What is "international law"

International \In`ter*na"tion*al\, a. [Pref. inter- + national: cf. F. international.]

1. Between or among nations; pertaining to the intercourse of nations; participated in by two or more nations; common to, or affecting, two or more nations.

2. Of or concerning the association called the International.

3. Independent of national boundaries; common to all people; as, the atmosphere is an international resource; the international community of scholars.

   International code (Naut.), a common system of signaling adopted by nearly all maritime nations, whereby communication may be had between vessels at sea.

   International copyright. See under Copyright.

   International law, the rules regulating the mutual intercourse of nations. International law is mainly the product of the conditions from time to time of international intercourse, being drawn from diplomatic discussion, textbooks, proof of usage, and from recitals in treaties. It is called public when treating of the relations of sovereign powers, and private when of the relations of persons of different nationalities. International law is now, by the better opinion, part of the common law of the land. Cf. Conflict of laws, under Conflict.
   --Wharton.

n. Set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations, serving as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations.

n. the body of laws governing relations between nations [syn: law of nations] [ant: civil law]

International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations. International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to private citizens. National law may become international law when treaties delegate national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts.

Much of international law is consent-based governance. This means that a state member is not obliged to abide by this type of international law, unless it has expressly consented to a particular course of conduct. This is an issue of state sovereignty. However, other aspects of international law are not consent-based but still are obligatory upon state and non-state actors such as customary international law and peremptory norms ( jus cogens).

International Law is a Canadian documentary television miniseries on international law which aired on CBC Television in 1961.