Chapter 11: International Law And Norms

Chemical Weapons Convention

-Chemical weapons taboo -prohibits producing, stockpiling, or using chemical weapons; states supposed to destroy such weapons -Org for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons monitors treaty -no real enforcement mechanism

How is international law made?

-Custom (de facto becomes de jure) -Treaties

Transnational Advocacy Networks

-a set of individuals and non governmental orgs (working across state borders) in pursuit of a normative objective

Custom international laws

-de facto becomes de jure 1. develops slowly after repeated practice or long-standing acceptance 2. ex: diplomatic immunity, don't kill messengers

obligation

-degree to which agents are legally bound -compliance unconditional for high-obligation law (Ex: WTO treaties) -aspirational compliance for low obligation laws (ex: human rights treaties, climate change)

those who oppose international law

-doesn't truly limit states and it's a reflection of what they were already going to do -may not be completely true bc domestic courts, compliance constituencies, and TANS may hold courts accountable through naming and shaming

International Criminal Court

-est 1998 and came into play 2002 -jurisdiction over individuals who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity -nationals of state parties or crimes that occur within state parties; if not state party, only after security council referral

Ian Hurd: Why follow international law?

-fear of punishment (self-enforcement) -self-interest (laws follow practice; selection effect) -feel that law is legitimate

example of constitutive norms

-having flags, names, ministries, anthems

key to norms

-identity -norms work bc people want to keep their identity -people avoid lying and cheating bc they want to keep their identity of being good

Example of norm entrepreneurs

-land mines: Williams and Princess Diana -Civil Rights: MLK, Du Bois, Malcolm X -Women's Rights: Susan B Anthony, Stanton -TANs (Transnational Advocacy Networks)

Primary rules

-most laws are primary rules -primary rules are legit when they are in accordance with unifying principles and secondary rules

procedural norms

-norms on how international relations should work -analogous to secondary rules -norms for how decisions or rules are made -common but differentiated responsibility -reciprocity

regulative norms

-norms shape how states should behave when they interact -they identify who is an appropriate or legit actor in international politics

constitutive norms

-norms shape what is means to be a state -constitute the meaning of sovereignty and being a state -they identify who is an appropriate or legitimate actor in international politics

Characteristics of international laws

-obligation -precision -delegation -hard and soft laws

International Court of Justice

-part of UN -States submit disputes for settlements and offers advisory opinions for UN and other international orgs -15 judges from around the world with 9 year terms appointed by General Assembly and Security Council -security council authorized to enforce rulings

Legitimacy

-primary rules (laws) are viewed as legitimate (rule of law) when they are in accordance with unify principles and secondary rules

Proponents of international law

-say that states want international law bc it leads to cooperation and mutual benefit (reciprocity, Geneva Convention leads to humane treatment of POWs and other hors de combat) -states want to be constrained

TANs redefining interests

-shape definition of what is right -naming and shaming -monitoring and reporting

unifying principle of international law

-sovereignty of the state -R2P may threaten this

Precision

-specificity of obligations -reduces scope of reasonable interpretation -international law is usually very precise

international norms

-standard of behavior with a given identity; norms define what actions are right or appropriate under particular circumstances (things we should or shouldn't know) -hard and soft law can reflect norms

Delegation

-third-party interpretation and application (e.g. Supreme Court delegated to interpret laws made by Congress) -courts make new laws when precision is low and delegation is high (judicial activism)

How do norms form>

-what becomes acceptable changes through time -basically what happens is that a majority of individuals change their minds on the policy -usually start with norm entrepreneurs

Norm life cycle

1. convince (win supporters through successful framing) 2. cascade (reach a tipping point where the norm rapidly spreads until it's universally accepted) 3. internalize (norm becomes so accepted that we don't even consider it)

International laws made by treaties

1. usually the result of conventions that draw states together for negotiation (becomes law after signature and ratification) 2. ex: Ottawa Treat (land mines), Non-proliferation treaty (nuclear weapons), Rome Statute (ICC), UN Convention on Rights of Child

Geneva Convention: acts prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons

1. violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture 2. taking out hostages 3. outrages upon personal dignity, humiliating and degrading treatment 4. the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people

examples of TANs

ICRC, doctors without borders, greenpeace, catholic church, catholic church, nobel foundation

example of US involved in international court of justice

US pulled out of compulsory jurisdiction after 1986 ruling that the Contra War in Nicaragua was illegal; pulled out of other protocol after case about Mexican death row inmates in 2005

international law

a body of rules that binds states and other agents in world politics and is considered to have the status of law

Hurd's definition of legitimate

a normative belief by an actor that rule or institution ought to be obeyed

compliance

a state of conformity or identity between an actor's behavior and a specified rule

power

ability to get a state to do something it otherwise wouldn't do

the world is

anarchic (no governing system), however most of the time we see states comply with international law

people (states) follow norms to

avoid being shamed or ostracized (kicked out of group)

soft law

exhortatory, ambiguous, low delegation; better suited to uncertain futures or important sovereignty

norm entrepreneurs

individuals and groups who seek to advance principled standards of behavior for states and other actors

How nations behave

it is probably the case that almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law and almost all of their obligations almost all the time

international criminal court is the court of

last resort; can't try individuals if dealt with domestically

important procedural norms

more powerful states have special rights and responsibilities so they tend to make the rule

examples of regulative norms

nuclear taboo, R2P, chemical weapons taboo

Hard law

obligatory, precise, high delegation; binding, mandatory, and enforceable

TANs play an important role in

promoting compliance with international law and spread of norms

secondary rules

rules about how we make rules

in the US, the source of secondary rules is

the Constitution; therefore, the Supreme Court's duty is to ensure that laws are legitimate (in accordance with the Constitution)

Underlying the Constitution are

unify principles (limiting power of state, unalienable rights, checks and balances, separation of powers, federalism)

hard power

using military and economic capabilities to get what you want through coercion (sticks) and payments (carrots)

soft power

using the diffusion (spread) of culture and social and political values to change others' preferences to match yours (attraction)