Layman's International Law: Everything You Need to Know About the Law of Nations

By Samit D'Cunha

"Layman's International Law" is a one-of-a-kind guide designed to teach anyone the basics of public international law. Marked by a thorough and entertaining presentation of the complexities of international law, this book is ideal for people who have not previously studied law, people wishing to learn more about their rights under international law, or people entering the world of diplomacy without a legal background.

Complex legal concepts are made easy with references to history, philosophy, pop culture, politics, and the pure sciences. This book also features an interactive index which allows you to quickly look up the meaning of terms within their context. For the first time, anyone can see the big picture and synthesize a tremendous amount of information in a short amount of time. This book discusses the law of the seas, the law of war, human rights, statehood, and more, with a master timeline and charts to keep you focused and clear on the information. No matter who you are, "Layman's International Law" will leave you feeling ready to wield international law like a pro.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samit D'Cunha
• Release date: Feb 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310316937

Samit D'Cunha

Samit D’Cunha is from Montréal, Canada. He graduated from law school at American University in Washington, DC and is a member of the New York State Bar. He has an LL.M. from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and currently works at the International Committee of the Red Cross as a Field Delegate, having undertaken humanitarian missions in South America and Africa. His studies and work related to international law have also taken him to Bosnia, the Netherlands, Israel, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. Samit also studied at the United Nations University in San Jose, Costa Rica. When he isn’t writing or talking about international law, he likes to travel, ski, hike, and scuba dive.

Book preview

Part I: Bodies of Public International Law

Chapter 2 – Sources of International Law

Chapter 3 – The Law of the Seas

Chapter 4 – The Law of Armed Conflict

Chapter 5 – International Human Rights Law

Chapter 6 – International Law and Statehood

Part II: Dispute Resolution and Monitoring Mechanisms of International Law

Chapter 7 – The International Court of Justice

Chapter 8 – International and Hybrid Tribunals

Chapter 9 – The International Criminal Court

Chapter 10 – Regional Human Rights Mechanisms

Chapter 11 – UN Monitoring Mechanisms

Chapter 12 – The United Nations as a Legal Body

Chapter 13 – Putting it all Together: Legal Research

Postface

Chapter 14 – Concluding Thoughts

Appendix

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my very great appreciation to my father, Adolph D’Cunha, and my best friend, Danisbel Avello, for their valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning, development, and writing of this book. Their willingness to give their time so generously has made my dream of writing a reality.

Recurring Abbreviations

ACHPR: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

ECtHR: European Court of Human Rights

EEZ: Exclusive Economic Zone

IAC: International Armed Conflict

IACHR: Inter-American Commission of Human Rights

IACtHR: Inter-American Court of Human Rights

ICC: International Criminal Court

ICJ: International Court of Justice

ICRC: International Committee for the Red Cross

ICTR: International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

ICTY: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

IHL: International Humanitarian Law

IHRL: International Human Rights Law

ILC: International Law Commission

IMT: International Military Tribunal

IO: International Organization

ITLOS: International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization

NIAC: Non-international Armed Conflict

OAG: Organized Armed Group

OHCHR: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

PCA: Permanent Court of Arbitration

PCIJ: Permanent Court of International Justice

VCLT: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

UN: United Nations

UNCLOS: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas

Interactive Index

The following recurring terms are defined within this book. Whenever a term is defined is this book, it appears in bold. If you are unsure of the meaning of any term, return to this index and click the link to find the definition within the text.

A - E

Adopt, Bilateral, Charter, Common Article 2, Common Article 3, Constitutive theory of statehood, Convention, Declaration, Declaration of Understanding, Declaratory theory of statehood, Dolus Specialis, Effective Control Test, Enter into force, Exclusive economic zone

F-M

Innocent Passage, Ius ad Bellum, Ius in Bello, London Charter, Material breach, Memorandum of Understanding, Multilateral

N-Z

Overall Control Test, Protocol, Ratify, Reparations, Reservation, Rome statute, Sign, State responsibility, State secession, State succession, War nexus clause

Chapter 1: Introduction

Considering international law is among a small group of phenomena in the world that bring order to what would otherwise be a vulgar vichyssoise of state relations, it is shocking how little it is understood by the general public. Buying this book was an excellent step towards understanding and leveraging public international law.

This book is designed so that absolutely anyone can pick it up and learn the basics of international law, and how it all fits together, in fewer than 100 pages. I decided to write this book because of what I have come to see as an estrangement between international law and the social sciences that makes international law impractical for its average consumer to understand. While I was in law school in the United States, I was often frustrated by what I felt was a lack of focus on important political dynamics that helped shape the law. Similarly, while obtaining my Master’s in International Affairs, I was puzzled by how infrequently political scientists used international law to inform their understanding of state interactions. I intend to bridge the intellectual chasm between the social sciences and international law in this book to make international law learnable for anyone.

