Meeqat Naeem Abbasi
International law is the set of rules and norms that have moral and legal binding on all the states or on the global level. But the question arises here is that weather international law is the true law or not? Does it have all the features that need to be possessed by any rule to ascend to the level of international law? There is a great deal of debate over this because of the divergent definitions of the word law by various jurists. To understand the true status of international law, we first need to get to the depth of definitions of the law. There are many jurists who have defined law in different ways among which the definitions of two jurists gained popularity. John Austin defined law as “the command of sovereign attended by sanctions”. While Professor Oppenheim stated law as “law is the body of rules for human conduct within a community, which by the common consent of the community can be enforced by an external power”. So, for Austin school of thought international law doesn’t hold the two requirements as a law should have, but for the second school of thought, international law today is possessing all the essential characteristics a law should have. So, this puzzle is yet to be resolved. Apart from the debate over the status of international law being a true law or not, there is no effective body for legislation and implementation. There is no central and sovereign authority over the states to enforce the law in true and proper sense. Due to this aspect, international law is considered as a weak law according to Starke. In addition to this, it does not have its obligation over different important aspects such as asylum, human rights etc. Despite all the weaknesses of the international legal system, the legal character of international law cannot be denied. As far as United Nations General Assembly is concerned, it places sanctions over states that are guilty of violating international law. These violating states may become subject to diplomatic pressure or economic sanctions can be put on them as they have been put on North Korea. Therefore, it can be concluded that international law is the true law, but it needs to have a more sovereign body for the effective implementation and enforcement of these laws.
