The System of Controls and Checks - Assignment Example

These are embodied by International Law which I want to delve into in the following essay: International Law refers to a body of statutes, protocols, rules, principles, and guidelines that binds all the law actors. The actors include states, nations, peoples, insurgents, private individuals, as well as, international bodies. These rules are mostly derived from various sources such as Treaties, conventions, Customs and practices of the member states and nations. International law acts as a guide and promotes good faith.

It facilitates the call for peace and harmony by ensuring that justice, peace and human rights are followed and enforced2. As an analogy, the law acts as an electric fence which rather than defining the acts to be accomplished defines and sets out the boundaries to be considered within the free human acts, and in the notion that every actor has their own interests in each undertaking or contract with another actor. It is therefore of utmost relevance in the discussion of International Relations.

 One of the intended learning outcomes in our course outline is to identify the interconnection between the various actors in the international system. As from the aforementioned actors of international law, we can identify that some are major while others are minors. An example of a major actor would be an International body or an Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO) while a minor actor would be a private individual and tourists3. The relationships between these actors have to be controlled to prevent any form of harassment of the minor actor by the major actor.

In a case whereby a certain state feels that its laws are being violated by another, it may seek the application of International Law to resolve the dispute. In addition, transactions and contracts, for example, between an interstate level actor such as the United Nations and domestic level actor such as a country can be legally enforced through International Law4.  In summary, International Law is a key and critical aspect of International relations in every respect regarding the interactions between the various actors of the International System. A comprehensive study of this is crucial to any professional venturing into the field of International relations.