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Law and Famous Trials - What Is International Law?

What is international law?

International law, also called the law of nations, is a body of rules that governs conduct among nations. It is comprised of a complicated web of treaties (agreements between two or among several nations), laws based on customs, legal writings, and conventions (international agreements). In 1625 Dutch legal scholar Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) published Concerning the Law of War and Peace, which served as a basis of international law. In this work he asserted that every state in the world is sovereign (independent) and legally equally to all other states. He also argued that natural law (a body of law that is derived from nature and is therefore binding upon human society) defines rules of conduct for nations as well as individuals; therefore nations are accountable to common principles, which are higher than the laws of a nation.

At the time everyone did not agree with Grotius's idea....

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