Author: Anushka Kunwar, Student at Law College, Dehradun, Uttaranchal University
INTRODUCTION
International law is at the heart of international relations. Previously, the role of the state was limited to just providing protection to their citizen. But now the time has changed and in the present surrounding, the role that the state has to perform has become complex one. Even though the legal theory states that each state is sovereign and equal, in actuality with the exceptional development in communications and consciousness and with the frequent instances of global rivalries, even the most powerful of states struggles to be entirely due to its interconnectedness and the close-knit character the contemporary international commercial and political society secures that practically any action taken by a state can have extreme impact upon the entire system as well as the decisions under deliberation by other states. Hence, international law has gained great importance in the present scenario and it has been interpreted and enforced regularly.
Flexible and creative, international law regulates the life of States and their relations. As a branch of legal science, public international law falls under of the same nature as that of law in general. It is a technique of regulating political, economic and social relations, characterized by the prohibition of the use of force as a method of settling disputes and the overcoming private revenge through recourse to impartial bodies.
Law, part of the superstructure of the social order, is experienced as the expression of the will of the dominant groups sanctioned by the public authorities. The transposition into public international law of these general and global analyzes must take into account two factors: on the one hand the problem of international society and, on the other hand, the phenomenon of power relations within the international company.
India has made several contributions to international law, particularly in the domain of technology & trade laws, environment conservation & protection and humanitarian laws, also a lot of India’s domestic laws have been synchronized with international principles and norms for the purpose of fulfilling its international commitments. In addition, India has signed more than one hundred and sixty treaties and conventions related to varied fields of law.
The constitution of India gives only a limited direction regarding the link between international law and municipal law. The approach of India towards international law can be known through the expounding done by the courts in their various judgments. The dualist theory of international law is observed by India. On that account, for international law principles and norms to be implemented in municipal courts the former must be incorporated into the domestic law explicitly.
The schemes of Indian Constitution describes international treaties as an executive act. And according to it an international treaty can only be concluded when it receives an approval from the Union Cabinet.
