Public International Law & International Criminal Law
177361
Kanya Hiruwattanapong
Faculty of Law,
Chiang Mai University
August-December 2015
Kanya Hirunwattanapong, Faculty of Law, 1/2015
States (almost 200 states)
Kanya Hirunwattanapong, Faculty of Law, 1/2015
What is Public International Law and International Criminal Law?
• Public International Law
In general, public international law governs the actions of states and how states interact
with each other and individual citizens. Public international law involves rules and
principles that deal with the conduct, rights and obligations of states and international
organisations, as well as dealing with relations among states.
(http://wcjp.unicri.it/deliverables/docs/Module_2_What_is_international_criminal_law.p
df)
• International Criminal Law (Use of Force and Humanitarian Law)
It is a subset of public international law. International criminal law concerns individuals. In
particular, international criminal law places responsibility on individual persons—not
states or organisations—and proscribes and punishes acts that are defined as crimes by
international law.
Kanya Hirunwattanapong, Faculty of Law, 1/2015
International Law & National Law
• Monism
International Law and National Law form a single legal whole. In other words,
international law is part of national law. International Law automatically becomes national
law when the government signed it, and the national court can apply international law.
Ex. Germany
• Dualism
International Law and National Law are different type of laws which cannot be mixed.
International Law deals between states, while national law deals with state and
individuals within the state. Thus, international law is not applicable in the state until
there is a national law giving effect to it. Ex. UK
Those are in theory. However, at present, esp. after the Alabama Case
Kanya Hirunwattanapong, Faculty of Law, 1/2015
Sources of International Law
Article 38, the Statute of International Court of Justice
1. The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are
submitted to it, shall apply:
a. international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized
by the contesting states;
b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;
c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;
d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly
qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.
2. This provision shall not prejudice the power of the Court to decide a case ex aequo et bono, if the
parties agree thereto.
-------------------------The Statute of the International Court of Justice is annexed to the Charter of the United Nations,
of which it forms an integral part. The main object of the Statute is to organize the composition
and the functioning of the Court.
Kanya Hirunwattanapong, Faculty of Law, 1/2015
International law corpus
What is the nature of international community?
States whether big or small are equal, and thus
international community is decentralised.
What is international law?
The laws that govern the relationship between states,
not their citizens.
A Subject of international law
States
International Organizations (IOs) or known as international
governmental organization. It is made up primarily of sovereign
states. Examples: the United Nations (UN), the Word Trade
Organization (WTO) and the European Union (EU).
Individuals ?
Where does international law come from, or
how is international law made?
The Statute of the International Court of Justice
Article 38
(1) ‘The Court, whose functions is to decide in accordance with
international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:
(a) international conventions [i.e. treaties], whether general or
particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contracting
states;
(b) international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted
as law;
(c) the general principles of law recognised by civilised nations;
(d) Judicial decisions, and the teachings of the most highly
Qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means
for the determination of rules of law.
2. This provision shall not prejudice the power of the Court to
Decide a case ex aequo et bono, if the parties agree thereto.
International conventions (Treaties)
• Treaty means an international agreement concluded
between states in written form and governed by
international law, whether embodied in a single
instrument or in two or more related instruments and
whatever its particular designation; … (article 2(1)(a)
VCLT)
• The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969
[VCLT] provides a detailed set of rules for states to
conclude treaties. Many of the rules are customary
international law which were codified in the VCLT.
Treaties can be called by different names
• convention, protocol, charter, covenant, pact,
act, statute, agreement, concordat,
• Treaty is by its nature an agreement or a contract upon which
the basis is pacta sunt servanda – the principle that agreements
are binding.
• A treaty has identifiable parties and has created rights and
obligations for them. A treaty binds only states which have
indicated a willingness to be bound
• A State expresses its consent to be bound by a treaty by
• the following acts, namely, signature, ratification, acceptance,
approval, and accession.