International courtInternational courts are formed by treaties between nations or under the authority of an international organization such as the United Nations and include ad hoc tribunals and permanent institutions but exclude any courts arising purely under national authority. An international court is an international organization, or a body of an international organization, that hears cases in which one party may be a state or international organization (or body thereof), and which is composed of independent judges who follow predetermined rules of procedure to issue binding decisions on the basis of international law.
Sources of international lawInternational law, also known as "law of nations", refers to the body of rules which regulate the conduct of sovereign states in their relations with one another. Sources of international law include treaties, international customs, general widely recognized principles of law, the decisions of national and lower courts, and scholarly writings. They are the materials and processes out of which the rules and principles regulating the international community are developed. They have been influenced by a range of political and legal theories.
StatuteA statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by legislative bodies; they are distinguished from case law or precedent, which is decided by courts, and regulations issued by government agencies. In virtually all countries, newly enacted statutes are published and distributed so that everyone can look up the statutory law.
Multilateral treatyA multilateral treaty is a treaty to which two or more sovereign states are parties. Each party owes the same obligations to all other parties, except to the extent that they have stated reservations. Examples of multilateral treaties include the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Geneva Conventions, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. A bilateral treaty is a treaty between two states.
Erga omnesIn legal terminology, erga omnes rights or obligations are owed toward all. For instance, a property right is an erga omnes entitlement and therefore enforceable against anybody infringing that right. An erga omnes right (a statutory right) can be distinguished from a right based on contract, which is unenforceable except against the contracting party. Erga omnes is a Latin phrase which means "towards all" or "towards everyone". In international law, it has been used as a legal term describing obligations owed by states towards the community of states as a whole.
