munotes®
Sign in
Home / SPPU / Solved Papers / LL.B. (Three Years) / Sem 5 / Public International Law / Oct 2025 / Solutions

LL.B. (Three Years) Sem 5 Public International Law Oct 2025 Question Paper with Solutions

SPPU Solved Question Papers

Public International Law

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

LL.B. (Three Years) · Sem 5

Oct 2025 Examination

munotes.in

Mumbai

munotes.in

First published on munotes.in on 5 November 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.

munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Savitribai Phule Pune University. It is not affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, and is not endorsed by it.

The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.

The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Savitribai Phule Pune University at the Oct 2025 examination.

munotes.in ii

Contents

The questions below are the paper as Savitribai Phule Pune University set it at the Oct 2025 examination, in the order it was set.

MarksPage

munotes.in iii

The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the Oct 2025 examination, reproduced as Savitribai Phule Pune University set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours  ·  Total marks 70  ·  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.

Read the original question paper

munotes.in iv

SECTION I

PART A

Answer Any two · 30 Marks

munotes.in 1

Q1)Define international law. Explain the subjects of international law.[15]

Answer

For full marks, cover: the term (Bentham, 1780) and the law of nations; the classical definitions (Oppenheim, Brierly, Fenwick) and their limits; Starke's wider definition; the modern definition; the meaning of a subject and an object; the theories (States only, individuals only, the modern view); States as primary subjects (Article 34 of the ICJ Statute); international organisations (Reparation for Injuries); individuals (rights and duties; LaGrand; Nottebohm); other subjects (the Holy See, insurgents and belligerents, liberation movements); NGOs and companies (Barcelona Traction); a table; a conclusion.

Part I: Definition

The term. The phrase international law was coined by Jeremy Bentham in 1780. The older name was the law of nations.

The classical definitions.

  1. Oppenheim (1905): the law of nations is "the name for the body of customary and conventional rules which are considered legally binding by civilised States in their intercourse with each other".
munotes.in 2
  1. Brierly: the rules and principles of action binding upon civilised States in their relations with one another.
  2. Fenwick: the rules binding upon the members of the international community.

These definitions treat States as the only subjects, and base the law on their consent.

Their limits. Four developments broke the States-only view.

  1. International organisations acquired personality, as the Reparation for Injuries opinion of 1949 showed.
  2. Individuals acquired duties directly, for example for war crimes at Nuremberg and before the International Criminal Court.
  3. Individuals acquired rights directly under human rights treaties.
  4. Jus cogens, peremptory norms under Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, bind States regardless of their consent.
munotes.in 3

Starke's wider definition. Starke defined international law as the body of law composed mainly of the principles and rules of conduct which States feel bound to observe. But it also includes rules on the functioning of international institutions, and on their relations with States and individuals. It also covers certain rules on individuals and non-State entities.

A modern definition. International law is the body of rules and principles binding on States, international organisations and, in defined respects, individuals. It is derived from treaties, custom and general principles, and includes a peremptory core that binds regardless of consent.

The features of international law

  1. No central legislature. States make the rules themselves, through treaties and custom.
  2. Consent. Most rules bind a State because it has agreed to them, expressly or by conduct.
  3. No compulsory court. The International Court of Justice decides a case only if the States concerned consent.
munotes.in 4
  1. Decentralised enforcement. There is no world police. The law is enforced by reciprocity, countermeasures, and the Security Council under Chapter VII.
  2. A peremptory core. A small set of norms, jus cogens, binds all States whatever their consent.

These features led Austin to call international law mere positive morality. Today, States treat it as binding, and argue about its content rather than its existence.

Part II: Subjects of international law

Subject and object. A subject of international law is an entity that has rights and duties under international law directly. It can act on them, for example by bringing claims. An object is merely something the law is about, such as territory or ships.

The theories.

  1. States only. The classical positivist view: only States are subjects; individuals are objects.
  2. Individuals only. Kelsen and others argued that in the end all law regulates the conduct of individuals, even when it speaks of States.
  3. The modern view. States are the primary subjects, but international organisations, individuals and some other entities are also subjects, to different extents.
munotes.in 5

1. States

States are the original and primary subjects, with full international personality. They make treaties, create custom, bring claims and bear responsibility. Under Article 34(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, only States may be parties in cases before the Court.

