Use of International Law - Paper Example

Introduction

International law is a set of rules, principles and practices that guide interactions between countries, individuals, and international organizations (Onuma, 2017). The main difference between domestic and international law is that the latter has no defined enforcement instruments but is mostly directed by ethical best practices and customary principles. Importantly, domestic law should never come in the way of international law. As such, no country should use its domestic regulations as a basis to ignore its global legal obligations (Biglieri & Prati, 2014). This paper describes how the use of international law and international institutions can play a role in resolving international problems.

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Dimensions

The dimensions of international law have considerably expanded, stretching from the traditional concerns of diplomacy, peace, and war to trade, international organizations, space law, human rights, and economic issues (Onuma, 2017). International law also offers an outline and a set of processes for international cooperation between the community of states, as well as an agreed collection of notions for comprehending it. International law may be enforced by states, individuals or International Institutions taking unilateral action through multilateral measures where sufficient consensus exists (Bradley, 2015). International laws exist in order for states to ensure that their particular singular actions are not regarded negatively by the international community.

International InstitutionsIn the recent decades, individuals, countries, and international organizations have continued to develop novel approaches to international relations. The contributions by all sectors have been important and recognizable. International organizations exist in different sizes and structures and their powers, duties, and scopes of operation also vary considerably (Biglieri & Prati, 2014). Some of these organizations are globally recognized as actors in international law and are accountable for any breaches of obligations among nations. Other organizations are not legally recognized and act out of personal good will. Globalization has impelled nations to relax their sovereignty doctrines and join international organizations and sign regional treaties and agreements for the benefit of their countries.

Global institutions such as World Bank, which gives financial assistance to nations to boost them economically, have had significant roles in international relations (Bueno, 2014). Others include the IMF (International Monetary Fund), which assists nations to solve their balance-of-payments challenges and the WTO (World Trade Organization), which polices and controls international business (Biglieri & Prati, 2014). Regional institutions, including The European Union (EU), and the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the US, regulate environmental, labor standards, and trade issues among their member nations. Another global institution, the United Nations (UN), serves to control or settle international disputes and to calm arising situations that may compromise global peace (Onuma, 2017). They commit to do this using peaceful means and in full compliance with the principles of international law and justice.

The Powers of International Organizations

The structure and set-up of an international organization determines the range and magnitude of its expressly attributed, inherent, or implied powers. The organizational arrangement determines the institution’s strength by laying down the purpose’s and functions of the institution. The structure also clearly defines the extent of the organization’s reach and operation. Lastly, the set-up helps to set limits to the exercise of powers and functions by such organizations (Biglieri & Prati, 2014).

Development of International Law

The UN has been the main focal point of negotiating international law in the world recently. It has steered the creation of international protocols and has recently focused on developing laws for handling individual offenders. In Article 38 (1), the International Court of Justice’s statute mentions general principles of Law, customs, and treaties as the three anchors of international law (Bradley, 2015). The article also recognizes municipal and international legal judgements and scholarly literature as subsidiary means for the development of laws that can help in forming new principles and guidelines.

Another pillar of global good conduct is the International Law Commission, which was formed in 1947 to enhance the continued growth of international laws and their systematization (Parish, 2011).. It has 34 members who jointly represent all nations’ main legal structures, and work as experts in their own wisdoms and not on behalf of their home governments (Bueno, 2014). Another anchor of international law is the International Humanitarian Law, which includes the philosophies and guidelines that control the ways and procedures for war and humanitarian protection of civilians, wounded and sick soldiers, and prisoners of war (Parish).

Judicial Settlement of Disputes

Guidelines to international conflict resolution are contained in the UN charter. It requires all member nations to amicably solve all regional and international differences peacefully without compromising the international standards of justice, peace, and security (Biglieri & Prati, 2014). There is no single international legal system to comprehensively determine all disputes, but there exists an array of international courts to mediate problems, conflicts, and disputes. The UN uses the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, as the major organ for determining disputes. The ICJ was founded in 1946 (Bueno, 2014). The UN may involve the Security Council for extremely contentious cases upon consent by the members involved.

