Primer on International Law

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CONTENTS

I. The Sources of International Law
-Customary International Law
-Treaties, General Principles, and Other Sources
-Judicial/Subsidiary Sources of International Law

II. The Relationship Between International and Domestic Law
-Domestic Law vs. International Law
-Customary Law
-Treaty Law

III. Executive Agreements
-In General
-What the President Can Do
-Purely Executive Powers vs. Shared Powers

IV. States
-Definition
-Recognition of States
-Recognition of Governments
-Self Determination
-Sovereignty Over Land, Sea and Air

V. Non-State Entities: Organizations, Corporations and Individuals
-International Organizations
-Individuals and Nationality
-Corporations

VI. Jurisdiction
-General Principles
—–Prescriptive Jurisdiction
—–Enforcement Jurisdiction
-Conflicts of Jurisdiction
-Extradition

VII. Immunity from Jurisdiction
-Sovereign Immunity
-The Act of State Doctrine
-Immunity of State Representatives

VIII. The Law of the Sea
-Introduction
-Territorial Rights
-Transit Passage, Straits and Archipelagos

IX. International Environmental Law

X. International Agreements
-The Law of Treaties
-Nonbinding International Documents
-Capacity to Enter Into Treaties
-Making a Treaty
-Observance of Agreements
-Interpretation of Agreements
-Amendments and Modifications
-Invalidity of Treaties

XI. Human Rights
-Basics
-Some U.S. Mechanisms Related to Human Rights
-State Involvement
-Substantive Bases of Responsibility
-Substantive Human Rights
-Fundamental Human Rights Violations
-Procedure
-What to Do When an American is Tortured by a Foreign Government
-Suspension of Human Rights
-Duplication of Claims

XII. Settling Disputes Peacefully
-The First Rule of the Use of Force Is Not to Use It
-Settling Disputes Peacefully
-Dispute Settlement through the U.N. and other international organizations
-International Arbitration
-Formal Adjudication: The International Court of Justice

XIII. The Use of Force
-Introduction
-Analysis for All Use-of-Force Issues
-Self Defense
-Uses of Force Permitted by Customary International Law, but not in UN Charter
-Intervention
—–Humanitarian Intervention
—–Intervention to Effect Changes
—–Intervention Against Terrorism
—–Intervention in Civil Wars
-Example: Nicaragua
-Necessity and Proportionality
-War Powers Resolution
-Collective Use of Force
-“Lawfare”