International law is the basis for the creation of most regulatory legal acts in states acting on the world stage. It consists of international law, which are combined into one large system. How are these norms created? How are they classified and what are their features? About all this - further.
General concept
The concept of international law is widely used in the global political arena. This concept implies a certain rule of activity and the order of relations between states, which is general and obligatory for all. It also implies relationships that may arise between other entities that are present in the political world arena and participate in international relations.
The generally recognized norms of international law are special because they are designed for repeated application and use. As for the methods of their application, they can be carried out both voluntarily and under duress.
Key Features
Like everyone else, international law has some features that are unique to them. First of all, the list of those includes the fact that they differ significantly from those norms that are available in the legislation of a particular state.
The main feature that distinguishes between themselves the norms of international and Russian law is that the first of them regulate the legal relations that arise between states in the political arena, and the second only those that happen only within the Russian Federation. What else is worth noting?
Another feature of international legal norms is that they are all created through the so-called method of harmonizing wills, that is, only after all the positions taken by representatives of states parties to international relations are agreed. As practice shows, very often the adoption of such decisions is closely connected with the implementation of concessions, the search for compromises, as well as other points of contact of various parties.
The main form of consolidation of international law is not laws, which in jurisprudence are often referred to as power regulations. They are presented in the form of peculiar sources, which have a conciliatory character and are recommended for the application of the norms contained in them.
All the norms that are created within the framework of the international arena are made by the states themselves that appear in it. As for their targeting, they are also aimed at these states. The norms of international law can be created both by individual countries individually and collectively. The nature of their implementation is always voluntary.
Another feature of such norms is the uniqueness of their structure. So, if the legislative prescriptions, which are available, for example, in Russian regulatory legal acts, are characterized by a structure consisting of a hypothesis, a disposition and sanctions, then in the case of international ones, everything is different.
Formation
The system of international law is formed solely by those entities that appear in the political arena, that is, countries participating in the international community. The subjects of the formation of norms are always the only ones, regardless of what type of order is created (custom or agreement between states). Their creation occurs solely on the principles of consistency and voluntariness.
The process of creating any type of international norm always goes through two mandatory stages. The first of these is the definition of certain rules of behavior that will be regulated by the accepted norm. At this stage, the parties must reach agreement on this issue, which is often accompanied by the search for compromises, as well as the achievement of agreements. After determining the nature of the behavior, the parties must express their will on how binding these rules of conduct are specifically for them. The final stage of this stage is always a procedure for signing any regulatory act (agreement, contract). Subjects who have adopted such a model of behavior can also act as usual, that is, uniformly.
Sources of international law
A complete list of the main sources is proposed in the contents of the Charter of the International Court of Justice The sources themselves mean exclusively external forms in which the law is expressed. In practice, all sources of norms are divided into two types: main and auxiliary, however, at the legislative level, no hierarchy exists between them.
The main ones include contracts, customs, as well as general principles of law. In addition, among them are also considered acts that have been adopted by international organizations - a striking example of such are UN resolutions.
As for auxiliary sources of generally recognized norms of international law, among them the most significant are legal doctrines and court decisions. These types of documents relate specifically to the group of subsidiary ones only because they are applied only when resolving certain issues or when interpreting gaps that have arisen in the legislation of a particular country.
Principles
The norms of international law and the provisions of agreements must comply with the principles defined by international law, that is, some previously agreed upon principles on which all relations are based. It is forbidden to violate these principles, otherwise for the commission of actions that do not correspond to them, the guilty party can be punished by imposing proportional sanctions against it in various fields (military, economic or political).
So, among the principles that are characteristic of the norms of international humanitarian law, there are several basic ones. Among them - the inadmissibility of the use of any force in relation to another country, as well as the threat of its use. All disputes that may arise between participants in the international arena must be resolved peacefully, without the use of weapons. In accordance with the generally accepted principles of international norms, any external interference in the internal politics of states is prohibited, and all external actions should be carried out in the form of cooperation, negotiation and the conclusion of certain agreements. Based on the principles set forth, all states are equally sovereign, and the peoples who live in their territories have the full right to self-determination and equality.
All of the above principles are fundamental and unbreakable.
Content
The generally recognized norms of international law and international treaties have a certain content, which represent some obligations. However, despite this definition, far from all of them are binding on all countries participating in the agreement, in some of them the parties are simply interested and execute, proceeding from considerations of their own benefit, from considerations of good faith and leaders of states.
