Which law is more important: International or National, the answer to this question depends on the legal traditions of a particular country. Most legal theorists believe that globalization processes will only become aggravated in the future. Problems that require joint efforts, such as transnational crime, ecological and technogenic safety; prevention of armed conflicts; protection of human rights will come to the fore. This will lead to the prevalence of international norms of law over national ones. Already, many countries have fixed in the basic laws the provision for such a priority. International law in most of its norms, which are recognized by all states of the world, is universal. In the part recognized not by all, but by most countries of the world, it is called general. The norms of international law established by the countries of one region create regional international law. The norms established by states in any field, for example, in energy, or in the field of production and marketing of oil, in navigation or air traffic, are called sectoral.
The norms establishing the rights and obligations between the two states are contained in numerous bilateral treaties.
At present, the central part of international law is the UN Charter, which contains the basic principles of modern international relations, obligatory for execution by all countries and possessing supremacy in relation to all other norms of international law.
Under the charter of the United Nations Organization, states pledged to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, to fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed under the charter, to observe the principle of sovereign equality of all UN members, to resolve their international disputes by peaceful means in such a way as not to jeopardize the international peace, security and justice, to refrain in their international relations from the threat of force or using the force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other way, commit acts inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations (UN). In addition, the UN Charter approved the principle of non-intervention in matters, essentially included within the domestic jurisdiction of any state (this principle, however, does not affect the application of compulsory measures on the basis of the Charter).
The basic principles of the UN Charter were confirmed and expanded in the declaration on principles of International Law, concerning friendly relations and cooperation among states in accordance with the UN Charter (October 24, 1970), and later in the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, adopted in 1975 in Helsinki.
The declaration on principles of International Law concerning friendly relations and cooperation among states in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (October 24, 1970) provided that: States shall refrain in their international relations from the threat with force or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.
States shall resolve their international disputes by peaceful means in such a way as not to endanger international peace, security and justice. States are bound by the Charter not to interfere in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any state. States are obliged to cooperate with each other in accordance with the UN Charter.
By virtue of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, envisaged in the charter, all peoples have the right to freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development without outside interference, and every state is obliged to respect this right in accordance with the provisions of the charter. All states enjoy sovereign equality, they have the same rights and obligations and are full-fledged members of international society, regardless of differences of an economic, social, political or other nature. Each state is obliged to fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by it in accordance with the UN Charter, arising from the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, as well as arising from international treaties valid in accordance with the generally recognized principles and norms of international law. All the above-mentioned principles have been repeatedly confirmed in other declarations and other foundational documents contained in the resolutions of the UN General Assembly. Herewith, it was found that, in interpretation and application, the above-mentioned principles are interrelated and each principle must be considered in the context of all other principles.
The norms of international law define the basic concepts and institutions of international relations, as well as the related rights and obligations of states and international organizations. They contain the definition of the state, its sovereignty, territory, population, and the concept of legal succession of states, their international legal responsibility as a subject of international law. These norms also define the institutions of an international treaty, negotiations, intermediation, international conflicts, peaceful settlement of disputes, representing the methods of implementation of relations between states.
As noted above, there are branches in the system of norms of international law, in which norms related to certain areas of international regulation are grouped.
Diplomatic and consular law regulates the representational relations of states and the rules for servicing citizens and trade and economic organizations abroad.
In the field of international security and disarmament, the norms of international law determine the order and guarantees for the maintenance of international peace.
Maritime law regularizes the regime of maritime spaces and their use.
Law of the air defines the rights and obligations of states in connection with air communication.
Law of outer space determines the probing procedure and exploitation of outer space.
International humanitarian law consolidates and promotes the development of human rights.
A separate branch is made up of norms that determine the order for economic and scientific and technical cooperation between states, international legal protection of the ambient environment, etc.
&2 International law and politics
International law is always inseparably linked with the politics of states. It is a continuation of their policy, fixed for a certain, often very long period, in the form of norms that create a legal obligation for these states to act exactly as they agreed in their agreements.
Throughout the history of international law, it has been based on the principle that the ancient Romans formulated as “pacta sunt servanda” – “treaties must be observed”. In contrast to the situation within the state, where the observance of law is ensured by the state apparatus in international relations, where there is no supranational power, states are forced to take their protection into their own hands when their rights are violated. At the same time, they seek support from other states, interested in maintaining the authority and effectiveness of international law, in order to jointly resort to sanctions or other coercive measures to restore violated rights. Currently, these actions of states are regulated by the UN Charter.
By being closely connected with politics, international law itself was in the past and currently remains a field of acute political struggle between various groups of states for the development and application of its institutions and norms in accordance with their interests.
In the era of Ancient Rome, international law reflected the relations of the hegemony of Ancient Rome and its subordinate peoples that existed at that time, in the Middle Ages it determined the relations of states –