1 The beginning of international law and the concept of sovereignty International law governs relationships between nations It gives rights to the nations but NOT to individuals Only countries nations have rights Didn t happen until 1948 with the universal declaration Treaty of Westphalia Birth of international law Countries agree to be bound by law at the end of the 30 Year War in 1648 Sovereignty series of rights every country that is sovereign has 1 Political independence every country can pick political system Such as Britain having Parliament Political autonomy 2 Territorial Integrity the right not to be invaded 3 Treat your citizens however you want It s not our business what goes on This was a failure Leads to massive human rights violations 2 How treaties are made and how countries can modify their treaty obligations Treaties are written contracts between states o Treaties are the equivalent of federal law Bilateral treaty between two states Multilateral treaty involves many different countries MOST COMMON Protocols Amendments to treaties adds to U S Last in the Rule if congress passes a new law that contradicts a treaty the law dictates because last in time governs Pacta sunt servanda treaties must be observed in good faith 1870 Cherokee Tobacco Case NA reservations are sovereign countries technically not in the U S The U S promised Cherokees they wouldn t tax tobacco products Cherokees took U S to Supreme Court when U S started taxing them but the law that the Supreme Court governed was last in time How treaties are made 1 Proposed anyone in UN can propose a treaty 2 Negotiated can take up to 20 years 3 Adopted minimal obligation adopting doesn t create enforcement National leader president queen king prime minister will sign the treaty 4 Ratified by national legislative bodies MOST SIGNIFICANT STEP U S senate must approve by 2 3 vote 5 Implementing legislation if necessary in us they must be signed and ratified but also implemented Congress has to create a national law that mirrors that treaty Both houses have to sign The treaty process is consensual Treaties enter into force after a prescribed number of countries have ratified them Countries that ratify a treaty become a state party How countries can modify their treaty obligations States can ratify a treaty with reservations which is very common because they don t want to be bound by certain aspects and understandings how they define points of the treaty 3 How customary international law evolves how it is defined and examples of it Customary international law Customs practices that ripen evolve into law based on actual state practice Must be practices that countries undertake out of a sense of legal obligation Binds all countries except those which persistently object in our country this has always happened and allowed this Examples of customary international law Genocide prohibition of mass murders due to race or ethnicity Slavery some still practice race based slavery but many are aware it is wrong Racial Discrimination virtually none claim they ve always had it o South Africa was the last country to change over Torture over 150 countries but do not claim they have the right to do so Requirements for Determining that Customary International Law is Binding Upon a Country 1 Defendant state has recognized the rule in its own practice OR 2 Rule has been accepted by almost all other states and defendant state has never expressly and consistently rejected it 4 Examples of the failures of international law to protect the rights of individuals that ultimately led to the UN Conference at San Francisco Governments violated the rights of their own citizens Armenian Genocide 1915 First indication that country is still doing terrible things Leaders of Turkish govt planned to expel and massacre Armenians in the Ottoman Empire Armenians were sympathetic to Russia and Turkey became angry They wanted a liquidation of Christian elements Kidnapped children converted them and gave them to Turkish families crucified people stripped women covered them with oil and burned them A million and a half were marched into the desert and killed by hand Ottomans surrendered in 1918 and the leaders of the Young Turks fled to Germany because they promised not to prosecute for the genocide A law in Turkey prohibits speaking about it and Turkey will not take responsibility to this day Defense These are our citizens Rape of Nanking 1937 Nanking capital of China During the Sino Japanese war the capital of China is taken over by Japanese forces and the Chinese government flees To break the spirit of the Chinese Japan general ordered that Nanking be destroyed Japanese would behead and bury alive 80 000 women were taken out of the city and raped killed 150 00 male war prisoners murdered over 350 000 people practiced their training and weapons on the civilians Liberation of Buchenwald 1945 U S liberates concentration camp in Germany judged 2nd to Auschwitz first hand at seeing something like this Tens of thousands of people were being starved to death weighing 50 or 60 lbs death from disease malnutrition beatings executions bodies were stacked like firewood They did this to German civilians Defense they were German Jews so they could do whatever they wanted to them Doctors performed medical experimented George Patton was so furious that he ordered 1 000 civilians over to see what their leaders had done 5 The compromises that went into the UN Charter UN Charter promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race sex language or religion Speaks for the first time of RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS Prior to this treaties only spoke about the rights of nations No enforcement mechanisms The UN Charter was a compromise The security council still has grip on power Right to independence only to colonies of Germany Italy and Japan 6 The achievements of the UN Charter Established the Human Rights Commission under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt they defined human rights Meet annually to discuss human rights issues and make recommendations to government Rights of individuals Mentioned human rights for the first time Security council general assembly Eleanor Roosevelt the first Chair 53 members represented governments o The problem governments covered each other and were not quick to criticize another government The very nature of this was a problem o Made up of government members o China was saying if you
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