INTERNATIONAL LAW

(also called jus inter gentes, or erroneously jus gentium), the usages observed in relations between civilized states. International law may be divided into the Natural and the Conventional elements. The former, generally known as the Law of Nature, is based on those principles which are supposed to be uniyersally accepted:as rules of conduct for both states and individuals in their dealings{jwith each other; it is thus a moral rather than a legal obligation, ‘The Conventional element is the result of obligations imposed upon states by treaties and agreements between themselves, and of precedents and cases whereby the customary practice has been established, In many European states the writings of lawyers on the subject are also regarded as law. The chief question which has to be decided is that of the lawfulne or unlawfulne of war; and to prevent war the states may refer their disputes to international arbitration. Up to the World War this practice was becoming increasingly common, and several nations had made it obligatory inter se by treaty. The state as the unit of international law has certain rights which other states must recognize. These include: (1) the right to do whatever is nece ary for its own conservation; (2) the right to acquire new dominions; (3) to buy or sell property; (4) to choose its own form of government or to change it; (5) to increase its army and navy and to develop its commerce. And among the obligations morally binding on states are: (1) to allow no plots against sovereign of a foreign state to be organized within its bounds; (2) to put down sedition; (3) to protect its subjects in foreign countries; (4) to see that justice is impartially administered. In arbitration treaties i ues affecting the ‘vital interests’ of the contracting parties are usually excluded from the application of that method of settlement, interference with a nation’s rights or independence being regarded as a legitimate casus bell i. In international law the sea beyond the three-mile limit is regarded as free to all, every nation having rights of navigation and fishing on the high seas. Only ships of war and merchant ve els are recognized in international law; the former are armed ve els used in public service; they are considered to be part of the national territory of the state to which they belong, and when entering the ports of foreign states are not subject to the local jurisdiction of these states. Merchant ve els, on the other hand, are subject to the laws of any foreign state whose ports they may enter. Pirate ve els are not recognized and may be seized; and by most states ships engaged in slave trade are treated as pirates. In 1899 the International Peace Conference met at the Hague, and arranged for the constitution of a permanent arbitration court, to which disputes between states might be referred. In August, 1913, the Palace of Peace, instituted by the ‘Carnegie Féund at i on’ at the Hague, was in augur atéd, and a year later Hurope was engaged in the most widespread and sanguinary war of the ages. International law differs from ordinary law in two respects: (1) it is not made by any legislative authority; (2) it cannot be enforced by any superior power. In all international disputes the final tribunal is war or arbitarion. The utter breakdown of international law during the World War revealed its weakne in the most glaring manner, and led to the constitution of a League of Nations, which should promote international cooperation and achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, and by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among governments, See under Lnagun or Nations, INTERIOR, DEPT. OF. See Can- INET