The ICJ has offered immense support in directing the protection of minority rights within countries and globally. Such disputes get presented to the court as countries seek impartial resolutions to their rows. The court has helped in ameliorating tension and preventing exacerbation of strain by peacefully resolving clashes regarding territorial sovereignty, maritime boundaries, and land frontiers among nations. However, cases concerning crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, aggression, and serious international crimes are presented to another court, The International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is a global individual criminal court which complements local courts when the weight of the matters is considerably huge (Bueno, 2014).

For countries in the EU, their single autonomous decision-making justice organ is the European Court (Biglieri & Prati, 2014). The unanimity ensures that only one resolution to disputes – and not varied individual positions - gets released. This enhances the nations’ independence and adherence to European law. The US uses the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to exert influence over its neighboring countries. The court also serves as an advocate for moral behavior in the region. It is not a court per se, but acts as an advisory body. It has helped the Latin American countries to handle the troublesome power transitions that they experienced for centuries (Bradley, 2015).

Individualization of International Law

This has been the most historic improvement and growth in global law with the formation of laws concentrating on individual offenders. It guides the identification, security, and holding of the accountable persons. One organization that handles such issues is the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) – a UN body, which has recently received a lot of global attention. The ICTY’s beginning was weak and they had little support because they only focused on low-level offenders. Located in The Hague, Netherlands. ICTY currently servers to pursue serious crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars. On 31 December 2017, the court transitioned into the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), which oversees sentences and considers appeals (Bradley, 2015).

There have been several trial ad hoc and UN-assisted tribunals that were created after World War II to address war crimes, crimes against harmony, and wrongdoings against humanity committed during the Second World War (Bradley, 2015). They have continued to deter impunity and enhance accountability for serious crimes. They have temporary existence and get dissolved once their cases are heard and determined, thus also called “hybrid courts”. Tribunal comprise both domestic and international law and staff. Their focus is the rebuild the rule of law and strengthen the legal institutions of the concerned countries. Examples of such hybrid courts include the War Crimes Chamber in the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (WCC) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) (Schermers & Blokker 2011).

International Law and Conflict Management

In 1928, 63 countries came together and signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which became the first giant step - beyond international treaties and agreements - on the development of laws of war (Parish, 2011). The pact restricted member nations from resorting to war to solve international misunderstandings. The nations renounced under oath the use of war as an instrument of policy. This change meant that a nation’s sovereignty will stop to be respected should there be major human rights violations within its territory. Owing to the Kellogg-Briand Pact, the international community has used force in cases such as the war in Syria to enforce human rights protection (Bueno, 2014).

With targets of terrorist activities increasingly becoming international, global laws are experiencing major inhibitions in combating terrorism. The difficulties lie in the absence of a uniform definition of ‘terrorism’ among all countries. Thus, global laws are confined to state-by-state views and tactics which makes it more challenging to have a common effort to combat the growth or transnational terrorist groups (Parish, 2011). With more agreements getting signed, infringement of nations’ sovereignty is becoming frequent and more action is being taken against terrorists.

Critiques of International Law

Like any person, law, or government, the international law has received tremendous criticism. Firstly, some African and Middle East nations feel that the law is fundamentally Western. Critics have also raised concerns of “bribery”, where developed western nations give incentives to developing countries to easily assent their wishes (Bradley, 2015).The positive derivation of this conflict, though, is that it lays open the fact that international law has serious financial and political backing. However, the continued conflict means that its local acceptance is no match for the acceptance of domestic laws.

Conclusion

International organizations play an important role in global affairs generally and specifically. The functions they perform in their various operating structures and fields are critical for the effective functioning of international systems. For example, global organizations provide platforms to ease transnational and international tensions, to understand common policy issues among nations, to enhance, police, and oversee nations’ compliance with set international protocols, and to resolve any arising disputes and misunderstandings (Parish, 2011).