Establishment of International Law and Conventions - Essay Example

Essay assignment International law refers to the study of law that relates two or more countries (Aust It mainly deals with comparative law, which deals with the domestic law of each state, conflict law, public international law, and supranational law, which deals with the European Union Law. It relates different laws in all countries and tries to determine how they affect or influence one another. International law sources include; the general principles of law as practiced by civilized nations, international conventions that establish rules that are practiced by contesting states, international custom practices considered as law, and judicial decisions and teachings of qualified publicists in the different nations. The norms surrounding international laws are the principles and rules that apply to international law. This term is not common in international court systems though it can still be used to refer to principles and rules. There are seven principles of international law. They are borrowed from domestic law because international law is not developed and is mostly patchy (Aust 6). In reference to international law, the US violated the sixth principle. According to the principle, it is unlawful any person to plan, prepare, initiate, or wage a war in aggression in international agreements, treaties, or insurances. Subordination as applies to law is a situation where one principle overrides the other and nullifies the outcomes set by the principle seen to be weaker. Such a scenario is not legible in international law as all principles are well phrased to defend themselves in all situations (Aust 9). Territory acquisition in international law is achieved through a number of ways, which were set initially by ancient traditional laws (Aust 33). The first way is discovery. In this case, a country must be the first one to identify a territory that is not owned by any other state and it should perform symbolic acts like planting a flag to show official acquisition. Another method is conquest and annexation (Aust 36). It involves a forceful invasion of a state into a territory that is not theirs and demand ownership. It might include war and struggles and if the invading country wins, it takes over the territory. Another method used in acquisition is cession. It involves the voluntary giving up of a territory by a country. In such a case, another country can easily take over the territory. Another way of territory acquisition is occupation and prescription. This is where a sovereign state is already in ownership or control of a territory. Boundary treaties is also another way through which states acquire territories and includes the signing by one country that they are giving up a territory to the other country. Acquiescence, estoppel, and recognition are also used in territory acquisition. In this situation, a country claims ownership of a territory and sticks to that stand until it is recognized as the owner of the territory (Aust 34). Lease as a form of territory acquisition involves a situation where a country gives ownership of a territory to another territory for some period of time on some payment basis. Existence of a river between states can also form a form of territory acquisition unless otherwise decided by the involved states. State servitude is a legal right given to a country over a territory. Geographical contiguity is arrangement of countries close to one another in succession. On the other hand, historical continuity is a summation of all the historical events and processes that have occurred to help in territory formation and acquisition. Self-determination is a law in international law that permits a country the right to gain sovereignty at any time it requires without interruption. From these, self-determination is given priority. From the case, Crimea acquisition was legal and followed the required rules. Its acquisition applies from the self-determination rule and must be respected. The process involved is legal and is not aggression as it does not involve forceful acquisition (Aust 37). The procedure used to establish the border between the states is through treaty (Aust 49). In this case, the leaders of the two states have to meet and formulate rules regarding the boarder, which form the treaty. After the treaty, the countries involved have to live by the rules they formed in the treaty. In the given case, Thai government should have stated their concerns about the boarder before the signing of the treaty. The signing of a treaty is binding and makes a nation subject to the rules in a treaty and thus will lock out Thai from acquiring access to the temple. In international law, consent in signing a treaty is binding and going against the rules stated in the treaty can cause punishment and fining (Aust 53). The Thai government was supposed to raise concerns about the map because it violated the rules of the treaty. The rules of a treaty are the key to the understanding of a situation between nations and should be observed. Giving evidence or witnessing with sources that are not in line with the rules in a treaty is against ethics in law. All evidence and support materials produced to help in solving a dispute should follow the rules stated in a treaty. In case a state recognizes an error and does not raise any concerns before signing, it may not have the right to state that its rights were violated. It is supposed to state its concerns about the rules stated in the treaty, which will cause formation of other rules or amendment of the already stated rules to fit the situation. In case a country is in need to raise its concerns about a border, it is supposed to call for another treaty in which the concerns will be analyzed and the corrective measures applied (Aust 58). In international law, jurisdiction refers to the authority given to a country to form and implement laws and make pronouncement in legal matters and administer justice within its area of responsibility (Aust 42). A country is given jurisdiction to act in different areas with regard to its sovereignty. A sovereign country’s laws are recognized and respected internationally and any pronouncement stated by judiciary of a country will not cause concerns and contentment issues among other states. The main principles involved in jurisdiction include, territorial, nationality, passive personality, protective, and universal jurisdiction principles. The universal jurisdiction principle allows states to take into custody, investigate, and pronounce judgment to a citizen of another country found within their state or involved in international crimes relating to the country. In this principle, such crimes like war crimes, airplane hijacking, crimes against humanity, and genocide are termed as crimes that are enemy to humankind and allow any state to take action and prosecute the defendant (Aust 44). In the processes of investigation and final prosecuting of the defendant, the acting nation should ensure that they preserve the interests of the international community and act fairly. The acting nation should take into consideration the laws of the involved countries and finally pass judgment that is in line with international human rights. In the cited case, the universal jurisdiction principle was applied. It is