Violation
Crime
Punishment
After a legislative body passes a law for a nation or a state, police enforce the laws, and people who break them are tried in courts. But there is no international legislature to pass rules that all nations must observe. Neither is there an international police force to make countries obey international law. As a result, it is often difficult to enforce the provisions of international law.
Consent of nations. International laws are often classified in three groups, according to how many nations accept them. (1) Universal international law includes the rules accepted by all nations as a part of international law. These rules cover such items as the sanctity of treaties, the safety of foreign ambassadors, and each nation's jurisdiction over the air space above its territory. (2) General international law includes rules accepted by the majority of countries, especially those that are most powerful. One law of this type is the rule that each nation has jurisdiction over its territorial waters, a water area typically claimed to extend 22 kilometres from its shores. Many nations follow this rule, but some do not. Ecuador and Peru, for example, claim a limit of 370 kilometres. (3) Particular international law includes agreements between two or among a few nations, such as trade treaties.
Violations. Japan violated international law in 1941 by attacking Pearl Harbor without first declaring war. Germany broke international law during World War II when the German government killed millions of European Jews and forced slave labourers from other European countries to work in German war factories. The Soviet Union violated international law by refusing to repatriate many prisoners of war long after the end of World War II. Reports were given to the United Nations (UN) about the cruel treatment of many UN prisoners of war by the Chinese Communists and North Koreans in the Korean War (1950 – 1953). Violations occurred in the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), the Pakistani Civil War (1971), and the Vietnam War (1957-1975).
The fact that laws are broken does not destroy them as laws. The laws of cities, states, and nations are often broken, but such laws remain an active force. No nation denies the existence of international law.
Courts and arbitration. In the belief that arbitration is a better method than war to settle disputes, the Permanent Court of Arbitration was established in 1899 at The Hague, the Netherlands. Members of the court serve as arbitrators, not as judges.
In 1920, the League of Nations set up the Permanent Court of International Justice. The United Nations took over the court in 1946 and renamed it the International Court of Justice. This court issues judgments on boundary disputes and other questions of international law. Nations are not required to use the court, but they must accept its decisions if they do use it.
Punishment. There is no uniform way to enforce international laws. Laws within countries provide penalties for those who break them. But in the society of nations, no individual nation has the power to punish other nations or to force them to submit their disagreements to courts of arbitration. If an aggressor refuses to arbitrate, an injured nation may resort to self-help, which in some cases may mean war. But when the aggressor is strong and the injured nation is weak, such action is not practical. Treaties for united action, such as the North Atlantic Treaty, provide help for weaker nations in such cases. The UN Charter provides for collective defence.
The trials of German and Japanese leaders at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II were an important step in the development of international law. Some of the leaders were charged, not only with breaking the laws of war, but also with bringing about the war itself. The idea that international laws will be enforced by punishing those persons who break them represents an important addition to the theory of international law. The International Law Commission of the United Nations has given much study to improved ways of formulating and enforcing international law.