Growth of International Law

International Law is not new. Nations have always made political and economic treaties with each other. In Medieval Europe, the Canon Law of the Catholic Church had an important role. Law Merchant regulated trade across political frontiers. In the fifteenth century, the Church mediated rivalry between Spain and Portugal by dividing the world into their respective areas of interest. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which called for equal treatment everywhere of Protestants and Catholics, can be seen as an early international human rights law. Nevertheless, most international law has been created in the twentieth century.

The League of Nations was set up after World War I to regulate disputes between nations. However, it failed to stop the tension that led to World War II, partly because some powerful countries did not join (U.S.) and others left when they disagreed with its decisions (Germany, Japan). But it led to important international legislation like the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war and the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees,

There are some important differences between international laws and those created inside individual states. Domestic laws are passed by legislative bodies, most of which have some popular political support. International laws, on the other hand, are created by agreements among governments. As a result, it is not as clear whether they have the support of individual citizens. Enforcement of international law is also different. Many international agreements are not binding — for example, UN General Resolutions. Even when nations agree to be bound, as in the case of the signatories of the 1966 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, it is unclear how obligations are to be enforced. At certain times particular nations have acted like a police force.

Since the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S.-dominated international peacekeeping operation has perhaps come nearer to playing this role of world police force than anyone previously, having more military power than former UN peacekeeping forces and being prepared to use it. But the operation's temporary nature and self-interested motives mean it differs from a true police force.

The end of Cold War tension and the 1991 Gulf War seem to have produced a new consensus in the world about international war. One of the basic principles of the UN Charter was that one nation should not interfere in the internal affairs of another. But Resolution 688, passed by the UN Security Council on April 5, 1991, ordered Iraq to grant access to international humanitarian organizations so that assistance could be given to refugees, and authorized military action against Iraq if access were refused.

The right to interfere seems to be replacing the principle of non-intervention, but there is great debate about just when such interference is acceptable. (This is more of a political issues than a legal one.)

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