OKELLO MOSES LLB3 REG: 2021-B411-11714 STUD NO.

2100501714

Law according to John Austin , an English Philosopher is defined as a rule laid down for the
guidance of an intelligent being by an intelligent being having power over him1 .This
definition in my point of view means that the law itself contains the rules and principles that
are formulated by the sovereign beings and recognized. It is also important to note that law
has basic characteristics which in my opinion will guide in an approach if international law is
really law? to mention but a few, Law has a universal application meaning that its applicable
to all persons and individuals with in particular frame work without discrimination2,
secondly, Law is Coercive which means that it has to ensure conformity and compliance by
punishing law breakers3 and lastly law is Permissive4 which means irrespective of the
supreme law people are free to form laws or contract with in a larger frame work provided
they don’t affect a larger community or conflict with the supreme law.

International Law according to Vaughan Lowe is defined as a body of rules and principles
that determine the rights and duties of states primarily in respect of their dealing with other
states and the citizens of other states.5 International law serves as a stabilizing factor in the
international system which tries to maintain the peace among nations during mutual
relations.6 However, there is little or no means of enforcing these laws which would go
beyond state consent even if they are members under the same international Law, a good
example is in the case of Uganda V Democratic Republic Of Congo consent from both
countries had to be gotten before their matter had to be handles by the International Court of
Court of Justice.

International law if deeply looked into, to a larger extent meets the essential
requirement of what a law must be, and the basic element of law is its enforcement. It should
be noted that if there are no mechanisms for enforcing the laws, it is as good as just making
laws with the hope that people would obey, international law, has a government or body that
enforces the laws which is the general assembly and the security council. As much as
1
’’Lectures of Jurisprudence: or the philosophy of positive Law’’ by John Austin , Pg.5
2
Makodia VV. A pragmatic analysis of Legalese. In Language Forum. Batiri Publications 2009; 35(1):155-161
3
Lamond .G. The Coerciveness of Law Oxford Journal of legal studies;2000; 20(1), 39-62
4
Fox EM. Antitrust regulation across national boaders : The United States boeing Vs the eoropean union airbus
brooking review .1998: 16(1),30,33
5
2International Law Reconsidered: Is International Law Actually Law? C.J.Petallides, 2012
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/715/international-law-reconsidered-is-international-law-actually-law
[accessed 07/10/16]

6
Ibid'
domestic law is looked at as containing coercive power which means that the law is enforced
and complied to through institutions like the police, we can’t argue out that international law
does not in itself contain coercive power yet it has enforcement mechanism such as the
principle of reciprocity which is a type of enforcement where states are assured that if they
offend another state, which the state would respond by returning the favor.7 This has forced
states to observe and follow the law set down in various treaties and makes the states think
twice before carrying out an action or violating the law so that their same actions are not
applied to them by the other states. For example, during war, a state may refrain from killing
the first aid soldiers on war ground simply because they do not want the other country to kill
their own first aid soldiers in return, as well as imposing high tariffs on trade relations. This
principle can also be seen in diplomatic agents between nations. 8 A clear example here is the
red cross society.

Just like domestic law, International law has the general assembly and security
council which serve as the parliament, these institutions ensure that the laws or treaties
enacted pass through the right processes, deliberation and discussion, domestic laws on the
other hand also has a legislature to make laws known as the parliament, the judiciary to
interpret those laws which is the justice team, competent courts, and the executive to enforce
them through the police or using some slight force to compel disobedient citizens, but driving
back to the contemporary society modes of law enactment of domestic laws by certain
nations just rubber stamps rules in favor of the party a clear example can be looked at is the
Uganda age limit and term limit bills which were clearly for a party favor.

I would still argue that international is Coercive which means that it has to ensured
conformity and compliance by punishing law breakers9 We have seen many instances where
nations which disobey this treaties have been punished, just like domestic law there are also
many people in our contemporary society who have breached their own domestic laws but
assume to be powerful. Roger Fisher clearly stated that even domestic laws not all laws are
enforceable as there are powerful individuals who breach the law in one way or another nut
still have their way around the law but still not being punished10. States like china in 2015
when they detained two Christian church leaders without fair trail which was looked at as an
7
How is International Law Enforced? Globalization 101 (N.D), http://www.globalization101.org/how-is-
international-law-enforced/ [accessed 09/10/16]
8
Enforcing International Law by F.L. Kirgis, (1996), https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/1/issue/1/enforcing-
international-law [accessed 09/10/16]
9
Ibid 3
10
Fisher R. Bringing law to bear on government . Harv. L. Rev 1960;74: 1130
abuse of international human rights and the united nations demanded for immediate release
and compensation of these individuals and the chinses government compiled even though
arbitrary detention law was not binding on china nut by the fact that China accepted the terms
means the law was enforced and china accounted for its actions making this clearly law.

Looking at the basic stand point of different scholars and that of the realists and
Liberian, the major center of argument is the enforcement of international which I would
stand and say international law is law by the mere fact that most states recognize it and go
by it just the way citizens of a nation recognizes domestic law, for example in 2003, before
the USA invaded Iraq, it went to the Security Council of the United Nations to seek for a
resolution to permit the USA to go to war with Iraq to which the USA was refused even
though it went ahead and invaded Iraq. The point, therefore, is that the USA as a world’s
superpower could have simply gone to Iraq without going to the UN in the first place, but the
fact that the USA went to seek approval which was not granted confirms the fact that even
powerful countries give recognition to international law and tries their best to comply with
them, I would say this justifies international law as law.

