INTERNATIONAL LAW

International Law



International Law

Introduction

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has considerable importance, both political and scholarly. Many of the ICJ's judgments appear to have resolved real international disputes. And although in many other cases states have failed to comply with its judgments or to acknowledge its jurisdiction, the ICJ remains a potent symbol of the possibilities of an international legal system. For its defenders, the ICJ “plays the leading role in legitimating the [international legal] system by resolving its disputes in a principled manner” (Franck 1995, p. 346). Critics of the ICJ—mainly politicians and diplomats from states that have recently lost their cases—argue that the ICJ's rulings are politically motivated (see also Robinson 2003; for some expressions of skepticism by international lawyers, see Reisman 1995 and Chayes and Chayes 1995). 

The following are the most contentious issues that must take priority when dealing with the dispute between Plutonia and Venusia.

a) A United Nations General Assembly resolution, adopted by a majority of UN member-States

United Nations resolutions are formal expressions of the opinion or will of United Nations organs. They generally consist of two clearly defined sections: a preamble and an operative part. The preamble generally presents the considerations on the basis of which action is taken, an opinion expressed or a directive given. The operative part states the opinion of the organ or the action to be taken. (Robinson 2003 277-93)

The term "decision" is used to designate formal actions, other than resolutions, dealing with non-substantive or routine matters such as elections, appointments, the time and place of meetings and the taking note of reports. They are sometimes also used to record the adoption of a text representing the consensus of the members of a given organ.

The enforcement of international law is strictly the purview of the national states and each state claims sovereignty to the extent that it is its own source of authority and power. In this sense, international law has no overall application on a common basis where each state can be held responsible for the adherence to a unified set of mandatory rules that can be set and enforced by one supreme legislative body. On a juridical basis however, this primitive antithesis does not leave the world totally destitute of hope. It is now very apparent that with all its inadequacies, international law is at least an entity whose presence is felt.

Logically speaking, it would therefore seem that international law establishes ethical and moral dimensions that have proven to be accepted and followed by the United Nations member States. A further indication that principles of international law have been accepted may be found in those instances in which an injured state resorts to self-help in response to branches of international law. For example, when its airspace is encroached upon, the state may request a forced landing of the offending aircraft in its territory or guide the aircraft out of its territory. The absence of organized sanctions does not create a hiatus that cannot be bridged. The United Nations Charter from which Resolution 44/23 obtains its validity ...