If we talk about the concept of international legal obligation, then it represents a certain relationship between the participants in the world community, which is regulated by a specific legal norm in international law. Within the framework of this relationship, one of the parties is obliged to refrain from performing a certain action or, conversely, to perform it, and the second has the right to demand the fulfillment of such an obligation.
By their types, international obligations can be both complex and simple. The first group includes those that represent a whole set of certain duties and rights. If we talk about simple ones, then they consist of one duty and one right of claim from the other side.
Also, obligations are divided according to another feature - the number of participants in the relationship. In accordance with this criterion, they can be either bilateral, that is, linking only two sides of legal relations, or multilateral, when more than two states enter into relations. However, in practice it is often possible to observe how multilateral legal relations in the course of their implementation are divided into bilateral.
All international legal obligations can be created for both single and multiple application - their type is determined at the time of conclusion of the agreement and the creation of a norm of international law and international treaty. As practice shows, agreements that are concluded for a single application basically imply the fact of transferring any property from one state to another, an example of which is an agreement on the exchange of prisoners between countries. After the agreement is reached and executed in proper form, it is considered terminated.
Classification
All norms of international law are divided among themselves according to certain principles. So, lawyers share them depending on the subject that they regulate, form, as well as scope. In addition, it is customary to distinguish international norms by legal force - this is a separate classification that deserves special attention.
Consider each of the groups in more detail.
In shape
Depending on the form of consolidation, international standards are divided into ordinary and contractual. Generally speaking, the first group differs from the second in that all the rules that apply to it are not fixed at the contract level, and their implementation is simply beneficial to all parties to the agreement.
All contractual norms are contained in agreements, treaties, as well as other documents that are concluded between states by searching for common ground, as well as a common opinion on a particular issue.
An international treaty recognizes a document that is concluded between countries participating in actions in the political arena. Its content enshrines certain rights and obligations of the participating parties. A feature of this form of agreement is that it is set out in writing. In the process of creating a draft of such a document, which will consolidate certain rules of law in its content, negotiations are underway, as well as a compromise search process.
All customs are a kind of practice of the countries participating in actions in the international political arena regarding the settlement of a specific issue that has been developed over the years. Later, all ordinary norms are reflected in normative treaties of an international character.
Subject of regulation
The main feature of this group is that the application of international law is carried out depending on the relations in which sphere they regulate. Depending on the scope, the norms of this type are divided into four groups: the rules of law governing the process of concluding and implementing international treaties, the norms of space law, international air, and also depending on the specific sub-sector (criminal, administrative, civil, economic, etc.) P.).
On some related issues, the norms of one branch of law can be applied in another. Very often this can be observed when the provisions prescribed by the rules of the civil industry are applied in resolving family disputes, and vice versa.
By scope
Depending on the territory in which this or that rule of law applies, it can be assigned to one of the groups: universal or local. How do they differ?
In accordance with generally recognized principles, international law and regulations can be used by states on a voluntary basis. In practice, it often happens that some of them are relevant exclusively for a particular region or for several participants in international relations. Such norms in legal practice are classified as local. If we talk about universal, then their application is relevant for the predominant number of participants in the international political arena.
Legal force
Depending on how the implementation of the prescribed rules by the parties to the agreement occurs, they can be divided into mandatory and dispositive. What is their difference?
Among the peremptory norms are all those whose execution is mandatory. Each rule having an imperative method of regulation implies a certain punishment (sanction) provided that it is not implemented. This punishment, as a rule, is addressed in the direction of the first persons of the state, as well as those who caused a violation of the generally accepted norm.
As for the dispositive norms, they imply their voluntary execution, observance, or, conversely, abstention from certain actions.
Private Law
When considering this issue, special attention should also be paid to such a concept as the rules of private international law, which is also often found in the political arena.
This concept implies a certain range of norms that are widely applied in a particular state as provisions prescribed by its legislation, customs and treaties in aggregate. The sources of such rules are all agreements that are concluded at the interstate level, the principles of international law, as well as judicial practice and decisions adopted by international arbitration. We cover all of this, in practice, codes and normative acts of the national legislation of a particular state are among the sources of private international law.
The normative composition of private international law should include norms of two different nature: substantive, which are designed to regulate relations with foreign elements, and conflict of laws, which are not intended to deal with a specific legal relationship, but to refer to the legislation, according to which a specific situation is being decided.
As for the methods by which the regulation of issues assigned to the group of private international law is carried out, among them are distinguished conflict and substantive. The first of them refers to a specific conflict of law norm in the system of international law, and the second to substantive norms that are applied within the framework of national legislation.