International Law and Organisations

International law is the body of rules and principles that govern relations among states and other international actors. International organisations are the institutional framework through which much of that law is created, interpreted and enforced.

Nature and sources

Subjects of international law

• States — primary subjects.
• International organisations — derivative legal personality.
• Individuals — increasingly subjects for IHL and human-rights purposes.
• National liberation movements — under decolonisation.
• Insurgent groups — limited recognition.
• Multinational corporations — debated.

Sources (ICJ Statute Article 38)

1. International conventions (treaties) — codified rules between parties.
2. International custom — general practice accepted as law (state practice + opinio juris).
3. General principles of law recognised by civilised nations.
4. Judicial decisions and teachings of the most highly qualified publicists — subsidiary means.

Custom

Requires two elements:

• Objective (state practice) — general, consistent, uniform.
• Subjective (opinio juris) — belief that the practice is legally required.

Treaty law

Codified by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) 1969:

• Pacta sunt servanda — agreements must be kept.
• Reservations, interpretation (Articles 31-33).
• Invalidity, termination, suspension.
• Jus cogens — peremptory norms (e.g., prohibition of genocide, torture, slavery).

Recognition and statehood

Statehood (Montevideo Convention 1933)

1. Permanent population.
2. Defined territory.
3. Government.
4. Capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Recognition theories

• Constitutive — statehood depends on recognition by others.
• Declaratory — recognition merely acknowledges an existing fact.

State succession

When new states emerge — Pakistan from British India (1947), Bangladesh from Pakistan (1971), successor states of USSR (1991).

State responsibility

International Law Commission's Articles on State Responsibility for Internationally Wrongful Acts (2001):

• Attribution — conduct of organs of state, persons exercising governmental authority.
• Breach — violation of international obligation.
• Circumstances precluding wrongfulness — consent, self-defence, force majeure, distress, necessity.
• Remedies — restitution, compensation, satisfaction.

Use of force and self-defence

UN Charter

• Article 2(4) — prohibition on use of force.
• Article 51 — inherent right of individual or collective self-defence "if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations."
• Chapter VII — Security Council enforcement.

Exceptions to the prohibition

• Self-defence (Art. 51).
• Authorisation by UNSC (Chapter VII).
• Consent of the territorial state.

Doctrines under debate

• Anticipatory self-defence — narrow (imminent attack) vs. preventive (long-term threat).
• Humanitarian intervention — controversial; Kosovo 1999.
• Responsibility to Protect (R2P) — 2005 World Summit.

International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

Governs the conduct of armed conflicts. Core principles:

• Distinction — combatants vs. civilians.
• Proportionality — incidental civilian harm not excessive in relation to military advantage.
• Necessity — only what is required to achieve military objective.
• Humanity — no unnecessary suffering.

Sources

• Geneva Conventions (1949) — protection of wounded, POWs, civilians.
• Additional Protocols (1977) — international and non-international armed conflicts.
• Hague Conventions — means and methods of warfare.
• Customary IHL.

International Human Rights Law (IHRL)

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948).
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966).
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966).
• Convention against Torture (CAT, 1984).
• Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979).
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989).
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006).

Mechanisms

• Treaty bodies — periodic state reporting.
• Special Procedures — Special Rapporteurs, Working Groups.
• Universal Periodic Review (UPR) — every 4-5 years at HRC.
• Regional human-rights courts — European, Inter-American, African.

International criminal law

• Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals (1945-46).
• Ad hoc tribunals — ICTY (Yugoslavia), ICTR (Rwanda), SCSL (Sierra Leone).
• International Criminal Court (ICC) — Rome Statute (1998); jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, aggression.
• Universal jurisdiction — certain crimes (genocide, torture) prosecutable by any state.

Law of the Sea

UNCLOS (1982) — the constitution of the oceans. Maritime zones:

Zone	Width	Coastal state rights
Internal waters	Up to baseline	Full sovereignty
Territorial sea	Up to 12 nm	Sovereignty, innocent passage right
Contiguous zone	Up to 24 nm	Enforcement of customs, immigration, etc.
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)	Up to 200 nm	Resource rights
Continental shelf	Up to 200 nm (or 350 nm)	Seabed resources
High seas	Beyond EEZ	Freedom of navigation, fishing (regulated)
Area (deep seabed)	Beyond shelf	Common heritage of mankind; ISA

Pakistan's EEZ extends 200 nm from coastal baselines and an extended continental shelf approved by the UN CLCS (2015) — adding ~50,000 sq km.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

• Established 1945; located at the Peace Palace, The Hague.
• 15 judges; nine-year terms; renewable.
• Contentious jurisdiction — disputes between states (with consent).
• Advisory jurisdiction — for UN organs and specialised agencies.
• Pakistan-India cases: Kishenganga arbitration (PCA, 2010-13), Atlantique case (1999-2000), Jadhav case (2017-19).

The United Nations

Principal organs

1. General Assembly (GA) — 193 members; one vote each; non-binding resolutions.
2. Security Council (SC) — 15 members (5 P-5 + 10 elected); binding decisions under Chapter VII.
3. ECOSOC — coordinates economic, social and related work.
4. Trusteeship Council — dormant since 1994.
5. ICJ — judicial organ.
6. Secretariat — headed by Secretary-General.

Charter principles (Article 2)

• Sovereign equality.
• Pacta sunt servanda.
• Pacific settlement.
• Non-use of force.
• Collective security.
• Non-intervention in domestic affairs.

Peace operations

• Peacekeeping (consent, impartiality, limited force).
• Peace enforcement (Chapter VII; e.g., Gulf War 1991).
• Peacebuilding (post-conflict reconstruction).
• Pakistan is among the largest contributors of UN peacekeepers — historically the largest.

Specialised agencies and programmes

• WHO — health.
• ILO — labour.
• FAO — food and agriculture.
• UNESCO — education, science, culture.
• IMF, World Bank Group — economic.
• WTO — trade (associated agency).
• ICAO — civil aviation.
• IMO — maritime.
• WIPO — intellectual property.
• IAEA — nuclear.
• UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, UNHabitat, UN Women, WFP, UNEP — programmes and funds.

Regional and other organisations

Organisation	Members / Region	Notes
EU	27 European states	Deep integration
African Union	55 African states	R2P; includes Western Sahara
OAS	Americas	Founded 1948
Arab League	22 Arab states	Founded 1945
OIC	57 Muslim-majority states	HQ Jeddah; Pakistan founding member
ASEAN	10 SE Asian states	Consensual decision-making
SAARC	8 South Asian states	Largely dormant
SCO	9+ Eurasian states	Pakistan member since 2017
ECO	10 — Pakistan, Iran, Turkey + Central Asia + Afghanistan	Economic cooperation
BRICS	Brazil, Russia, India, China, S Africa + expansions	Non-Western framework
NATO	32 members	Military alliance
Council of Europe	46 members	European human-rights body

Pakistan and international law

• Founding UN member (1947).
• Party to most major treaties — Geneva Conventions, NPT abstainer, ICCPR (2010), ICESCR (2008), CAT (2010), CEDAW (1996), CRC (1990), Refugee Convention non-party (but hosts millions).
• Indus Waters Treaty (1960) with India — major bilateral regime.
• Simla Agreement (1972) with India.
• Kishenganga ICJ/PCA awards.
• Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the ICJ (2017-19).
• Reko Diq ICSID/ICC arbitrations on mining concessions.
• Active in OIC, SCO, ECO, UN human-rights mechanisms.

Mastery of these legal frameworks distinguishes a CSS answer that engages substantively from one that hovers at the level of slogans.