International Law-Making
How international law is created through treaties, custom, and international organizations — a process fundamentally different from domestic legislation.
Law Without a Legislature
International law is fundamentally different from domestic law because there is no world legislature. No body of elected representatives passes laws that bind all nations. Instead, international law emerges from three main sources: treaties (agreements between states), customary international law (practices so widespread and consistent that they become legally binding), and general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.
This means international law-making is a process of negotiation and consent rather than majority rule. A treaty only binds the states that ratify it. Customary law requires widespread and consistent state practice plus a belief that the practice is legally required (opinio juris). This consent-based system reflects the principle of state sovereignty — the idea that no authority stands above the nation-state.