KSLU Solved Question Papers
Public International Law
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
LL.B. (Three Years) · Sem 4
2022 Oct Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
LL.B. (Three Years) Sem 4 Public International Law 2022 Oct 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 2022 Oct examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2022 Oct 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 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problems is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
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.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Define International Law and discuss custom as a source of International Law.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: a definition of international law; the sources in article 38(1) of the ICJ Statute in brief; custom in detail: meaning, from usage to custom, the tests (duration, uniformity, generality, opinio juris) with Lotus and North Sea Continental Shelf, where evidence of custom is found (The Paquete Habana, Nicaragua), general, regional and local custom (Asylum Case, Right of Passage), the persistent objector (Fisheries Case), custom and treaty; merits and defects of custom.
Definition
International law is the body of rules that States and other international persons regard as legally binding in their relations with one another. It governs mainly States. It also governs international organisations and, increasingly, individuals.
The sources in brief
Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice lists what the Court applies:
| Article 38(1) | Source | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | International conventions (treaties) | Primary; bind the parties |
| (b) | International custom | Primary; binds all States |
| (c) | General principles of law recognised by civilised nations | Primary; fills gaps |
| (d) | Judicial decisions and teachings of publicists | Subsidiary means only |
Under article 38(2), the Court may also decide ex aequo et bono if the parties agree.
Custom as a source
Meaning. Custom is "international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law" (article 38(1)(b)). It is the oldest source. Large parts of the law, such as diplomatic immunity and the law of the sea, began as custom before they were written into treaties.
From usage to custom. A usage is a habit of States that is not legally required. A usage becomes a custom when States come to follow it because they believe the law requires it. Ceremonial salutes at sea are a usage. Immunity of ambassadors is a custom.
The tests of a custom
- Duration. No fixed period is needed. A short period is not a bar, as North Sea held.
- Uniformity and consistency. The practice must be "extensive and virtually uniform". Occasional breaches do not destroy a rule.
- Generality. Not every State need take part. But the States whose interests are specially affected must be included.
- Opinio juris. States must follow the practice from a sense of legal obligation.
In S.S. Lotus (France v. Turkey), PCIJ Series A, No. 10 (1927), France showed that States rarely prosecuted foreign officers after collisions at sea. The Permanent Court said this proved nothing unless States were "conscious of a duty to abstain".
The leading case is the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases (Federal Republic of Germany/Denmark; Federal Republic of Germany/Netherlands), ICJ Reports 1969, p. 3. Germany had not ratified the 1958 Continental Shelf Convention. The Court held that the equidistance rule in its article 6 had not become custom. The practice did not show general recognition of a legal duty.
Where evidence of custom is found
- Diplomatic correspondence and official statements.
- National laws and decisions of national courts.
- Treaties, especially many treaties on the same point.
- Resolutions of the General Assembly and votes on them.
- Drafts and reports of the International Law Commission.
- The works of leading writers.
In The Paquete Habana; The Lola, 175 U.S. 677 (1900), the United States Supreme Court traced centuries of orders, treaties and writings. It found a customary rule exempting coastal fishing boats from capture in war.
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 General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV).
Kinds of custom
- General custom binds all States.
- Regional custom binds States of one region. In the Asylum Case (Colombia v. Peru), ICJ Reports 1950, p. 266, Colombia failed to prove a Latin American custom allowing the State of refuge to qualify the offence alone.
- Local custom may bind even two States. In Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India), judgment of 12 April 1960, long practice gave Portugal passage for civilians and goods to its enclaves.
The persistent objector
A State that objects to a rule while it is forming, and keeps objecting, is not bound. In the Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), ICJ Reports 1951, p. 116, the ten-mile rule for bays did not bind Norway, which had always opposed it.
Custom and treaty
A treaty may codify custom, as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 did. A treaty may also create custom, if its rule is norm-creating and widely followed, as North Sea explains. Even a State outside the treaty is then bound by the custom.
Merits and defects
Merits. Custom binds all States, grows from real practice, and fills gaps that treaties leave.
Defects. It is slow to form and hard to prove. Its content is often uncertain, which is why codification by treaty is preferred.
Conclusion. International law draws on treaties, custom and general principles, with decisions and writings as subsidiary means. Custom needs practice that is general and uniform, accepted as law, as Lotus and North Sea explain. It may be general, regional or local, as the Asylum Case and Right of Passage show. Despite its uncertainty, it remains the source that binds every State.
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