International law is a notion which became spread with the development of international relationships and globalization of them. Initially, international law consisted of the norms and rules which regulated relationships between different stated. This law is referred to when the interests of two countries are involved and the legal norms they have do not coincide. However, the recent tendency is that international law is involved into solving problems between a state and an individual. International organizations also refer to international law in case of the necessity to solve a problem. Initially, there are two types of international law, public international law and private international law.
Public international law is referred to when two or more nations have concerns. Private international law, or as it is sometimes called, conflict of laws, “lays down rules in cases between private persons involving a significant foreign element, which are designed to resolve conflicts over allocation of court jurisdiction, the choice of applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments” (Boczek 24). Difference between international law and (domestic) federal, state or local laws in the United States lays in power and spread of interests. US laws are distributed only on the territory of the USA, while the international law has the power all over the world.
International human rights law and international environmental law are spread all over the world. Dwelling upon the history of development of each of these two laws, the following information is to be considered. International human rights law was created as a reaction to the horrors of the World War II. The formation of the United Nations promoted the development of this law. Almost each state in the modern democratic world has the declaration of human rights and one of the obligations of the international human rights law is to follow that those declarations meet the basic principles of human freedoms (Rehman 153).
Therefore, the main purpose of this international law is to make sure that freedoms declared to humanity are followed. International environmental law is aimed at making sure that each country works for the benefit of mankind creating supportive environment for nature protection and renewal. The main aspects guided by the international environmental law are as follows, “management of the world’s oceans and fisheries, the polar ice caps, and the regulation of carbon and other particulate emissions into the atmosphere” (International environmental law par. 1). The law follows the main international treaties, such as 1972 UN Convention on the Human Environment, the Rio Declaration (was adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development), 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and 2002 World Earth Summit (International environmental law par. 2).
There are several sources of international law, customary law based on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and conventional law derived from different international agreements. International community is to be subjected to these laws. As it has already been mentioned, United Nations play a central role in the development of the international law. Even though there is no centralized government authority in the modern world, looking at the international relationships it is possible that economic ties between the countries have become too close. In case any country refuses from following the international law, the dissatisfaction of the world community may lead to pressure from different sides, which may create many difficulties. Thus, the international law is followed to assure peace and comfort in the world.
Works Cited
Boczek, Boleslaw Adam. International Law: A Dictionary. New York: Scarecrow Press, 2005. Print.
“International environmental law.” Cornell University Law School, 2012. Web.
Rehman, Javaid. International Human Rights Law: A Practical Approach. London: Longman, 2002. Print.