• International economic law

• International security law

• International criminal law

• International environmental law

• Diplomatic law

• International humanitarian law or law of war

• International human rights law

Sources of International Law

Customary law and conventional law are primary sources of international law. Customary international law results when states follow certain practices generally and consistently out of a sense of legal obligation. Recently the customary law was codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Conventional international law derives from international agreements and may take any form that the contracting parties agree upon. Agreements may be made in respect to any matter except to the extent that the agreement conflicts with the rules of international law incorporating basic standards of international conduct or the obligations of a member state under the Charter of the United Nations. International agreements create law for the parties of the agreement. They may also lead to the creation of customary international law when they are intended for adherence generally and are in fact widely accepted. Customary law and law made by international agreement have equal authority as international law. Parties may assign higher priority to one of the sources by agreement. However, some rules of international law are recognized by international community as peremptory, permitting no derogation. Such rules can be changed or modified only by a subsequent peremptory norm of international law.

General principles common to systems of national law is a secondary source of international law. There are situations where neither conventional nor customary international law can be applicable. In this case a general principle may be invoked as a rule of international law because it is a general principle common to the major legal systems of the world and not inappropriate for international claims.

 http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/International_law

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the basic concepts of law in national legal systems?

2. What is International Law based upon?

3. What are the major fields of International Law?

4. What are the primary sources of International Law?

5. What is Customary International Law?

6. What does Conventional International Law include?

7. When does peremptory take place?

8. What are the secondary sources of International Law?

9. What are international claims?

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What Does an International Lawyer Do?

Written By: Charity Delich

Read the text paying attention to the italicized words and explain the types of international lawyers and their working responsibilities.

An international lawyer may work on a wide variety of issues that have international aspects to them. Most of these lawyers specialize in one specific area of law. For example, an international lawyer may handle corporate issues, such as negotiating a business deal for companies located in different countries. Alternatively, an international lawyer can focus on litigating cases involving citizens or businesses with locations in multiple countries. International lawyers may also specialize in working on inter-nation agreements or treaties.

Some of the common areas requiring the services of an international lawyer include international trade, international business, international tax, and international law. Typically, an international trade lawyer counsels clients on the rules associated with trading between countries. These lawyers can offer advice about customs requirements for countries that trade across borders. Additionally, international trade lawyers may assist clients with financing foreign transactions by preparing and negotiating documentary letters of credit or other legal trade documents. International trade lawyers may also interact with the World Trade Organization, an organization that was formed to formally regulate international trade. An international lawyer who specializes in business generally deals with corporate issues abroad. These types of lawyers often negotiate contracts that impact more than one country. For example, an international business lawyer may handle a contract that involves the merger of companies located in different countries. In addition, international business lawyers may advise on setting up and dissolving foreign companies as well as international rules and regulations applicable to global businesses.

Tax lawyers who work in the global arena typically advise individuals or entities with sources of income outside their domestic countries. Generally, they have a solid understanding of how the tax laws in multiple countries work and often counsel clients about the tax implications associated with cross-border transactions. In addition, they can help businesses and individuals structure deals in a manner that helps to reduce their worldwide effective tax rates. Other job functions for an international tax lawyer include maximizing foreign tax credits, excluding foreign tax income, and deferring income.

An international lawyer typically advises clients about issues relating to international law. They may appear before the World Court or international arbitration tribunals in order to litigate cases. International law lawyers can also advise their clients on issues relating to human rights. For example, a lawyer may counsel a government client about how an inter-nation human rights treaty that has been ratified by that government impacts the government’s torture policies. International law lawyers may also prosecute or defend clients in war crime cases.

Match two parts of the sentences in two columns:

1.	An international lawyer may work on	a)	clients on the rules associated with trading between countries.
2.	An international trade lawyer deals with	b)	advise their clients on issues relating to human rights.
3.	An international business lawyer relates to	c)	advising individuals or entities with sources of income outside their domestic countries.
4.	An international tax lawyer is responsible for	d)	a wide variety of issues that have international aspects to them.
5.	International law lawyers can also	e)	corporate issues abroad.

TEXT 4

The Growth of International Law

Read the text paying attention to the italicized words and say why the field of International Law has grown recently.

International law is not new. Nations have always made political and economic treaties with each other. In Medieval Europe, the Canon Law of the Catholic Church had an important role. Law Merchant regulated trade across political frontiers. In the fifteenth century, the Church mediated rivalry between Spain and Portugal by dividing the world into their respective areas of interest. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which called for equal treatment everywhere of Protestants and Catholics, can be seen as an early international human rights law. Nevertheless, most international law has been created in the twentieth century. The League of Nations was set up after World War I to regulate disputes between nations. However, it failed to stop the tension that led to World War II, partly because some powerful countries did not join (U.S.) and others left when they disagreed with its decisions (Germany, Japan). But it led to important international legislation like the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war and the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.

There are some important differences between international laws and those created inside individual states. Domestic laws are passed by legislative bodies, most of which have some popular political support. International laws, on the other hand, are created by agreements among governments. As a result, it is not as clear whether they have the support of individual citizens. Enforcement of international law is also different. Many international agreements are not binding — for example, UN General Resolutions. Even when nations agree to be bound, as in the case of the signatories of the 1966 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, it is unclear how obligations are to be enforced. At certain times particular nations have acted like a police force. Since the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S.-dominated international peacekeeping operation has perhaps come nearer to playing this role of world police force than anyone previously, haying more military power than former UN peacekeeping forces and being prepared to use it. But the operation’s temporary nature and self-interested motives mean it differs from a true police force.

The end of Cold War tension and the 1991 Gulf War seem to have produced a new consensus in the world about international war. One of the basic principles of the UN Charter was that one nation should not interfere in the internal affairs of another. But Resolution 688, passed by the UN Security Council on April 5, 1991, ordered Iraq to grant access to international humanitarian organizations so that assistance could be given to refugees, and authorized military action against Iraq if access were refused. The right to interfere seems to be replacing the principle of non­intervention, but there is great debate about just when such interference is acceptable. (This is more of a political issue than a legal one.)

In the Brogan case of 1985 a man held in Britain for four days before being brought before a court, obtained a ruling from the same court that the Prevention of Terrorism Act under which he had been held was in violation of the European Convention. However, Britain avoided changing this law by arguing that the Convention gives exemption where a country’s vital interests are at stake.

(taken from http://www.just-english.ru/diplo_and_law.htm)

True or False statements:

1. The role of early international treaties made in Europe was insignificant.

2. The XX century brought a great impact on the development of international law.

3. There are major differences in international laws and inside state laws.

4. The end of Cold War tension and the 1991 Gulf War resulted in a successful peacemaking operation.

5. The right to interfere seems to be unacceptable.

TEXT 5