Study Guide for Exam 1 The beginning of international law and the concept of sovereignty o International law governs relationships between nations International law gives rights only to nations not an individual These rights are given through treaties written contracts between nations Protocols are amendments to treaties changing or adding too o Public International Law covers Diplomacy diplomatic immunity The sea open sea Sales of goods china does not buy beef from US because of the potential to get mad cow disease Transportation planes and ships have special rights Human rights have two sources of international law Treaty law between nations Customary international law customs that become law o The beginning of international law The 30 years war a war between Catholic Kings and Protestant Kings where people were brutally murdered which created the treaty of Westphalia Treaty of Westphalia by law this created the concept of sovereignty and the Netherlands was the birth of international law as countries agreed to be bound o Sovereignty Political independence every country is allowed their own political system Territorial Integrity the right to not be invaded Treat your citizens as you wish A HUG FAILURE Holocaust defendants claimed they were torturing and killing their own citizens therefore was not illegal How treaties are made and how countries can modify their treaty obligations o The making of a treaty o How countries can modify them Step 1 Propose Any nation can propose a treaty Step 2 Negotiate any nation can weigh in on the decisions made Step 3 Adopt minimal obligation is necessary if a treaty is only adopted A national leader signs the treaty but is not required to enforce it Step 4 Ratify this is done by national legislative groups They decide on how to enforce the treaty and a 2 3rd vote must be awarded Step 5 Implement the US is the only who requires this step Congress must vote and create a national law that reflects the treaty Treaties are consensual and enter into force after a prescribed number of countries have ratified them Typically 60 190 Those who ratify a treaty become a state party to that treaty and can enter reservations and understanding for that treaty Reservation Disagree with parts of a treaty but agree with other parts I reserve the right to disagree with this part Understanding we understand this to mean for example in the US the right to life begins at birth not conception Treaties must also be observed in good faith or Pacta Sunt Servanda one cannot enter into a treaty then change the entire treaty Treaties are equivalent to federal laws so if a law changes that affects a treaty the law is what governs and vise versa Example 1870 Cherokee Tobacco Case o U S last in time rule o A treaty was created stating that the US would not tax the Cherokee Tobacco products There sales became a monopoly so the US created a law stating they could now tax the tobacco products This was the beginning of the last in time rule How customary international law evolves how it is defined and examples of it o o Customary international law are practices that evolve ripen over time into laws around the world they typically undertake these practices as a sense of legal obligation These laws bind all countries except those which persistently object always allowed a certain act Cannot be accidental or an every once in a while situation Genocide slavery racial discrimination torture Requirements for demonstrating that Customary International Law is binding upon a country Defendant state has recognized the rule in its own practice The rule has been accepted by almost all other states and defendant state has never expressed and consistently rejected it o Armenia had a large Christian culture in Turkey and Turkey slaughtered 1 5 Examples of the failures of international law to protect the rights of individuals that ultimately led to the UN Conference at San Francisco Armenian Genocide million Armenians because they were favorable to the same religion that Russia taught treat your people as you wish Nanking was a city in China and Japan invaded Nanking in a political take over Rape of Nanking and beheaded men and raped and killed 300 000 women and children right to not be invaded Liberation of Buchenwald Buchenwald was a Jewish concentration camp the US liberated and found thousand of thousands Jews starved tested on tortured and stacked as fire wood treat your people as you wish o o The compromises that went into the UN Charter The big 3 USA USSR UK and China would make up the UN Charter o o Each would have veto power emphasis on states rather than individuals with no mention of human rights Weak general assembly once a year Skeletons in the big 3 closets which stopped human rights mention USA did not want to see any language of the history of racism or genocide USSR Stalin Gulas may have killed twice as many people as Hitler So no mention of civil or political rights Freedom of speech religion press UK had centuries of colonial exploitation No right of independence China was okay to with Human rights o A revolt occurred where India Canada and Brazil insisted on a new version of the UN charter and the UN conference was created in San Francisco o UN conference Nongovernmental organizations were invited They spoke for women and minorities European countries refused to support the big 3 o The Compromise the UN Charter The UN Charter began but the security council still had a major grip on power There was no enforcement for human rights and independence was given only to colonies of Germany Italy and Japan the ones who lost in war The achievements of the UN Charter o Mentioned human rights but did not define them and spoke for the first time of individual rights Human rights safeguards still lacking after the UN Charter o Article 2 7 the Non intervention Clause Nothing in the UN charter will authorize the UN to intervene in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state The two general types of rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights o o Civil and Political rights Economic and social rights The significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the modern human rights movement Became a standard for human rights and a checklist to keep track of countries violations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights o o Gives the rights to individuals for freedom of speech religion the press etc The current structure of the
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