1. International law is a weak law
• Submitted To:
Ms.Daljinder kaur
• Submitted by:
Asha Devi
• Roll
no:72212436
• LLB2nd
Semester

2. Meaning and Aim of International
law
• Every society, irrespective of its population, makes a legal framework (law) under which it functions
and develops. It is permissive in nature as it allows individuals to form legal relations with rights and
duties and restrictive in nature as it punishes the wrong-doers. These laws are referred to as
Municipal laws. The world today requires a framework through which interstate relations can be
developed. International Laws fill the gap for this.
• The term ‘International law’, also referred to as Laws of Nations was first coined by Jeramy Bentham
in 1780. Every country is referred to as ‘state’ in International Law.
• Meaning
• The modern international law system is a product of only the past four hundred years bearing witness
to the influence of various writers and jurists of sixteen to the eighteenth century, who formulated
some of its most fundamental principles.
• International laws are a set of rules, agreements and treaties that are binding between countries.
Countries come together to make binding rules that they believe will benefit the citizens. It is an
independent system of law existing outside the legal framework of a particular state.
• What is the aim of International law
• The existence of international law is the result of increased interstate engagement. It mainly aims to
maintain international peace and security among different states. It also helps in:
• promotion of friendly relations among the member states (members of the International community,
for example, United Nations),
• providing for basic humanitarian rights,
• to solve International problems through international cooperation,
• to refrain the state from using threat or force over the territory of any other state to provide for the
right to self-determination to people, and
• to use peaceful methods to settle international disputes are few of its functions.

3. Oppenheim's View
• According to him, laws are nothing but a body of
rules for human conduct within a community,
which can be enforced by an external power if
there’s a common consent of the community for
the same. Based on what he said, we can conclude
that, firstly, there must be a community, secondly, a
body of rule of conduct governing the community
must be there and thirdly, common consent among
the community for the rules to be enforced power
must be present. From this, we can conclude that
it’s not necessary that rules should be enacted by a
legislative authority within the community for them
to be legally binding.

4. Subjects of International law
• Individuals – Common people of any state are also
believed to be the subject of international law.
• International Organizations – It is an association of
states, established by a treaty between two or
more states. International Organizations too have a
legal personality and are considered to be the
subject of international law. For example, the
United Nations.
• Multinational Companies – They own and operate
their corporate entities in at least one other
country aside from the place where it was
incorporated, therefore it is established in more

5. Branches of International law
• Jus Gentium
• Referred to as ‘laws of nations’ in Latin, considered
to be those set of rules part of those portions of
law mutually governing a relationship between two
nations and do not form part of a legal code or a
statute.
• Jus Inter Gentes
• Referred to as ‘law between the peoples’,
considered to be those agreements and treaties,
mutually accepted by both countries.

6. Scope of International law
• The International Law has state subjects. When civilized
states came into existence then interrelation was natural. A
mutual understanding and natural interrelation became
necessary. They have framed their own rules, regulations,
and treaties for further transactions. The rules and
regulations are laid down categorically in these relations
because it facilitates the amicable working of the functions
between the states. The rules and regulations broadly
provide opportunities for different programs to be carried
out by different states. The customs followed by the
countries have culminated into laws. The same path of
evolution is taken by the International Criminal Law that has
been codified. The wide variety of subject matter has been
covered under International Criminal Law such as
extradition treaty, refugees, human rights, and sustainable
development.

7. Nature of International law
• An interesting definition of international law was
formulated in the 1970s by a Russian international
lawyer Prof. G. I.Tunkin:
• "contemporary international law is the aggregate of
norms which are created by agreement between
states of different social systems, reflect the
concordant wills of states and have a generally
democratic character, regulate relations between
them in the process of struggle and cooperation in
the direction of ensuring peace and peaceful
coexistence and freedom and independence of
peoples, and are secured when necessary by

9. Public International law
• Traditionally, the State has been the main subject of
public international law. Modern public
international law has definitely evolved out of the
idea of the (nation) state and its sovereignty. The
law regulating relations between states was once
known as the jus gentium or the law of nations.
Although public international law is primarily
concerned with relations between states, it also has
individuals and organizations as its subjects.

10. Private international law
• Private International Law or the conflict of laws is
the branch of legal service that is implemented
when two or more sets of legal structures clash
over a particular topic. It is a collection of
procedural rules which determine which legal
system and jurisdiction shall apply to a particular
dispute. During colonial rule, India consisted of
several states with distinct cultures and beliefs,
often due to which there was a dispute between
British law and personal laws in India, as various
laws applied to citizens belonging to different
beliefs.

11. Sources of International law
• Article 38 of the International Court of Justice:
• Treaties
• Custom
• General Principles of Law
• Judicial Decisions
• Writings of Jurists

12. International law is a weak law
• • A serious weakness of international law is its lack
of effective enforcement system
• • The other weakness is also the reluctant of states
to obey and comply with international law when
their vital interest is at stake.
• This is especially true of violation of the rule
prohibiting the use of force by some powerful
states. International law seems powerless to
prevent major incidents involving these states.
What makes the matter worse is the veto power of
the Big five by virtue of this veto power, no
enforcement can be taken against any of the big

13. Conti......
• Some other weaknesses of international law are as follows:
• There is no effective executive authority to enforce the rules of international law.
•
• The International Court of Justice lacks compulsory jurisdiction in the true sense of
the term. The court does not have jurisdiction to decide the disputes of all the States
since the court acts with the consent of the States only. Further, the court does not
have any real power to enforce its decisions.
•
• As compared to rules of State law, the rules of international law suffer from greater
uncertainty. Further, rules expressed in treaties, etc. are sometimes formulated in
such a way so as to give wide options to the State parties.
•
• Due to lack of effective sanctions, rules of international law are frequently violated.
Further, to compel the strong' States for the observance of the rules of international
law becomes difficult on a number of occasions.
•
• International law has, in many cases, failed to maintain order and peace in the world.

14. Conti....
• A great limitation of international law is that it cannot
intervene in the matters which are within the domestic
jurisdiction of States. Thus, international law is a weak law
in comparison to the municipal law. However, it must be
noted that, unlike municipal law, international law operates
in a purely decentralised system. All States consider
themselves independent and sovereign. International law
must be understood and appreciated in the peculiar system
in which it operates.
• It is as good and effective as it can be under the
circumstances and peculiar system under which it operates.
It is really creditable that rules of international law are
considered binding upon the States because either through
treaties or otherwise States have consented to surrender a
part of their sovereignties.

15. Conclusion
• The sources of international law cannot be isolated
into separate water-tight containers. They interact
closely and influence each other. A treaty, which is
a set of codified rules now is a product of long
evolution that might involve custom, discussion and
deliberations by the international organizations.