Posts

How to conduct research?

By -
Image
The ideas for your research can come from following contemporary issues and reading newspapers. For example, since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic there have been a lot of news stories that talk about the social and legal impacts of the pandemic regionally and globally. These could certainly provide ideas to do a dissertation on this topic and prove to be a starting point for your research. For instance, if you focus on the potential legal impact of the pandemic, then you could use a website called lexology.com that can provide further inspiration and refine your research topic.  Your research will usually be a little bit unstructured to begin with, so as you look on search engines to find relevant blog articles and newspapers articles, you will eventually gain a basic understanding of the issues you would be dealing with. After this, you can turn to look at journal articles for inspiration, and should make note of the articles cited by other authors in journals so you can read the
Read more

What is a comparative analysis?

By -
Image
Comparative law means that you look not just at the different laws of the country to see why they are different but also that you look at the characteristics of the countries and see how they are different. So, if you have a different economy or different social attitudes in the country towards something like corporations this could have an impact on the way in which a law or rule that works well in one country does not work as well in another country. Otto-Kahn Freund makes this point and argues that you must therefore consider not only the differences in law but also differences in culture, economy and political attitudes.   Law Tutors Online ,  UK Law Tutor ,  UK Law Teacher ,  Manchester Law Tutor ,  Birmingham Law Tutor ,  Nottingham Law Tutor ,  Sheffield Law Tutor ,  Oxford Law Tutor,   Cambridge Law Tutor ,  Bristol Law Tutor ,  Liverpool Law Tutor ,  Toronto Law Tutor ,  New York Law Tutor ,  Sydney Law Tutor ,  Hong Kong Law Tutor ,  Paris Law Tutor ,  Los Angeles Law Tutor ,
Read more

"Nationality is an individual’s link to benefits under international law." Critically discuss.

By -
Image
Nationality is the bond that links an individual to his State and this link is of paramount significance for the purposes of international law. Primarily, international law is a legal system that applies to States; individuals do not generally have any standing in their own right.  This means that if a state violates its international legal obligations thus resulting in harm to an individual who doesn’t possess the nationality of that state, that individual will not have the necessary locus standi to pursue a claim against that particular state under International law. The only exception can be made in case of human rights treaties – because they incorporate methods of “individuals” complaint mechanisms. However, because this mechanism requires the consent of States to apply and because they do not result in legal proceedings, their impact on the rights of aliens is limited.  What this means is that if a State violates its international legal obligations and thereby causes harm to an i
Read more

Critically discuss the current status and historical development of the international legal personalities of States, Inter-governmental Organisations, Non-governmental Organisations, Multinational Corporations, and Individuals.

By -
Image
By International legal personality, it is meant to include ability of entities to ratify or sign agreements and treaties, enter into contracts and have obligations and rights under international law. In other words, it is the international legal personality of entities that determines whether they can be subjects of international law. According to the ICJ, an entity has international legal personality if it is:  "Capable of possessing international rights and duties and [has] the capacity to maintain its rights by bringing international claims.¹"  International legal personality of States is the oldest form of personality recognised by international law. In fact, international law developed from the international relations of sovereign States. So as to be able to conduct agreements with each other, States had to recognise each other's personality to act. As international law is still largely the creation of States, the international legal personality of States is the most
Read more

Compare the major sources of international law, addressing: (1) the nature of each, (2) any problems to which each gives rise, (3) how important a source each is, and (4) any particular use each has, if any.

By -
Image
There are many sources of International law and they are authoritatively listed in Article 38(1)¹  of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. Amongst the others, the first source of international law is international conventions. Typically, Conventions or treaties are agreements between States. And Pacta sunt servanda² is a foundational principle of international law. It is a principle of international law that whenever States ratify treaties, they bind themselves to act in conformity with them. After looking at Article 38(1), it can be established that treaties are express sources of international law as between the States that ascent to them. However, it is to be pointed that a treaty obligation cannot bind parties who have not signed to the same. A similar analogy can be drawn from contracts; only the rights and obligations of the signing parties are affected and furthermore a State isn’t required to abide by a treaty in its dealings with a state that is not Party to tha
Read more

Human rights interests have worked a revolutionary change upon many of the classic rules of international law as a result of the realization by states in their international practice that they have a deep interest in the way other states treat their own citizens. Critically discuss.

By -
Image
If we get into the historical perspectives, international law did not concern itself with the rights of individuals. The concept of sovereign equality that emerged from the Treaty of Westphalia¹ was not compatible with concerns posed from human rights. A part of this development was because States were seen as sovereigns who were free to exercise control over their territory without any interference from beyond their borders. And the conduct of States towards their subjects was an important component of this sovereign authority. Hence, the legitimate concerns of other States were therefore seen as restricted to the welfare of their own citizens abroad. Back in the early days when few individuals travelled across State borders, this was hardly a concern. It is worth mentioning that the diplomatic agents of States were the most common example of such individuals and they were accorded privileges and protections by the host State.  Over time, this veil of sovereignty has slipped as intern
Read more

Jus cogens norms have been called the superheroes of international law because they are both extremely powerful and completely fictional. Is this characterization accurate?

By -
Image
  “Jus cogen” norms are rules of customary international law that have become so familiar in the system that they are treated as the inviolable rights under the international law. It has to be noted that customary international law is created through custom and this indicates that the acceptance of persistent unlawful acts by other states over a period of time creates a new legal principle under international law. In ordinary circumstances, a treaty obligation will prevail over customary international law unless that specific law has gained the status of a “jus cogen” norm. Hence, the States considers the “Jus cogens” norms as inviolable. This essentially means that any international instrument will not apply if its effect would be to violate a “jus cogens” norm. And neither will contrary State practice give rise to a new custom of international law. These norms are extremely powerful as these norms were created when State practice by a significant majority of States along with the
Read more