Public International laws

Private International laws refers to the choice of law to apply where there are conflicts or disagreements in domestic law of different countries to private transactions. This dispute can be in reference to a dispute in the choice of law to apply, what jurisdiction applies, or the recognition of enforcement of a foreign judgment. Some areas of private international law involve trade, judicial assistance, matters involving families and children, finance and banking, arbitration and judgments, and wills trusts and estates. Another widely used term for private international laws is “Conflict of Laws.” What they basically are is a set of rules of strategically law which determine which legal system and the law of which jurisdiction applies to a given legal dispute. Both names are still used today, and even the name international private law, they refer to the same instance. Regardless of what you choose to call private international laws, there are steps into which they take effect.

The first step of private international law is for the court to decide whether or not it has jurisdiction over the conflict, and whether it is the proper venue. After this comes the characterization of the cause of action into a legal category which could include an incidental question. After these two decisions are made, it must be looked upon to determine which set of competing laws would be applied to the legal category. After the law that is applicable to the situation has been decided, the law must be proven before the forum court and applied in accordance to reach a judgment. Once all this is done, the party that has succeeded must enforce the judgment., after cross-border recognition of it. The organizations assigned to oversee and protect private international laws meet on a regular basis to discuss and address any issues.

In November of 2009, the Hague Conference on Private International Law held a Special Commission to go over the fulfillment of the 2007 Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. During this meeting, 12 forms were adopted that would be used by parties to the treaty for creating and addressing child support related requests and a country profile form that will describe how each country will perform its treaty obligations. Soon after that, the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law (L/PIL) of the U.S. Department of State, met twice in the month of December of 2009 under the backing of the Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law. The first meeting concentrated on the utilization of the UNCITRAL Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly By Sea. The second meeting primarily concentrated considering various proposals in the OAS in reference to consumer protection. This recent action in the field of private international laws shows that governing bodies and divisions are in constant pursue of improvement and there to address any current issues and regards.

Public International laws

Public International laws center mainly on the avocation of human rights and protection of the environment. However, they will also include other topics as well. Public international law deals with the structure and conduct of sovereign state, intergovernmental organizations, and analogous entities. In relation to the increase of armed conflict, environmental deterioration, global trade, awareness of human rights violations, a boom in global communications, and fast and large growth in international transportation, public international law has escalated greatly in importance. Aside from its focus on human rights, public international law has been known to focus as well on issues with due process protections, asylum law, nationality and citizenship, and rights of the child. Although its concentration is set on the environment and human rights, it can include these other areas.

Public international law can be divided into two central branches: international agreements and conventions, and the law of nations. The term public international law, itself, was first conceived by Jeremy Bentham, a prominent English philosopher. The four main sources of public international law are: customs, international treaties, teachings, and general principles of law and judicial decisions. The groundwork and foundation for identifying states as principal actors in the international legal system has been instituted by public international law. The main people involved in an issue dealing with public international law would be the head of a nation or organization, the sovereign power. In some cases it would be the Prime Minister, or President of a given country. Later on, most cases involved the department in charge of representing that sovereign power such as the Foreign Ministry, or State Department (U.S.), etc… Even though these departments of government will be the main or lead role in establishing the international law, the leader of that nation may still be needed to approve and endorse such a law. When considering a universal scale, the two most important congregations for creating public international law are the United Nations and the still young but effective European Union. Some branches of international law that public international law deals with would be international trade law, diplomatic law, consular law, and international environmental law. Dilemmas that deal with public international law have an inclination to be more tough to foresee, and more illusive and complicated to decipher, than cases that deal with private international law.

Having taken a look at public international law, its meaning, its reach, and its effect, we can gain a general idea of how it works and its importance to international law. It is in essence a categorization for a group of international laws that fall under it, pertaining to the sovereign power or department creating them, and who they entail to. In conclusion, it is safe to understand that public international law is the law of a political system of nation-states that bestows laws upon national systems it touches, which are not adequately governed.

