Julie Bishop address to Council 2010
International law and human rights
What is international law?
International law is a term often used to describe the system of legally binding agreements between nation states. Technically, this is only one aspect of international law and is known as public international law. Public international law is distinguished from private international law and regional international law.
This sheet will use the term international law to mean public international law.
When did international law begin?
Regulation of relationships between nations has existed for several centuries. The modern international system of state and nation relations was founded with the Treaty of Westphalia, signed in 1648.
The modern international system is based upon the principles of state sovereignty and international law. International law as it is known today emerged after the First World War when the League of Nations was established. This was the predecessor of the United Nations, which was established in 1945.
Today, international law is most often connected with the work of the greater United Nations, its main bodies and the UN agencies, in making international treaties.
Who or what does international law cover?
International law concerns not only sovereign nation states but also ‘non-state’ actors, such as international organisations, national liberation movements or armed insurrectional movements. Technically, these groups are called subjects of international law.
Some lawyers argue that selected treaties within the international law framework are also applicable to corporations and individuals.
How are international laws made?
International law is contained in agreements between states known as treaties, or is derived from custom and recognised general legal principles.
Treaties are usually written documents containing obligations to which states voluntarily agree to be legally bound. Most multilateral treaties, which involve several states, are developed at the United Nations.
Customary international law exists when there is no express agreement but the consistent practice of nations in abiding by a particular rule gives that rule a legally binding nature.
International law also recognises the common general principles of law found in legal systems around the globe.
What is a treaty?
A treaty is a term used to describe an international agreement that is binding in international law. Treaties are also known as covenants, conventions or protocols. A treaty only binds a country if they have signed and ratified the treaty.
A declaration is not a treaty and is not legally binding as such. The United Nations General Assembly however often adopts declarations. For example, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.
What international human rights law exist?
Human rights law is found in human rights treaties.
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a treaty but it is often argued that it is legally binding under customary international law.
More than 80 per cent of United Nations member states have ratified four or more of the nine core international human rights treaties. The nine core international human rights treaties cover a range of human rights:
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965 (ICERD)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR)
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 (ICESCR)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979 (CEDAW)
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 1984 (CAT)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC)
- International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families 1990 (ICRMW)
- International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 2006
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 (ICRPD).
In addition to these nine core international human rights treaties, some of these treaties have optional protocols which provide additional rights, detail procedures relating to the treaty or deal with a specific area of concern.
The optional protocols to the core international human rights treaties are:
- Optional Protocol to the ICCPR 1966 (establishing a complaints mechanism)
- Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR 1989 (abolition of the death penalty)
- Optional Protocol to CEDAW 1999 (establishing a complaints mechanism)
- Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000)
- Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography 2000
- Optional Protocol to the CAT 2002 (establishing a system of independent inspection of places of detention)
- Optional Protocol to the ICRPD 2006 (establishing a complaints mechanism)
- Optional Protocol of the ICESCR 2008 (establishing a complaints mechanism).
Further information:
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