Under Article 2(1) of the UN Charter, the Organisation is based on the sovereign equality of all its Members. So every State, large or small, has the same legal capacity.

2. International organisations

In Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations, ICJ Reports 1949, page 174, a UN mediator had been killed in Palestine. The mediator was Count Bernadotte. The question was whether the UN could bring an international claim for injuries to its agents. The Court held that the UN has a large measure of international personality, and the capacity to bring an international claim, even against a non-Member. It is not a super-State, and its personality follows from the functions the Charter gives it (implied powers).

munotes.in 6

Under Article 104 of the Charter, the UN enjoys in each Member's territory the legal capacity necessary for its functions. Specialised agencies, such as the WHO and the ILO, have their own personality under their constitutions.

3. Individuals

  1. Duties. Individuals can be punished directly under international law for piracy, war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
  2. Rights. Human rights treaties give individuals rights, and some give them procedures to complain.
  3. Treaty rights for individuals. In LaGrand (Germany v. United States of America), decided on 27 June 2001, the ICJ held that Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations creates individual rights for detained foreign nationals.
munotes.in 7
  1. Through their State. In other matters, individuals act through their State. In Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala), ICJ Reports 1955, page 4, the Court held that it is the bond of nationality that alone confers the right of diplomatic protection. A State cannot protect a person who lacks a genuine connection with it.
  2. International criminal courts. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998, came into force in 2002. It lets the Court try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. India is not a party.

So individuals are subjects to a limited extent. They cannot make treaties, and cannot appear as parties before the ICJ.

4. Other subjects

  1. The Holy See, which makes treaties (concordats) and sends envoys.
  2. Insurgents and belligerents, recognised for limited purposes during civil wars.
  3. National liberation movements, which have been given observer status at the UN.
munotes.in 8

5. Non-governmental organisations and companies

NGOs are not subjects. Consultative status with ECOSOC under Article 71 of the Charter gives them influence, not personality. Companies generally act through their States. In Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company (Belgium v. Spain), ICJ Reports 1970, page 3, the Court held that only the national State of the company, not of its shareholders, could protect it. It also distinguished obligations owed to the international community as a whole (erga omnes).

The subjects compared

SubjectExtent of personalityExample of capacity
Statesfull, originalmake treaties; sue in the ICJ (Article 34)
International organisationsfunctional, derivedbring claims (Reparation for Injuries)
Individualslimitedrights under treaties (LaGrand); criminal liability
munotes.in 9
SubjectExtent of personalityExample of capacity
Holy See, belligerents, liberation movementsspecial, limitedtreaties, observer status
NGOs and companiesnone as suchact through States (Barcelona Traction)

An example

Suppose an Indian national is arrested abroad and denied consular access. The individual has rights under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (LaGrand). But only India, as a State, can take the matter to the ICJ. That is what India did in Jadhav (India v. Pakistan), decided on 17 July 2019, where the Court found that Pakistan had breached Article 36.

munotes.in 10

Conclusion

Conclusion. International law, a term coined by Bentham, was classically defined (Oppenheim, Brierly) as rules binding on civilised States in their relations, based on consent. That view no longer fits, because organisations, individuals and peremptory norms now play a part. A modern definition covers rules binding on States, international organisations and, in defined respects, individuals, drawn from treaties, custom and general principles. States remain the primary subjects, with full personality (Article 34 of the ICJ Statute). International organisations have functional personality (Reparation for Injuries). Individuals are subjects to a limited extent, holding treaty rights (LaGrand) and criminal duties. Diplomatic protection still flows through nationality (Nottebohm), and companies act through their States (Barcelona Traction).

munotes.in 11

The rest of the answers

The rest of the answers come with the SPPU LL.B. (Three Years) Semester 5 solved papers.

You have read the question paper and its first answer in full. Buy the solved papers once and you can read every answer of every solved paper in this semester.

Solved papers: ₹499 Already bought it? Sign in

The question paper itself stays open to everyone.

Issue

Found an error in this volume? Report it and we will check it against the paper.

Done!