ESQ Legal Practice Magazine JUNE 2014 EDITION | Page 52

International law has since
been given several definitions,
principal amongst which is
that, it is "a body of laws that
govern the legal relations
between or among states or
nations". It can also be
described as "a body of legal
rules governing the interaction
between sovereign states
(Public international law)" or
as the rights and duties of the
citizen of sovereign States
towards the citizens of other
States (Private International
Law).
Furthermore Blacks Law
Dictionary, 6th edition at page
816 describes International
Law as "those laws governing
the legal relationship between
nations, rules and principles of
general application dealing
with the conduct of nations

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and of international
organizations and their
relations inter se, as well as
with some of their relations
with persons, natural or
juridical."
However the simplest
description of international
law is that it contains a set of
rules and regulations that
define the way in which
nations generally agree to
behave towards one another.
The notion of Sovereignty is a
significant aspect of
international law. Every
Sovereign state or nation is
bound to acknowledge and
respect the independence and
individuality of other
Sovereign states or nations.
The courts of one countr