KSLU Solved Question Papers
Public International Law
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 7
2016 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 7 Public International Law 2016 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2016 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2016 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1What are the sources of International Law ? Explain Treaties as a source of International Law.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: formal and material sources; article 38(1) of the ICJ Statute, each source with a case: conventions (Asylum Case), custom (North Sea Continental Shelf, The Paquete Habana), general principles (Chorzow Factory), judicial decisions (article 59) and writers (Paquete Habana), equity (article 38(2)); other sources (General Assembly resolutions with Nicaragua, unilateral declarations with Eastern Greenland); whether there is a hierarchy (jus cogens, Charter article 103); then treaties as a source in depth: meaning and elements (VCLT article 2), why they are now the leading source, law-making treaties and treaty-contracts, binding force (articles 26, 27), effect on third States (article 34) and on custom (article 38), interpretation (article 31), registration (Charter article 102), limits (articles 52, 53), India (article 253, Maganbhai); a conclusion.
Formal and material sources
A formal source is what gives a rule its binding force, such as a treaty or custom. A material source is where the content of a rule is found, such as a draft by the International Law Commission. International law has no legislature, so its formal sources are the ways in which States create binding rules.
The sources in article 38(1) of the ICJ Statute
Article 38(1) is the accepted statement. The Court decides disputes "in accordance with international law" and applies four things.
1. International conventions, "whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states". These are treaties, discussed in detail below.
2. International custom, "as evidence of a general practice accepted as law". It needs State practice and opinio juris, the belief that the practice is legally required. In the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases, ICJ Reports 1969, p. 3, the Court held that equidistance had not become custom. Practice must be extensive and virtually uniform, including that of States specially affected. It must also show a general recognition that a rule of law is involved.
3. General principles of law "recognized by civilized nations". These are principles common to the world's legal systems, used to fill gaps. In Factory at Chorzow (Germany v. Poland), PCIJ Series A, No. 17 (1928), the Permanent Court said it is "a principle of international law, or even of law in general, that any breach of an engagement involves an obligation to make reparation".
4. Judicial decisions and the teachings of publicists, as "subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law". A decision of the Court binds only the parties in that case (article 59), but its reasoning is followed in practice. In The Paquete Habana; The Lola, 175 U.S. 677 (1900), the United States Supreme Court explained the role of writers. Their works are consulted not for their authors' views of what the law ought to be, but "for trustworthy evidence of what the law really is". The Court then traced centuries of practice to find a custom exempting coastal fishing boats from capture in war.
Equity. Under article 38(2), the Court may decide a case ex aequo et bono, on fairness alone, only if the parties agree.
Sources outside the list
- General Assembly resolutions. They are mostly recommendations, but they can evidence custom. In Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), judgment of 27 June 1986, the Court found opinio juris for the ban on force partly in States' attitude to resolution 2625 (XXV), the Friendly Relations Declaration.
- Unilateral declarations. A State's own statement may bind it. The leading case is Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Denmark v. Norway), PCIJ Series A/B, No. 53 (1933). Norway was held bound by its Foreign Minister's declaration of 22 July 1919 that it would not make difficulties about Denmark's claim to Greenland.
- Decisions of international organisations, such as binding Security Council decisions under article 25 of the Charter.
Is there a hierarchy?
Article 38 sets no formal hierarchy, though the Court usually looks first at treaties, as the most specific evidence of the parties' consent. Two rules stand above the rest. A treaty is void if it conflicts with a peremptory norm, jus cogens (VCLT, article 53). And Charter obligations prevail over obligations under any other international agreement (Charter, article 103).
Treaties as a source
Meaning. Article 2(1)(a) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 (VCLT) defines a treaty as "an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law", whatever its name. A convention, covenant, charter, protocol and exchange of notes are all treaties.
Why treaties are now the leading source.
- They are written and precise, so their content can be known.
- They rest on express consent, which suits a community of sovereign States.
- They can be made quickly to meet new problems, such as outer space or the environment.
- They codify custom. The International Law Commission's work produced the Vienna Conventions of 1961 and 1969, and the Law of the Sea Convention followed in 1982.
Kinds.
- Law-making treaties are multilateral treaties laying down general rules for many States, such as the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions of 1949. They are the nearest thing to legislation in international law.
- Treaty-contracts are bilateral or limited agreements, such as a boundary or trade treaty. They create particular obligations. A series of similar treaty-contracts can, however, help form custom.
Binding force. Under article 26, "Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith". Under article 27, a party "may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty".
Effect on third States. Under article 34, a treaty does not create obligations or rights for a third State without its consent. In the Asylum Case (Colombia v. Peru), ICJ Reports 1950, p. 266, Colombia relied on the Montevideo Convention of 1933 to justify its unilateral qualification of Haya de la Torre's offence. The Court held that Peru had not ratified that Convention, so it could not be invoked against Peru.
Effect on custom. A treaty rule may become binding on third States "as a customary rule of international law" (article 38). North Sea explained when that happens, and found that the equidistance rule had not done so.
Interpretation. Under article 31(1), a treaty "shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose".
Reservations. A State may join a multilateral treaty with a reservation that excludes or modifies some provisions for itself. It may not do so if the reservation is prohibited or incompatible with the treaty's object and purpose (article 19). The test comes from the Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide opinion (1951). Reservations let more States join, at the cost of uniform obligations.
Registration. Under article 102 of the Charter, every treaty entered into by a Member must be registered with the UN Secretariat. A party to an unregistered treaty may not invoke it before any organ of the United Nations.
Limits. A treaty procured by the threat or use of force is void (article 52), and so is one that conflicts with jus cogens (article 53).
Treaties and Indian law
Under the Constitution, the Union executive makes treaties, and Parliament may legislate to implement them (article 253). In Maganbhai Ishwarbhai Patel v. Union of India, AIR 1969 SC 783, Shah J said legislation is not a condition of entering into a treaty. It is needed only where a treaty affects citizens' rights or changes domestic law.
Conclusion. Article 38(1) lists conventions, custom and general principles as the sources of international law. Judicial decisions and writers are subsidiary means, and equity applies only by consent. General Assembly resolutions and unilateral declarations add evidence of law, as Nicaragua and Eastern Greenland show. Treaties are now the leading source because they are written, consensual and quick to make. They bind the parties in good faith but not third States, as the Asylum Case shows, and can pass into custom. They are void only if procured by force or contrary to jus cogens.
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