Public International Law Notes

The notes cover the nature of international law, its sources, the relation between international and municipal law, the state and recognition, individuals and nationality (including extradition, asylum and diplomats), settlement of disputes, and the law of the sea under UNCLOS 1982.

The notes treat Article 38 of the ICJ Statute as the starting point for sources, followed by custom, treaties and jus cogens. Customary law arises from long-standing state practice together with opinio juris, the belief that the practice is legally obligatory.

For treaties, India is dualist: Parliament must enact legislation, and Art. 253 empowers it to do so. Custom applies automatically if it does not conflict with domestic statutes, as held in the Gramophone Company case (1984). The notes also cite Jolly George Varghese (1980).

Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention 1933 sets out four mandatory elements of a state. The notes then discuss the constitutive and declaratory theories of recognition and de facto vs de jure recognition.

The territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles (Art. 3), with sovereignty subject to innocent passage. The contiguous zone runs from 12 to 24 nautical miles, the EEZ up to 200 nautical miles, and the high seas beyond. The notes also cover piracy (Art. 101) and the right of hot pursuit.

The notes flag Article 38 of the ICJ Statute, elements of custom and jus cogens as repeated every year. Recognition, peaceful settlement of disputes, the Calvo clause, the Hague and Montreal hijacking conventions, EEZ vs continental shelf and the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases also recur.