International Trade laws

International trade law refers to the rules and customs for handling trade between two or more nations or between private companies across borders. It is a combination of national or domestic law and public international law that pertains to transactions for goods or services that cross national boundaries. In the last two decades, it has become one of the fastest emerging branches of international law.

An important document in regards to international trade laws came after World War II, with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The GATT came into effect in 1947 and came to be due to the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization .The GATT was in effect until 1994, until its replacement by a more modern and organized system. In 1995, the World Trade Organization was created, replacing the GATT, to regulate, supervise, and liberalize international trade. This was a crucial development in the history of international trade laws, and for international trade itself. The World Trade Organization supervises the trade between the nations involved, and sets a basis for negotiating and forming trade agreements. It also has a set dispute resolution process, to deal with issues primarily from prior trade negotiations. Prior to this, in 1966 the United Nations had created an organization designed to promote compliance and unification of international trade law. The General Assembly of the UN established the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). As of 2002, the membership of UNCITRAL reached 60 member states, 14 African states, 14 Asian states, 8 Eastern European states, 10 Latin American and Caribbean states, and 14 Western European states. UNCITRAL is organized into three levels, the commission, inter-governmental working groups, and the third is the International Trade Law Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, that provides assistance to the other two groups.

Today, one international trade law stands as one of the most successful international systematic laws. This is the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). This treaty has been ratified by 74 countries, it provides a compatible international sales law. The CISG was developed by UNCITRAL and put into effect in 1980. It is seen greatly successful, the most unified document in international sales law. Out of the 74 countries that signed, most account for a substantial amount of trade in the world. However, there are still a few major ones that stand out as not having ratified the CISG, they are the United Kingdom, India, South Africa, and Brazil. Taking this into account, it still remains the most successful document in international trade law history, and international sales law.

Over time, perhaps the absentee nations will join the rest, and also other documents will be written and signed. The preexisting ones will have laid the groundwork for the future ones to improve the way countries and companies trade their goods beyond borders through land, and across oceans. The constant organized, unimpeded flow of trade throughout economies of these countries will make for a smoother ride in the long run.

Kyoto Protocol

The environment is one of, if not the most important and essential item to life on our planet. Protecting it and its survival is elemental. For many decades people have disregarded certain things in the environment such as the misuse of aerosol spray cans, or how much fuel they burned up by driving around aimlessly, and even not recycling objects when the opportunity was there. These actions along with the actions of companies and other culprits have led to the decay of our ozone layer, the very thing that protects us all. This is why certain international environmental laws were put into effect to protect the layer that protects us.

Due to the disregard of certain international environmental laws, the planet has experienced a significant climate change. Because of this, governments have imposed large fines, penalties and sanctions for those who choose to violate these international environmental laws. With this, came the establishment of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change .It is a legally binding agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% . As per this agreement, 37 industrialized nations agree to commit themselves to reduce four greenhouse gases. These gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride. This international environmental law is designed specifically to protect our ozone layer and prevent any further damage such as holes, which would let dangerous UV rays enter our atmosphere. After the ratification of this protocol, many supporters were happy in seeing emissions go down. Carbon dioxide has long been credited as the reason the planet has been heating up due to the high emissions of it. However, even the supporters and petitioners of international environmental laws, were also against the Kyoto Protocol. They criticize that the protocol does not go far enough to reduce emissions, and that the cost of it has far outweighed its benefits. However they may disagree, these 2 groups can agree on one thing, the world has taken a positive step towards a solution by putting this into effect.

International environmental laws should exist in excess and more should be passed each year. Protecting the environment is essential to the survival of people in the world, and should not be taken for granted. The Kyoto Protocol looks at the biggest picture of all and that is emissions into our air by 37 nations that are seen as the most industrialized. This is not where the problem ends though, there are other things to take into consideration such as recycling and protecting our oceans. There is a need for stricter laws protecting our oceans and the sea life in them, and more substantial fines and punishment for those who violate and pollute them. There are many issues as important as this one, and worse. The stretch of where international environmental laws need to be implemented is very vast, but every day we are taking a step as a whole to improve. The Kyoto Protocol was a crucial plus to our environment, and we should hope to see more action in the future.

