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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Sources of international law
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A quick definition of Sources of international law:
Sources of international law refer to where countries, groups, people, and courts can find rules for how countries should behave with each other. There are four main sources of international law. The first is international agreements that countries have made with each other. The second is what countries do in practice, which shows what they believe the rules are. The third is general principles that most countries agree on. The fourth is what judges and experts say about the rules. These sources are used to decide what the rules are when countries have a disagreement.
A more thorough explanation:
Sources of international law refer to the places where countries, organizations, individuals, and courts can find principles of international law. These principles help to guide the behavior of countries and other actors in the international community.
According to Article 38 of the ICJ Treaty, there are four main sources of international law:
- International conventions, which are agreements between countries that establish rules that are recognized by those countries.
- International custom, which is evidence of a general practice that is accepted as law by countries.
- The general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.
- Judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, which are used as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.
For example, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is an international convention that establishes rules for the use of the world's oceans. This convention is recognized by many countries and is therefore a source of international law.
Another example is the principle of state sovereignty, which is a general principle of law recognized by many countries. This principle states that each country has the right to govern itself without interference from other countries.
These examples illustrate how international law is created and enforced through a variety of sources, including agreements between countries, customary practices, and general principles of law.