Understanding international law isn’t easy. The legal profession isn’t always designed for outsiders to understand. We have our own writing style, our own citation style, and our own method of forming arguments. That isn’t unusual for a profession: Does the average person know that C6H12O6 represents the chemical formula of a sugar in chemistry? Maybe not. The problem with international law, though, is that while a political scientist or a diplomat doesn’t need to know the chemical reaction involved in deploying a phosphorous bomb (P4 + 5 O2 → 2 P2O5), she does need to know about the conventions and legal obligations that determine the legality of such weapons in an armed conflict (the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, for example). This isn’t just the case for diplomats. Students, activists, advocates, voters, investors, and so many others interact with international law in their work and their understanding of the world.

By writing this book, I intend to take the necessary step of bridging the gaps between these two fields in a short, easy to read guide that will allow you to leverage international law in a way that your colleagues, friends, partners, teachers, and employers will appreciate. Though my end goal is that, by reading this book, you will be able to understand and grapple with the work of the most learned international law scholars, I also hope to keep you entertained, and to limit your frustration with what can often be a very dense field.

In an effort to make sure this guide doesn’t become unwieldy, I intend this book to be the first in a 2-volume series. In this volume, in addition to addressing the sources of international law and important legal research methods, I also build a foundation in about one half of the main bodies of international law: the law of the seas, humanitarian law, human rights law, and law related to statehood. The narrative of these bodies of law fit quite nicely together, making them easier to learn as an ensemble. I intend to write the 2nd volume in the near future addressing the other half.

Before discussing international law, I like to, as much as possible, connect the law with the issues and things I hope you know about… anything from history, to pure science, to pop culture. I want this book to resonate with you, and I want you to not only learn international law, but learn its quirks and trivia that actually make it fun. You can learn more about our method by visiting us at www.laymanslaws.com.

How to Use this Book

Ideally, I want you to read this book from start to finish. The order, depth, and style of this book were designed to allow anyone to grapple with the basics of international law quickly. The bodies of international law overlap tremendously, and drawing the connections between the fields is one of the best ways of remembering the material. However, I also wrote this book for people who need particular and immediate guidance in a certain field. If this is you, here is a quick guide on how I suggest you read this book:

First, consult the master timeline in the appendix of this book, then

- For the Law of the Seas: Chapters 2-3-7-12-13-14

- For Law Related to Armed Conflict: Chapters 2-4-7-8-9-12-13-14

- For International Human Rights Law: Chapters 2-5-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14

- For Law and Statehood: Chapters 2-6-7-12-13-14

No matter how you choose to read this book, I truly hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to send me comments and suggestions, they are more than welcome!

Cheers,

Samit D’Cunha

Juris Doctor (J.D.)/Master of Arts (M.A.) – American University, Washington, D.C., USA

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) – McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada

Chapter 2: Sources of International Law

The sources of international law are divided into ‘primary’ sources and ‘secondary’ sources. Primary sources are binding international law. Secondary sources are those sources which opine or provide clarification, but for which states are not bound per se. Primary sources include treaty law, customary law, general principles of international law, and peremptory norms. Secondary sources include preparatory work that led to the drafting of the treaty, decisions by international courts and tribunals, and the teaching of the highest legal scholars. These are sometimes referred to as evidence of international law since they aren’t law, but are extremely helpful in determining what the law is through interpretation.

A. Primary Sources

i. Treaty Law

A treaty is a legally binding agreement between states. Concluding agreements between independent political bodies is a practice that has existed since ancient times.[1] As a result, it may be easy to assume that international law today follows from the natural evolution of these ancient agreements. However, there are important developments that shaped modern international law that are essential to explore if you are to understand today’s legal order.

A good way of understanding the important developments of international law is to associate them with the conflicts that caused the development of the law. Unfortunately, an important trend in international law is that its moments of growth often follow devastating conflict. From 1568-1648, Europe was engulfed in two deadly conflicts, one of which being among the deadliest in European history.

The Eighty Years War, which was fought from 1568 to 1648, involved the Dutch bid for independence from Spain and led to the intervention of several other European Powers.[2]

The Thirty Years War, which raged from 1618-1648, was initially a war between Protestant and Catholic states within the highly decentralized Holy Roman Empire. However, as was the case during the Eighty Years War, several other European powers intervened on behalf of their own interests.[3]

In 1648, a series of agreements were concluded in Europe and signed in the German region known as Westphalia. These agreements ended both the Eighty Years’ War and the Thirty Years’ War. These agreements, called treaties, and together known as the Peace of Westphalia, established the notion of the sovereign and independent nation-state; from then on, states would adopt a policy of non-intervention regarding the domestic affairs of other nation-states. Westphalian sovereignty, the political order that continues to govern today, is based on the principal of reciprocity: If you do not interfere in my affairs, I won’t interfere in yours.

Modern treaty law mushroomed after Westphalia. States quickly realized that to maintain Westphalian sovereignty, they would need to make more concessions to each other in the form of treaties. Treaties can, and in fact do, deal with just

Reviews for Layman's International Law

[Kaze Syn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

clarity for the lay students and interested to find out more how all the whole works came about.

[Zainne Tesorero · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

you won't notice that you are reading a law book. such a great book, it is easy to understand