Breaking the Law

Breaking the law is bad enough when done by a person or group in general, but imagine the consequences when done on a much larger scale. International criminal law is a self-governing branch of law that applies to international crimes and the tribunals and courts created to bring justice where certain individuals have taken part in criminal activity on an international level. Some may wonder, “What constitutes breaking an international criminal law?” First, international criminal laws can be classified in two ways, by whether the “alleged crime” has been committed against an entire world community (international), or rather affecting the interests of more than one state (transnational). Some examples of an international crime would be genocide, war crimes, such that would threaten security and world order. Transnational crimes would be terrorism, drug trafficking, any type of trans border criminal activity. The biggest advocate in combating international crime has been the United Nations. They oversee and persecute those responsible for committing crimes of slavery, war crimes and crimes against humanity, terrorism, torture, apartheid, narcotic drugs, the taking of hostages, aircraft hijacking, and genocide. Some of these terms may seem broad in categorization, so let’s look into “war crimes” to gain a better understanding of what constitutes as one. As per the Geneva Conventions, war crimes are: “grave breaches” along with other serious violations of international humanitarian norms applicable in international and non-international armed conflict .

International criminal law imposes much more substantial penalties for those individuals or groups that work to act against it. In order to impose justice upon those who break these international criminal laws, a specialty court is necessary.

This is where the International Criminal Court (ICC) comes in. The ICC was born in 2002 after the Statute of the International Criminal Court , its founding treaty, came into force. The ICC is a permanent council that prosecutes individuals for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and crime of aggression that was committed on or after the date it was created. Although the official seat of the ICC is in the Netherlands, its proceedings can take place anywhere. Some examples of notorious cases that have been or are being investigated by the ICC in regards to breaking international criminal law are the situations in Uganda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and the Central African Republic. In these cases, warrants were filed for arrests of those investigated. Some arrests have been made, other fugitives remain at large, while the rest have died or are believed to have died. While not every case has been open, these are very positive steps that were taken to force out those who’ve broken international criminal laws and hold them responsible for their actions. The system has come a long way in which to deal with these individuals and groups to better the world’s society. By enforcing international criminal law, it is less likely crimes will be committed against states and communities in the world, therefore making the world a better place to live.

Human Rights Law

International human rights law organizes human rights in various international treaties. It pertains to the body of international laws which was specifically created to protect human rights an the international level. These international human rights laws can be administered at a regional, international, or domestic level. The United Nations General Assembly, in 1948, put into effect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This document became the standard for international human rights laws, and has protected them since then. In addition to the UDHR, international treaties and agreements since it was endorsed have helped to further develop the body of international human rights law. This document along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that were later passed, come together to form what has come to be known as the “International Bill of Human Rights.” Some other significant international treaties that were adopted universally are Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. These treaties, along with the covenants, and their content must be enforced at all times to maintain order under international human rights law, therefore they need to be observed by another party. The enforcement of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights itself is overseen by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The states that adopt these treaties are generally agreeing to not only make sure these treaties are enforced, but also to prevent from impeding with the exercise and enjoyment of the rights, but also to improve the enjoyment of them, and also to replace the enjoyment if it has been taken away. In addition, the States must protect groups and individuals against abuses of human rights. International human rights law bestows all these obligations upon a State that it must respect, abide by, and protect.

Along with treaties, there are also “human rights instruments” that were adopted, also to better the enjoyment of human rights. Some of these instruments that further enhance international human rights law throughout are Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ,United Nations Convention Against Torture, Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, and the most recent, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Although there is at the time no international court to execute international human rights laws, they are cautiously monitored and protected everyday. Committees and individuals look into the improvement of laws for their States and for their own citizens, in order to better protect them from having their human rights interfered with. In basic essence, international human rights law exists to better the quality of life of individuals within a State and within other States, and allowing them to enjoy and express them freely.

