PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL

LAW
LECTURE NO.2
 HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

• The history of International law can be traced back to the ancient times, but flourished during 19 th and 20th
century.
• The history of international law has two prominent phases, the one starting from the end of the thirty
years of war.
• The era of post 1648 (the treaty of Westphalia) to the 1918 is identified as Classic International Law,
Whereas the post World War II era is recognized as the modern international law.

• The classic international law recognized the modern states as the only subject of international law.
The classic international law recognized the right of the states to wage war for the implementation of
their rights and protection of their national interests.

• Modern International law developed with the establishment of the United Nations Organization that
outlawed the concept of war and allowed the use of force in case of individual or collective self defense.