International Law and Treaties

Abstract

For thousands of years international law and treaties have provided legal rules and processes, generally generated by more than one state, to regulate the international transactions of both states and private parties. Modern international law and treaties are grounded in the Roman jus gentium as transformed in the 17th century theory of Hugo Grotius who argued that the law of nations consisted both of positive law in the explicit form of international agreement and the implicit form of international custom and of natural law as drawn from reason, religion, and necessity. The field of international law and treaties is vast and growing. It includes traditional topics such as the laws of war, the law of the sea, the law of ambassadors and diplomacy, the law of treaties, the law of recognition and succession of states, and the law of merchants. New topics include the law of international organizations, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international trade law, international environmental law, and international criminal law. International legal rules can be enforced not only by international courts and arbitration, but by domestic courts, and in political practices.