Business Law

Learning about international business law is not just something for an attorney. When people hear the term used, they believe it’s something that strictly pertains to a lawyer or a court. But if we think of law in general, and take away the part of “breaking” it, then there is no need for the court. International business law is simply the set of regulations and policies that are followed when involved in foreign transactions. These transactions can relate to import/export, or even trade. Therefore, if you’re not an attorney, chances are you may find a career in International Business Law, something right for you. Some professionals that may be interested in this career include financial managers, economists, international business professionals, business administrators, managers of international corporations, and of course the obvious, attorneys.

The key to this career choice, or perhaps to continuing your education into this field, is to attain an understanding of foreign policy and the issues that could arise in international business transactions. International business law is a broad field, because once you gain a full understanding of the concept itself, then comes the part of focusing on your specific region. For example, if you’re working for an international business based in the U.S. and you’re dealing with business transactions with an affiliate in Tokyo, then you must learn all the international business laws that affect U.S. business and trade with Japan. Some companies may deal with more than one nation, so the information you can learn is practically endless. As overwhelming as it may seem, international business law can be very rewarding. The insight and knowledge that you obtain from learning it and dealing with it everyday, is something you don’t necessarily encounter in other every day positions. If you are in or seeking a position where you are dealing with foreign transactions and would like to be able to handle your company and yourself accordingly, then going for an international business law degree would be the way to go. However, not all people are presented the choice through this specific opportunity.

A student in law school can look at all the choices they have to branch off into, such as criminal law, business law etc… but then there is also the chance of going international, which turns into another thought process. The key to getting into the field of international business law is having the curiosity to seek more out of your law career. First and foremost you have to have the interest in business law to begin with, and then go from there. The question you must ask yourself is if you are willing to take the extra step and expand your mind to the world of international business law. Exposing yourself to dealing with something internationally is always opening a new door to possibilities. International business law are followed, broken, addressed, and imposed every single day. The people needed to educate company members of them, defend the ones who’ve broken them, and simply make people aware of them are needed likewise to maintain harmony throughout. If you’re seeking to broaden your career into a bigger field of law, and perhaps aim for a better salary while gaining knowledge, international business law may be the right choice for you.

International law

International law is a set of laws and regulations that are set for nations to be able to broadcast order to their citizens and citizens of other nations. In turn, the international laws will apply to helping nations themselves communicate their efforts with other nations as a whole. Some international laws differ drastically from other nations’ laws, therefore must be taken seriously by outside visitors to a nation prior to entering. For example, there are laws in certain nations of the Middle East and Europe that prevent citizens from performing certain activities in public, that are quite normal in the United States. The lack of knowledge in international laws can result in someone ending up in jail for acting on something they believed to be perfectly normal. However, let’s look at the bigger picture here, the way to maintain peace throughout with a general agreement on international laws. It seems almost impossible to have a group of nations accept certain international laws and abide by them as w hole without disapproval, or protest. This is why the United Nations was created. The United Nations (UN) was created in a 1945 post war era, to bring together the world as a whole and bring peace. By joining nations together and establishing a basis of international law, countries would interact with each other easier, and more peacefully. Together, nations would be able to address international problems together and solve them in an improved manner. The UN helps to bring the views and beliefs of nations into one mutual understanding, when each international law is created, passed, and enforced. An agreement made by nations under international law is known as a treaty. Treaties are brought forth by nations coming together to create a pact, or contract, setting a specific regulation or rule to govern or control the conduct of nations within that set agreement. If the rules are broken, or the agreement itself is broken, the nation can be held responsible under international law to face the circumstances following. In order to keep the system working properly and organized, a set standard was created for all treaties. The Vienna Convention On the Law of Treaties , after 20 years in the making, was put into effect in 1980 to do just that.

International laws primarily pertained to nations or states when first created and enforced, although that has evolved with time. These laws no longer affect the nations as they customarily once did., but also individuals. Progressively, there have been more and more cases in which individuals and certain international organizations have been addressed as the subject of international law. Aside from the basic concepts that are included in national law, such as property and status, international law also includes substantive law, process, remedies, and procedure. The most considerable fields of international law are diplomatic law, international human rights law, international environmental law, international humanitarian law, international security law, international economic law, and international criminal law. Each one of these fields has its own set of regulations within them so they specifically address the “branch” of international law they are applied to.