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The Ontology of International Law: From Denial to Theoretical-Functional Acceptance

Document Type : Article

Author

Assistant Prof., Department of Law, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

Abstract

The riddle of international law being ” law” has consistently been one of the primary challenges international law has encountered, even in its relatively more modern branches. In response to authors like Austin who contended that international legal norms are not law but morality, some scholars asserted that despite the uneven distribution of power among states, the weakness of sanctions in a legal order does not mean that it does not exist. Also, the notions of sovereignty and the will of states, as the basis of international relations, are legal conceptions and so, international law literally does exist. In fact, the unique elements of the international society and hence international law need to be thoroughly digested. Furthermore, a functional approach leads us to the legal quality of international law. Undoubtedly, all society-based relations and the collective struggle of society members to gain common interest require some sort of law. In other words, it is inevitable that the international community needs international law.

Keywords

References
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  1. D) Theses
  2. Maghami, Amir (2015), Constitutionalism in International Law, University of Tehran, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ph.D. thesis in Public International Law (In Persian).

 

  1. E) Instruments
  2. First report on jus cogens by Dire Tladi, Special Rapporteur (2016), International Law Commission, Sixty-eighth session, A/CN.4/693, 8 March.
  3. Fourth report on peremptory norms of general
    international law (jus cogens) by Dire Tladi,
    Special Rapporteur     (2019), International Law Commission, Seventy-first session, A/CN.4/727, 31 January.
  4. Second report on jus cogens by Dire Tladi,
    Special Rapporteur     (2017), International Law Commission, Sixty-ninth session, A/CN.4/706, 16 March.
  5. Third report on peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens) by Dire Tladi, Special Rapporteur (2018), International Law Commission, Seventieth session, A/CN.4/714, 12 February.

 

  1. F) Websites
  2. http://www.angelfire.com
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 52, Issue 2
Summer 2022
July 2022
Pages 985-1005
Files
History
  • Receive Date: 08 May 2021
  • Revise Date: 09 May 2021
  • Accept Date: 27 June 2021
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