In addition to treaties, there are other less formal international agreements. The Geneva Protocol bans the use of biological weapons and toxic gasses in war and formed the basis for both the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions. The BWC prohibits the development, stockpiling, acquisition, retention, and production of biological agents and toxins "of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes," and weapons, equipment, and delivery vehicles "designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict.
UNSCR outlines obligations on all United Nations Member States to enforce effective measures against or acquisition of chemical, nuclear or biological weapons, their means of delivery or related materials by non-State actors. It also includes measures intended to prevent the proliferation of chemical, nuclear, or biological weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, and transfer of chemical weapons, including some biological toxins.
The IHR are an international agreement between States Parties and the World Health Organization to monitor, report on, and respond to any events that could pose a threat to international public health. The purpose of the IHR is to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are appropriate for and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.
International Health Regulations, Article 2. The IPPC is a treaty concerned with preventing the introduction and spread of pests to plants and plant products and currently has government consignees. The IPPC has developed phytosanitary guidelines and serves as a reporting center as well as an information source. Seven regional phytosanitary organizations have been established under the umbrella of IPPC.
The PSI is a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, and related materials to and from States and non-State actors of proliferation concern.
Launched on May 31, , U. DOS website. Since its launch by G-8 Leaders at the June Kananaskis G-8 Summit, the Global Partnership has worked to address nonproliferation, disarmament, counterterrorism, and nuclear safety issues through cooperative projects in such areas as destruction of chemical weapons; the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines; the security and disposition of fissile materials; and rechanneling employment of former weapons scientists to peaceful civilian endeavors.
Australia Group AG. The Australia Group AG is an informal forum of countries which, through the harmonization of export controls, aims to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons. Australia Group participants through their coordination on export controls assist the countries to fulfill their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention to the fullest extent possible.
Its domain encompasses a wide range of issues of international concern such as environment, migrant labour, drug trafficking, terrorism, disarmament, international crime, etc.
It regulates global commons such as space, environment, global communication and world trade, international waters, etc. The basic aim of international law is to promote social and economic development and maintain international peace and security. It can be divided into public international law and private international law. There being no definitive governing body to legislate and enforce international law, the United Nations is the most widely recognised international organisation and the International Court of Justice is its judicial counterpart.
This article will mainly focus on various aspects of violation of international law such as what constitutes a violation of international law, what are the consequences of such violation, and which bodies are empowered to administer these consequences.
Obligations must be respected, they lose their meaning without proper adherence to the rules thereof. International law, not being governed by a global police, is at times violated. Thus, it sets out clear consequences for such violations and these consequences are both collective and individual in nature.
International law not only set outs prohibitions to acts against basic human rights such as torture of the civilians in an armed conflict but also provides for legal ramifications if such acts take place. These ramifications can be broadly divided into state responsibility and individual responsibility. The states are the principal actors in the international legal system, international law deals with the legal responsibility of the states in their conduct with each other.
It is also concerned with the treatment of the individuals living in the state boundaries. Thus, only states are not the stakeholders to international law, recent interpretations of international human rights law, international trade law, and international humanitarian law have also included corporations and certain individuals.
All the international treaties which a state has signed are binding on that state, a state is also bound by the customary international rules and regulations.
When a state violates any of the treaties to which it is a signatory, or it breaks internationally recognised customs and rules it is said to have committed an internationally wrongful act which constitutes a violation of international law. In such situations, a state can be held responsible for violating international law and it has to face consequences. Such states are obliged to stop the illegal activities immediately and are also entrusted with the responsibility to make reparations to the injured.
In addition, the states violating international law must offer guarantees that such violations will not be repeated in the future.
The states are legally responsible both towards other states and individuals and it can be held responsible for all the actions of its officials. Individual criminal responsibility also allows persons who aid, assist, attempt, facilitate, abet, plan, or instigate the commission of a war crime to face accountability for their actions.
The military commanders who order their subordinates to violate international humanitarian law are held responsible by the law of armed conflicts. Corporate accountability implies holding companies responsible for their involvement in violations of international human rights, illegal activities, and international humanitarian law.
They are not just held responsible for their direct actions, but also for their complicity in violations of international humanitarian laws and human rights. The legal environment of the international law does not have an overreaching sovereign, thus its enforcement differs from that of the domestic law. The absence of a compulsory judicial system to settle a dispute or a coercive penal system to ensure compliance had left the international law compliance largely voluntary.
The nations entered into a treaty with a perceived notion of self-interest. But this was not enough to ensure their compliance with the international law at all times. In some cases, the norms upon which the laws are based are self-enforcing, in other cases, during a changing environment, when enough powerful states continually ignore a particular aspect of the international law, that aspect or norm changes according to the customary international law.
For example, by World War II unrestricted submarine warfare was so commonly being practised that the authorities ordering this activity were no longer charged with violation of international law. The states also oversee the compliance of international laws by the other states. When a state violates international law, it may be subject to diplomatic pressure, or economic sanctions. The states may also adopt unilateral sanctions against those who flout international law provisions. In some cases, domestic courts may render judgement against a foreign state for an injury.
This comes under the ambit of private international law, it is a complicated area of law as the international law intersects with domestic law. The compliance of such a judgement is not easy to enforce and depends upon the wishes of the subject of the respective judgement, i. There are certain international bodies that claim jurisdiction to deal with the matter when international law is violated. These are discussed below:. Such assistance includes the provision of advice, expertise, research, analysis, training or other assistance.
Skip to main content. Toggle navigation Welcome to the United Nations. This was created to protect and conserve the biological diversity and sustainable use of the natural resources of Lake Tanganyika.
Settling disputes between States. Addressing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Courts and Tribunals In addition to the International Court of Justice, a wide variety of international courts, i nternational tribunals , ad hoc tribunals and UN-assisted tribunals have varying degrees of relation to the United Nations such as the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda , the Special Court for Sierra Leone , the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Main UN bodies and international law. The Security Council and International Law Some of the action of the Security Council have international law implications, such as those related to peacekeeping missions, ad hoc tribunals, sanctions, and resolutions adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter. The General Assembly and International Law The UN Charter gives the General Assembly the power to initiate studies and make recommendations to promote the development and codification of international law.
International Law Commission The International Law Commission promotes the progressive development of international law and its codification. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas, establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources. UN Treaty Database The Status of Multilaterial Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General online database provides the most detailed information on the status of over major multilateral instruments deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and covers a range of subject matters, such as Human Rights, Disarmament, Commodities, Refugees, the Environment, and the Law of the Sea.
The Internal Justice System at the United Nations A new Internal Justice System for the United Nations was introduced in , with the goal of having a system that was independent, professionalized, expedient, transparent and decentralized, with a stronger emphasis on resolving disputes through informal means, before resorting to formal litigation.
Legal Resources and Training The historic archives at the Audiovisual Library of International Law provide a unique resource for the teaching, studying and researching significant legal instruments on international law.
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