International Law

ABA International is the ABA in a smaller, but internationally focused version, working closely together with the other divisions and sections of the ABA, yet offering the full package in one place. As a result of our geographical diversity and its importance to us, our membership recruitment efforts are increasingly aimed outside the borders of the US.

The United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law is a unique, multimedia resource which provides the United Nations with the unprecedented capacity to provide high quality international law training and research materials to an unlimited number of recipients on a global level.

Department Mission Statement: Advance freedom for the benefit of the American people and the international community by helping to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world composed of well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and act responsibly within the international system.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America). The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system. Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands. Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

The United Nations has established special international criminal tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia to prosecute those responsible for atrocities during times of war and genocide. Successful convictions of these political and military leaders are meant to bring justice to victims and to deter others from committing such crimes in the future.

International humanitarian law is a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare. International humanitarian law is also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.

To vitalize the status of international organization of which United States is a member and facilitate their activities Congress has enacted the International Organization Immunities Act, which among other provisions defines the capacity of such organizations.

Welcome to the Private International Law site, maintained by the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law (L/PIL) at the U.S. Department of State. The purpose of this web site is to provide a convenient location to find treaties in force for the United States, other international instruments, and information on current negotiations and projects covering the private international law of such areas as trade and commerce, finance and banking, trusts and estates, family and children matters, and international judicial assistance.

The Office of the Historian is responsible, under law, for the preparation and publication of the official historical documentary record of U.S. foreign policy in the Foreign Relations of the United States series. It researches and writes historical studies on aspects of U.S. diplomacy for use by policymakers in the Department and in other agencies, as well for public information.nificant diplomatic activity.

By Global Policy Forum. This section posts articles on US policy towards the UN, international law and treaties. The section includes special coverage of the torture, prison abuse, rendition and indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons around the world.

The Brussels Convention and the Lugano Convention aim to "determine the international jurisdiction of their courts, to facilitate recognition and to introduce an expeditious procedure for securing the enforcement of judgments, authentic instruments and court settlements."

The Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations”, signed by ministers in Marrakesh on 15 April 1994 is 550 pages long and contains legal texts which spell out the results of the negotiations since the Round was launched in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in September 1986. In addition to the texts of the agreements, the Final Act also contains texts of Ministerial Decisions and Declarations which further clarify certain provisions of some of the agreements.

Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which 170 nations are party, requires a nation arresting or detaining a foreign national to afford the detainee access to his or her consulate and to notify the foreign national of the right of consular access. In the number of U.S. cases involving foreign nationals, defendants have raised the issue of failure by the detaining authorities to make the necessary notifications.

Since 1893, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, a melting pot of different legal traditions, has developed and serviced Conventions which respond to global needs in the following areas: International Protection of Children, International Family and Family Property Relations, International Legal Co-operation and Litigation and International Commercial and Finance Law.

Under the auspices of the Organization of American States, Inter-American Specialized Conferences on Private International Law (known by the Spanish Acronym as CIDIPs) play a central role in the harmonization and codification of Private International Law in the Western Hemisphere. Six Conferences have been held in various cities in the Americas.

The Multilaterals Project, begun in 1992, is an ongoing project at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts to make available the texts of international multilateral conventions and other instruments. Although the project was initiated to improve public access to environmental agreements, the collection today also includes treaties in the fields of human rights, commerce and trade, laws of war and arms control, and other areas. Most of the texts date from 1945 or later, but the collection also includes historical texts, from the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia to the Covenant of the League of Nations.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North America Treaty signed 4 April 1949.

This research guide is intended to be an introduction to the concept of international custom and its place as a source of international law. The primary focus is on researching state practice and the pronouncements of states regarding international law as evidence of custom.

Signed at Vienna, 23 May 1969. Entry into force: 27 January 1980. It applies to treaties between States.

The mission of the American Society of International Law is to foster the study of international law and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the basis of law and justice.

The IDB provides solutions to development challenges in 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, partnering with governments, companies and civil society organizations.

The International Bar Association (IBA), established in 1947, has a membership of 30,000 lawyers and 195 bar associations and law societies. The IBA has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community.

ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) is the voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job creation and prosperity. Because national economies are now so closely interwoven, government decisions have far stronger international reper-cussions than in the past.

The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) is an independent intergovernmental Organisation with its seat in the Villa Aldobrandini in Rome. Its purpose is to study needs and methods for modernising, harmonising and co-ordinating private and in particular commercial law as between States and groups of States.

For fifty years the International Law Institute has worked to address the challenges faced by the international community by promoting economic development and rule of law.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 185 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Nations are bound by treaties they choose to sign and fundamental principles that fall under the category of customary international law. There is no single world body that passes laws that are bind all the nations of the world. Thus, application of international law to the United States is not as clear cut as the application of domestic U.S. law.

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the common sense. We are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

The American University International Law Review publishes articles, critical essays, comments, and casenotes on a wide variety of international law topics, including public and private international law, the law of international organizations, international trade law, international arbitration, and international human rights. AUILR also publishes pieces on topics of foreign and comparative law that are of particular interest to the international legal community.

The University of Chicago Law School's Chicago Journal of International Law is an interdisciplinary forum for discussion and analysis of international law and policy issues. CJIL is committed to presenting timely and concise scholarly work. CJIL is published twice yearly.

The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a ready source of current information on the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law.

Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law is published each spring and fall. DJCIL is a very influential, specialized journal devoted exclusively to the issues of comparative and international law.

The Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy is a venue for the exchange of ideas pertaining to the international commercial and legal environment. It publishes high quality scholarly research to stimulate dialogue and debate on both topics of current interest to the international community and longer-standing issues of international relations.

The European Journal of International Law is firmly established as one of the world's leading journals in its field. With its distinctive combination of theoretical and practical approaches to the issues of international law, the journal offers readers a unique opportunity to stay in touch with the latest developments in this rapidly evolving area.

Researching foreign, international, and comparative law can be an intimidating proposition. There is such a vast amount of material available. In order to help provide a starting point for researching foreign, international, and comparative law, the Law Library of Congress has prepared a guide to reference sources, compilations, citations guides, periodicals (indexes and databases), dictionaries, web resources, free public web sites, subscription-based services, subject-specific web sites, and country overviews.

The Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies is a faculty-edited interdisciplinary journal focusing on the intersections of global and domestic legal regimes, markets, politics, technologies, and cultures. Students are also integrally involved in the production of the Journal.

Established in 1982, the Penn State International Law Review is celebrating twenty-five years of excellence during 2006 — 2007. Originally, the Dickinson Journal of International Law, the ILR was Pennsylvania's first internationally focused student-edited law journal. Today, the Penn State International Law Review serves as an integral component for Penn State Law’s highly respected international legal program. As one of the most respected and cited International legal periodicals in the world, the ILR publishes articles on public and private international law written by leading government (domestic and foreign) officials, legal scholars, private practitioners, and law students.

Founded in 1966, the Stanford Journal of International Law is one of the oldest and most reputed international law journals in the United States. Publishing two regular issues each year, the journal seeks to promote scholarship of the highest quality through timely, innovative, and important pieces on international and comparative legal topics. The journal invites contributions from professors, practitioners, legislators, judges, and Stanford Law School students.

The Touro International Law Review is a student-run and faculty-and-alumni-advised publication. Originally founded in 1989 as a print publication, it is now available solely online in order to meet its new mission to provide a forum for timely and engaging discourse in important international law issues.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to International Law including: customs law, european community law, import and export, international investments, international trade, islamic law, offshore services.