this principle that allowed the United States to exercise law on the Lebanese criminal. In the case, the Jordanian and Lebanese governments also had authority to take the defendant into custody and charge him against the stated crimes. They are all affected by the crimes committed by the defendant and have a right to know the outcome of the prosecution on the defendant (Aust 46). An intergovernmental organization, which can also be called an international governmental organization (IGO) is an organization formed and composed of sovereign states (Aust 178). The main function of such organizations is to ensure that there is successful collaboration and understanding between states. Other functions of such organizations include promoting peace among member states and the world, promoting economic stability of member states and the world, promoting social norms and interaction among individuals in the different member states. Many of the intergovernmental organizations are free to join by any willing member and allow only sovereign states to join while others are restricted to specific regions (Aust 179). They are strictly for states and not any other groups or organizations that are not sovereign states. The implied laws of intergovernmental organizations are those that govern how it functions and are formulated in its constitution. Laws regarding the functioning and running of the intergovernmental organization are formed by a groups of executives from the different states and represent the concerns of their specific countries. In the cited case, the United Nations did not exceed its powers in formation of UNEF and ONUC. This is because they were formed to promote the functionality of the organization. Since the bodies were formed as per the constitution of the United Nations, it is mandatory that all member states participate in financing them. This helps to boost affected member states and ensures that the United Nations is performing its duties according to its constitution. The United Nations is also supposed to update member states in time on the upcoming events that will require financial contribution. This will help to avoid defaulting cases on such payment. The united nation is also supposed to keep the member states updated on the use of the money, which helps to build trust and loyalty (Aust 184). Nationality is the status of an individual to belong to a certain state (Aust 163). Nationality can be obtained through birth, marriage, and naturalization. It is the legal interrelation between a state and its citizens and helps an individual to obtain support and protection from a nation. Nationality of an individual also states the obligations of an individual towards the state. Such obligations as paying taxes and conforming to the rules of a country form the main obligations (Aust 166). Diplomatic protection is the means with which a state takes diplomatic and other related actions against another nation to protect its citizens’ rights. In most countries, a person is allowed to choose his nationality after he reaches either 18 or 21 years. In case he gets a second nationality, the first country can decide to either allow him to have both nationalities or give a period in which one is supposed to decide which nation to belong. A person with dual citizenship cannot seek assistance from the other nation while staying in the other (Aust 167). The current nation in which an individual is takes the responsibility to protect him or her and ensure he or she gets all their rights. In the case, Liechtenstein was allowed to give diplomatic protection to Mr. Nottebohm because he had paid all the taxes and was allowed as a citizen of that nation. Guatemala does not have the duty to recognize Lichtenstein because he had not paid any taxes to the nation the whole time he lived there. A person is only accepted as a citizen of a nation only when he is compliant with taxes and rules governing the nation (Aust 179). A refugee is a person that is outside his country of residence and is unwilling or unable to return to his country because of danger or fear due to disaster, war, or other social calamities (Aust 171). Such an individual should be strictly a displaced person seeking asylum in another nation. They are internally displaced people who seek safety and peace in another country. The concept of a refugee does not cover such parties like; people who have fled their country for economic reasons and people who are touring other countries for leisure purposes (Aust 173). A refugee situation is a legal right for any individual in international law. A person with refugee status is expected by the law to register his status in the first country in which he or she arrives and it is expected that he or she will be catered for in terms of the basic human needs. A passport helps in determining the refugee status of an individual. It can be used to verify if an individual lawfully entered the nation. In the selected case, the smuggled people are not refugees. This is because they went into Australia for their own personal benefits and were not forced by situations in their country (Aust 173). In addition to this, they do not have any fears in returning to their country. A solution to the problems facing refugees is for countries to adhere to the rules formed by the international law and give help to any individual confirmed to be a refugee. The intergovernmental organizations dealing with refugees are supposed to be very quick in helping refugees and addressing the problems facing them. This will help in reducing the problems facing refugees (Aust 173). Immunity refers to a situation where one can avoid the prosecution by another state concerning a criminal offence (Aust 146). In general, there are two types of immunity, functional and personal immunity. Functional immunity allows an individual to attend to state functions and meetings while personal immunity is granted to a person in regard to the office or position one holds. These two types of immunity are very essential to state officials and allow them to attend to important matters and face their prosecution later after the attendance to state functions (Aust 148). However, the international law does not give state immunity to criminals of torture. This act is seen to be very offensive to humankind and does not allow such individuals to mix with other citizens of the country as they can cause more harm. In the case cited, Chile cannot claim for any unfair treatment to their citizen Pinochet. According to the international law, Pinochet is supposed to have been prosecuted and it is certain that he was prosecuted. This will help to show good example to other people who have the same character of torturing human kind (Aust 150). Failure to prosecute such an individual who is termed as a criminal will lead to a breach of the law. In the case, Chile was the perfect state to prosecute Pinochet because he committed crimes while in that country. The principle used in the case is rationae personae. This is because Pinochet was allowed to head the country to completion of his rule, and was only taken into custody upon retirement. Exercising this law correctly helps a lot to prevent abuse of power (Aust 160). Works cited Aust, Anthony. Handbook of International Law. Campbridge: Campbridge University Press , 2010. Read More