International Law Is International Law Real How willing

International Law

Is International Law Real? • How willing would nations be to surrender sovereignty to some higher authority such as a world government? • What type of government would enforce penalties throughout the entire world?

The United Nations • International agency that has facilitated solutions to problems throughout the world • Not a world government but has aided individual governments in reaching common goals

“Punishments” • Economic sanctions: any actions that minimize or prevent economic activity that would otherwise occur • Trade boycott: a form of protest whereby people abstain from buying or using services/goods of a particular country • Trade embargoes: laws or policies that countries initiate to prohibit or restrict the import or export of goods

Sources of International Law

Formal Agreements • Most common means of establishing rules • Might be called treaties, conventions, protocols, covenants, or acts • Treaties: – – Bilateral: between two nations Multilateral: 3 or more nations Codify: laws are organized & assembled Ratified: formally approved and authorized

International Peace and Security

• Diplomacy: – Peaceful negotiation between or among nations, safeguard • Mediation: – Appointed or neutral party facilitates an agreement between two or more parties • Arbitration: – Dispute is referred to a third party who makes a final decision

Treaties in Action chart paper activity: Antartica, the seas, the stars

Customary Practices • Countries may choose, in the absence of any formal written agreements, to engage in practices that they feel ethically bound to followenv • May also feel legally bound by their domestic laws

General Principle of Law • Third option • Based on the “general principle of law” based on “civilized nations” • Very difficult to achieve an international consensus on “civilized” or “general”

Concepts in International Law • Sovereignty: – Most important concept – The right, unhampered by outside influences to engage in relationships with foreign states • Extradition: – The legal surrender or delivery of a fugitive to the jurisdiction of another state to face trial

• Diplomatic Immunity: – Diplomatic corps: branch of government that provides foreign service and carries it out – An embassy and its grounds are treated as if they belong to the diplomats’ home country – Therefore the embassy staff (and sometimes family members) cannot be arrested – If a country is unhappy with their ambassador, they can declare them persona non grata, meaning a person that is no longer able to stay in their country

Seatwork • Case Study: U. S. v. Burns pg. 446 -447 • Case Study: Augusto Pinochet pg. 449450 • Questions: pg. 450 Q# 1, 3, 4 • Answering Key Questions pg. 451 -452

Issues in International Law

Environment Protection • Affected by political, economic and moral considerations • UN agencies: UN Environment Programme and UN Division for Sustainable development • Customary law: a state should never do environmental harm to another state • Precautionary Principle: damage to the environment can be irreversible so we shouldn’t wait for harmful proof, we should take action

International Trade • Exchange of goods between countries • Allows each country to specialize in goods and services • Consumers benefit from the diverse range of goods available • Protectionist policies: shield domestic products from international competition

The United Nations

Structure of the UN handout

Human Rights

UN Declaration of Human Rights • 1948 • Outlines the basic rights and freedoms that all human beings can claim: – – – The right to life, liberty and nationality Freedom of opinion, conscience, & religion Right to work Right to education Right to take part in the nation’s public business

• 1993 the UN created a new department called the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Role of the H. C. is to coordinate all the activities of the UN, to prevent violations of basic rights, investigate violations and work with gov’ts to assist in solving problems

NGO’s • Non-governmental Organizations • Non-profit organizations that work to foster political and economic co-operation • Played a critical role in improving protections for human rights • Strength: their ability to mobilize public opinion, spread info and pressure gov’ts to conform to international human rights standards • E. g. amnesty international

Rights of Refugees • Refugees: people who have escaped from their homeland due to persecution or justifiable fear of persecution based on their religion, race, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group • Genocide: the act of killing, or causing serious harm with the intent to destroy, national, ethnic, or religious groups • Political asylum: protection given by one country to refugees from another

• July 1951, Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees: defines who qualifies as refugees and outlines the kind of legal protection and rights that refugees are entitled to in their host country, details the obligations they have to their host • Geneva convention defines war crimes as various acts that are “not justified by military necessity and [are] carried out unlawfully and wantonly. ” • Crime against humanity: act of violence that is committed as part of a full scale or systematic attack on a civil population • By 2003, Canada was accepting 20 00030000 refugees annually

International Peace and Security

• Diplomacy – Peaceful negotiations between or among nations, created to safeguard and promote a nation’s interests • Mediation – An appointed neutral third party facilitates an agreement between two or more parties • Arbitration – Dispute is referred to a neutral third party who makes a final decision

NATO & NORAD

Resolving Conflicts

Rules of War • “war crimes” arose because actions that were viewed as necessary by one party in order to win a war may violate standards and principles that another society considers to be humane • The founder of international law, Hugo Grotius, wrote a book examining the laws of war

Geneva Conventions • Four international agreements that govern the humane treatment of civilians and soldiers during war • Complex but essentially a series of dos and don’ts to apply during conflict to protect vulnerable and defenceless individuals • Underlying principles are based on the idea that human dignity of individuals must be respected at all times

International Criminal Court • In the 70’s & 80’s, human rights groups lobbied for a permanent tribunal for the purpose of placing suspected war criminals on trial • 120 UN members adopted a treaty called the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, came to force in 2002, 60 states ratified it

• Has a mandate to place individuals on trial • Crimes against humanity include torture, rape, enslavement, and forced disappearance, as well as persecution on political, racial, national, and ethnic grounds • Located in Hague