rulesʼ, involving clear and reasonably specific commitments which are in this sense hard law, and ’normsʼ or ’principlesʼ, which, being more open-textured or general in their content and wording, can thus be seen as soft even when contained in a binding treaty. It is a fallacy to dismiss soft law because it does not readily fit a theory of what is ‘law’: properly understood, it can and does contribute to the corpus of international law-making.
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9. The Individual and the International Legal System
Robert McCorquodale
This chapter examines the role of the individual in the international legal system. It considers the direct rights and responsibilities of individuals under the international legal system; their capacity to bring international claims; and their ability to participate in the creation, development, and enforcement of international law. Particular examples from a wide range of areas of international law, including international human rights law, international criminal law, and international economic law, are used to illustrate the conceptual and practical participation of individuals in the international legal system. It is argued that individuals are participants in that system, and are not solely objects that are subject to States’ consent, though their degree of participation varies depending on the changing nature of the international legal system.
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10. International environmental law
International environmental law is an area of international law where states have decided to cooperate with each other in order to fulfil certain goals of common interest and, for the most part, its rules and principles belong in the category of the international law of cooperation. This chapter discusses the most important parts of international environmental law and its main legal sources. It presents the fundamental principles of international environmental law, including those that seek to prevent damage to the environment and those that seek to ensure a balanced approach to environmental protection. It provides an overview of the most important parts of the substantial regulation in international environmental law, including the legal regime for the protection of the atmosphere, the conservation of nature and the regulation of hazardous substances. It also discusses features related to implementation and enforcement that are particular to international environmental law.
Chapter
23. Trade Secrets
Justine Pila and Paul L.C. Torremans
This chapter deals with the legal protection of trade secrets. Traditionally, trade secret protection was left to the national laws of Member States. These national regimes are rooted firmly in existing legal rules in the areas of unfair competition, tort, or breach of confidence. And there is also the “Directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use, and disclosure”. The Directive seeks to impose on Member States a minimal form of harmonization and uniformity. It does not impose a (Community) right in relation to a trade secret, but it works with a common basic definition of a trade secret, the principle that there needs to be redress for the unlawful acquisition, use, or disclosure of a trade secret, and a catalogue of measures and remedies.
Chapter
3. The relations of international and national law
This chapter explores the relationship between international and national law, discussing both the common law tradition and the civil law tradition. It suggests that each system is supreme in its own field; neither has hegemony over the other. And yet any generalities offered can only provide a background to the complex relations between the national and international systems. Three factors operate. The first is organizational: to what extent are the organs of states ready to apply rules of international law internally and externally? The second factor is the difficulty of proving particular rules of international law. Third, courts, national and international, will often be concerned with the question of which is the appropriate system to apply to particular issues arising. The question of appropriateness emphasizes the distinction between organization, that is, the character of the jurisdiction as ‘national’ or ‘international’, and the character of the rules of both systems as flexible instruments for dealing with disputes and regulating non-contentious matters.
Chapter
4. Subjects of international law
This chapter on subjects of international law discusses established legal persons and special types of personality. Established legal persons cover states, entities legally proximate to states, entities recognized as belligerents, international administration of territories prior to independence, international organizations, and individuals. Special types of personality cover public and private corporations, non-self-governing peoples, and entities sui generis.
Chapter
10. Jurisdiction
Christopher Staker
This chapter focuses on the principles of international law that govern the right of States to apply their laws to conduct and events occurring within or outside their own territories; the resolution of disputes arising from overlapping jurisdictional claims; and the problems of enforcing national laws. The discussions cover the meaning of ‘jurisdiction’; the significance of the principles of jurisdiction; doctrinal analysis of jurisdiction; the territorial principle; the national principle; the protective principle; the universal principle; treaty-based extensions of jurisdiction; controversial bases of prescriptive jurisdiction; types of jurisdiction; limitations upon jurisdiction; inadequacies of the traditional approach; and the fundamental principle governing enforcement jurisdiction.