International law is law to the largest extent is law in that it has often been enforced in many
international systems which most powerful nations have been victims to such as the united
states, Russia, to mention but a few which have been punished and sanctioned for breaching
international law thus complying to international laws based on the treaties and thus they are
treated equally to the inferior countries because one law applies to all;
For instance, in the year 2014, the European Union imposed economic sanctions against
Russia, targeting its oil industry, defense, dual-use goods and sensitive technologies. This
sanction was a result of the fact that Russia was accused of supplying air missile to Ukrainian
separatist, which was used in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over
eastern Ukraine and this act was considered as a breach of international law11. Again in July
2014, Russia was again found guilty of breaching international law and as a result was made
to pay a compensation of $50bn (£29.4bn) to shareholders of Yukos, the former defunct oil
company that was broken up a decade ago after its boss fell foul of Vladimir Putin12. In the
11
The Guardian. EU agrees new sanctions on Russia; UK sees record demand for long-term debt -
business live; 2014. Accessed on 14th February 2018 Available:https://www.theguardian.com/bus
iness/live/2014/jul/29/next-profits-bprussia-sanctions-vodafone-agm-business-
live

12
Rankin J. Russia ordered to pay $50bn in damages to Yukos shareholders; 2014.
Accessed
judgment, a tribunal in the Hague ruled that the Russian state had intentionally sought to
bankrupt Yukos, confiscate its assets and use all measures possible to prevent the owner of
the company who is in the person of, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, from entering into politics.
And lastly on the 3rd of July 1998, a USA Navy ship called the Vincennes shot down the Iran
Air Flight 655 killing all the 290 members and the crew on board13. This was a terrible
incident and was considered a breach of international law. In fact, Iran sued the United States
in the International Court of Justice in The Hague to seek compensation for Iranian families
that lost their loved ones as a result of this act and in the lawsuit, Iran argued that the United
States had violated the 1971 treaty which sought to prevent acts of violence against civilian
airliners. After the ruling of the court, the USA agreed to pay a compensation of $100,000 to
$250,000 to the families of people killed when the Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by the
American Navy Ship. Basing on the examples that justify international law as law I wouldn’t
agree with Slomanson whose view is that international law is not really law, that those who
purport it to be law only do so to convince their clients and students that it is something more
than a myopic fantasy. This view is based on the fact that international law unlike domestic
laws, lack an enforcement mechanism and states can act as they wish so long it benefits their
interests. For example, the United States of America can boycott the United Nations to go
into another country’s affairs simply because they are the world power and stand to gain
certain benefits.14The examples above show to it that international is recognized by even the
powerful states and all states are punished meaning international possesses all characteristics
of law itself.

Conclusively in my opinion, we should look at exceptions and these exceptions should not be
used to justify certain instances in international law, meaning that all States, on-
governmental organizations and even individual persons give recognition to the existence of
international law and the fact that there exist exceptional situations where some few powerful
countries have breached one international law or the other without being punished cannot
invalidate the international law. Also, even domestic law in some situations does not possess

13
Fisher M. The forgotten story of Iran Air Flight 655; 2013.
Accessed on 14th February 2018.
Available:https://www.washingtonpost.com /news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/16/theforgotten-story-of-
iran-air-flight-
655/?utm_term=.f00a93b3b57f 18. Pear RUS. Offers money in iran air case; 1989.

14
Ibid
hundred percent coercive force because in the domestic settings there are some powerful
individuals that breach or violate the law and go unpunished, but such exceptions cannot be
used to generalize that domestic law is not a real law. In some occasions, States or
individuals may break the law for their selfish interest or desires, but that is not to say that
there exists no law the first place. States to a large extent do comply with international law
for lots of reasons such as reputational reasons, reciprocity reasons, market reasons and so
on. Thus, states will like their nationals in foreign countries to be treated well and as such,
they mostly ensure that other foreign nationals are treated well in their territory. Additionally,
a state that is tagged for constantly breaking international laws and not respecting foreign
investors will in turn not attract any more foreign direct investments and will be stuck
economically. For these reasons and others, states comply with international laws and obey
them, making international laws real laws that can be enforced.

Bibiography.

1. ’’Lectures of Jurisprudence: or the philosophy of positive Law’’ by John Austin , Pg.5

2. Makodia VV. A pragmatic analysis of Legalese. In Language Forum. Batiri Publications

2009; 35(1):155-161

3. Lamond .G. The Coerciveness of Law Oxford Journal of legal studies;2000; 20(1), 39-62

4. Fox EM. Antitrust regulation across national boaders : The United States boeing Vs the
eoropean union airbus brooking review .1998: 16(1),30,33

5.2International Law Reconsidered: Is International Law Actually Law? C.J.Petallides,

2012 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/715/international-law-reconsidered-is-
international-law-actually-law [accessed 07/10/16]

6. How is International Law Enforced? Globalization 101 (N.D),

http://www.globalization101.org/how-is-international-law-enforced/ [accessed 09/10/16]