International Law
Sources and subjects
Article 38 of the ICJ Statute lists sources: treaties, custom, general principles, judicial decisions, and doctrine. Subjects include states, international organizations, and individuals. Trap: treating soft law as binding, or confusing jus cogens with ordinary custom.
Law of treaties
Vienna Convention 1969: conclusion, reservation, interpretation, invalidity, termination. Know pacta sunt servanda and rebus sic stantibus. Trap: assuming all reservations are permitted; they cannot defeat the object and purpose.
State responsibility and jurisdiction
Attribution, breach, reparation (restitution, compensation, satisfaction). Immunities: state immunity versus diplomatic immunity (Vienna 1961). Jurisdiction: territoriality, nationality, universal jurisdiction for core crimes.
Use of force
Article 2(4) Charter; exceptions: self-defense (Art. 51) and Security Council authorization. Responsibility to Protect is a political commitment, not an autonomous legal basis for force.
Human rights and humanitarian law
Core treaties (ICCPR, ICESCR), Geneva Conventions, and the Rome Statute (complementarity, gravity).
Worked example
If a state breaches a treaty invoking domestic law, the defense fails: internal law cannot justify non-compliance (Art. 27 VCLT).