international law - -derives not from the actions of a legislative branch or other central authority, but from tradition and agreements signed by states -Three international relationships are governed by international law - --those between nations and nations -those between nations and persons -those between persons and persons -sources of international law (4) - -1) treaties- most important, have a binding effect because of a shared sense of commitment, because one country fears that if it does not respect its promises, other countries will not respect their promises 2) custom-established pattern of behavior that are generally accepted norms and have occurred over time, how states interact with one another 3) general principles of law- what are recognized laws common among in state legal system, is generally brought to the international arena (theft, piracy etc.) 4) legal scholarship- opinions of highly qualified legal figures

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what is international law? - -law that governs all nations & all ppl -______: "IL as understood among ______ may be defined as consisting in those rules of conduct which reason deduces as consonant... to justice from the nature of the society existing among independent nations" - -James Madison: civilized nations -IL is applying - -reason to questions of justice -IL simple rule- just as all people should... - -be free, equal, independent before the law, so should all states be free, equal, independent before the law -Etiamsi daremus - -even if we were to concede -Hugo Grotius - -(17th century) beginning of modern IL - wrote book about war & peace -"everything in book would be true even if we were to concede there is no God (b/c human beings have reason) [Show More]

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