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Public International Law

This is a guide to University of Baltimore Law Library's sources for research in Public International Law

Sources of International Law

From Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the sources of international law are:

• Custom
• Judicial decisions and teachings of qualified publicists

Research Strategy

Researching Public International Law is not that different from research in other areas, it is just the sources that are different.

 

Definitions

International Law
–Public International Law is a body of rules governing relations between nations
–Private international law concerns relations across different legal jurisdictions between persons or companies & corporations, and other legal entities.
 
Foreign Law
–The national, or domestic, law of any country other than the one within which you are working
 
Comparative Law
-The study of the similarities and/or differences between two or more countries or between two or more legal systems
 
 
Terms
-Customary international law refers to international obligations arising from established state practice = a general and consistent practice of states that states follow from a sense of legal obligation.
-General principles of international law are those principles of law, such as fairness and justice, which are applied universally in legal systems around the world. Used as a stopgap mechanism to address international issues not already subject either to treaty provisions or to binding customary rules.
-Travaux Préparatoires - official record of the negotiation of a treaty. Think of them as international legislative history.
-Treaties - International agreements between countries that have been formally concluded and ratified.