LAW AND DISORDER (PART II)

Part I explained the two main sources of international law and why states do actually adhere to it much of the time. First, states make binding commitments by creating treaties, whether bilaterally or multilaterally. The second main source of international law is practice or custom; the practices of states become legally binding through repetition. That also indicates how international law can be changed. If states begin to engage in different practices, then with time customary law alters.

The ties that bind. Image by Engin Akyurt via Unsplash.com

I concluded the previous part with some questions. One was: do all states or only some states make international law? Of course, all states can sign treaties and all states can change their practices. But states are not really equal in this regard. If the US, China and Russia start to act in a different way, the rest may be powerless to stop new customary international law being forged. The same does not apply if Slovenia and Malawi alone start to act in a different way. This second part of the blog article considers the law-making process and the role of power, and what is perhaps the principle problem in international law – the lack of enforcement mechanisms.

The law of the jungle?

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