1. What is International Law?

Hugo Grotius, Dutch, is considered father of modem international law. He authored De

Jure Belli ac Pads. What he called the “law of nations” was later given the name of
“international law” by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Ancient international law governed exchange of diplomatic emissaries, peace treaties,

etc., in the world of ancient Romans and even earlier. There is evidence of treaties
concluded between Jews and Romans, Syrians and Spartans. The progressive rules of
jus gentium, seen as a law “common to all men,” became the law of the vast Roman
empire.

Modem international law began with the birth of nation-states in the Medieval Age. The
governing principles were derived from Roman Law or Canon Law which in turn drew
heavily from natural law

2. Distinguish public international law and private international law.

Public international law governs the relationships between and among states and also
their relations with international organizations and individual persons. Private
international law is really domestic law which deals with cases where foreign law
intrudes in the domestic sphere where there are questions of the applicability of foreign
law or the role of foreign courts.

3. What are the sources of International Law? Define/describe each.

Sources are often classified into formal sources and material sources.

Formal sources can refer to the various processes by which rules come into existence.
Thus, for instance, legislation is a formal source of law. So are treaty making and
judicial decision making as well as the practice of states.

Material sources, on the other hand, are not concerned with how rules come into
existence but rather with the substance and content of the obligation. They identify what
the obligations are. In this sense, state practice, UN Resolutions, treaties, judicial
decisions and the writings of jurists are material sources in so far as they identify what
the obligations are. They are also sometimes referred to as “evidence” of international
law