CHAPTER 11 INTERNATIONAL LAW AND NORMS What is international law International law is a body of rules that binds states and other agents in world politics in their relations with one another and is considered to have the status of law o Primary unifying concept is sovereignty o Law is defined as a set of both primary and secondary rules Primary negative and positive injunctions regulating behavior Secondary address rule making itself and specify the powers and processes o The body of rules is what separates law from norms How does international law get made o Two primary mechanism for making international law o Customary international law is international law that usually develops slowly over time as states recognize practices as appropriate and correct Diplomatic immunity freedom of the seas etc Custom or accepted practice Contemporarily is being codified in international agreements o International treaties Is it all the same o Law varies in obligation or the degree to which agents are legally bound by a rule High obligation rules must be performed in good faith and if breeched require reparations to injured party o Law differs in its precision How specific are the obligations states incur More precise laws narrow the scope for reasonable interpretation o Law varies in its degree of delegation to third parties The degree to which 3rd parties such as courts arbitrators or mediators are give authority to implement interpret and apply international legal rules o These 3 dimensions can be put into a single continuum of hard and soft law Does it matter o States typically comply with it and when they don t its because the law itself is imprecise or because they lack the capacity to fulfill its obligations o Two main problems exist Law is seldom precise enough to deal with every possible interaction between actors Law is the product of states interests and o Enforcement is dependent on the principle of national interaction self help o Some law also creates compliance constituencies within states that have interests in ensuring that their governments follow the rules What are international norms Norms are the standards of behavior defined in terms of rights obligations and as such are informal international institutions o May be codified in both hard and soft law o Norms as institutions can be can exist and be respected by members of a community o Example taboo on WMD Three broad categories of norms o Constitutive norms define who is legitimate or appropriate actor under what circumstances Sovereignty National self determination o Procedural norms define how decisions involving multiple actors should get made How are they created o Regulative norms govern the behavior of actors in their interactions with other actors No country has used WMD since WWII o Norms are often difficult to identify Most easily observed when they are violated o For an idea to become a norm the standard of behavior it specifies must be accepted as morally right and appropriate by a sufficiently large proportion of any given population o Some principles become norms because of their inherent goodness o Norms typically begin with individuals or groups who seek to advance a principled standard of behavior for states actors Norms entrepreneurs o They typically form TANs transnational advocacy networks which are a set of individuals and NGOs acting in pursuit of a normative objective Constituent actors may include NGOs Foundations and other philanthropic Local social movements organizations The media Churches trade unions civil organizations Promote norms to alter interests and change interactions at the individual and state levels Also change how actors conceive of their interests by promoting new moral values Norms life cycle is a 3 stage model of how norms diffuse within a population and achieve a taken for granted status Do they matter o Constrain states and other actors in 2 ways by redefining interests and by changing their interactions o In the boomerang model NGOs in one state are able to activate transnational linkages to bring pressure from other states on their own governments Beyond norms TANs and international cooperation o Legislators and voters can learn whether to support or oppose an agreement from TANs o They are often perceived as principled actors with strongly held normative beliefs o TANs can also monitor whether and how states comply with international law and other agreements as well as international actors Is the state obsolete dominant actors World politics has traditionally conceived states as the Traditionalists argue that states remain the dominant actors o International law is at best a soft constraint Globalists argue that international law and transnational networks are emerging as effective forms of global governance o Authority is being mitigated to supranational authorities Under globalization international law becomes increasingly necessary to cope with political problems o Yet it still remains state centric o Growth of law and TANs is changing the pattern of state interaction CHAPTER 12 HUMAN RIGHTS What are international human rights Human rights are rights that all individuals possess by virtue of being human regardless of their status as citizens of particular states or members of a group or organization o The universal declaration of human rights UDHR adopted by the UN in 48 defines a common standard of achievement for all peoples and forms the foundation of modern human rights law o International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR Details the basic rights of individuals and nations o International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights ICESCR Specifies basic economic social and cultural rights of individuals and nations o All of these are often referred to as the International Bill of Rights Why are they controversial o Domestic institutions have different interests than HR o States have interest in preserving their own sovereignty o Have origins in Western liberal philosophy Backlash from Eastern cultures o Have not been internalized in all states and cultures Are some rights more important than others o Nonderogable rights are rights that cannot be suspended for any reason including at times of public emergency Freedom from torture recognition as a person before the law and freedom of thought religion o Individuals imprisoned solely for their beliefs are called prisoners of conscience o Amnesty international makes it its mission to defend these rights o
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