Theories Of International Law

International Law assumes a society of nations and it governs the relationship of the members of this society. A system composed solely of legal rules and principles binding upon civilized nations only in their mutual relations.

Professor Oppenheim has defined international law in the following words:

“Law of Nations or International Law is the name for the body of customary and conventional rules which are considered legally binding by civilized States in their intercourse with each other.”

In the ninth edition of Oppenheim 's book the term 'international law ' has been defined as:

“International law is the body of rules which are legally binding on States in their intercourse with each other. These rules are primarily those which govern

This definition goes beyond the traditional definition of international law as a system composed solely of rules governing the relations between states only. In view of developments during the last four decades, it cannot stand as a comprehensive description of all the rules now acknowledged to form part of the subject.

These developments are principally : (i) the establishment of a large number of permanent international institutions or organisations such as, for example the UN and the WHO, regarded as possessing international legal personality, and entering into relations with each other and with states; and (ii) the present movement to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals. Both categories of developments have given rise to new rules of international law, and may be expected to influence the growth of the new rules in the

Origins and development of international law

The modern system of international law grew to some extent out of the usages and practices of modern European states in their intercourse and communications, while it still bears witness to the influence of writers and jurists of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, who first formulated some of its most fundamental tenets.

With the growth of a number of independent states there was initiated, the process of formation of customary rules of international law from the usages and practices followed by such states in their mutual relations. Jurists had begun to take into account the evolutions of a community of independent sovereign states and to think and write about different problems of the law of nations, realising the necessity for some body of rules to regulate certain aspects of the relations between such states. The writings of early jurists reveal significantly that one major preoccupation of 16th century international law was the law of warfare between states.

Dutch scholar, jurist, and diplomat, Grotius systematically treatise on the subject De Jure Beli ac Pacis (The Law of War and Peace). On account of this treatise, Grotius has sometimes been described as the 'father of the law of