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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

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

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