INTERNATIONAL LAW 



3019 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 



a day, for the earth would have made two 

 revolutions. If two people, starting from the 

 same point, travel in opposite directions 

 around the earth, their reckoning of time would 

 differ by two days. 



As confusion would be endless if the reckon- 

 ing of time were unbroken around the earth, 

 it was necessary to choose a point at which 

 the date should change automatically. The 

 meridian of 180 longitude was chosen for the 

 reasons that it lies nearly in the middle of the 

 Pacific Ocean, far from civilized countries, and 



INTERNATIONAL, DATE LINE 



that it is exactly halfway around the world 

 from Greenwich. The theoretical date line is 

 therefore this 180th meridian, but in practice it 

 is more convenient to deviate slightly from 

 the meridian, to avoid the division of coun- 

 tries or islands. Thus the northeastern cor- 

 ner of Siberia, though nearly 15 east of the 

 180th meridian, lies west of the date line 

 agreed upon. Similarly Samoa and part of 

 the Aleutian Islands, though west of 180, are 

 east of the line. If the date line were drawn 

 exactly north and south, local difficulties might 

 arise in some island the day might be Tues- 

 day to one man and Monday with his neigh- 

 bor; so the line is deflected wherever con- 

 venient. 



The international date line has never been 

 drawn by legal agreement among the nations, 

 but general practice has determined its loca- 

 tion. 



INTERNATIONAL LAW, or the LAW OF 

 NATIONS, is the general name applied to those 

 rules which independent states observe or are 

 expected to observe in their conduct toward 

 one another. In other words, the law of 



nations is that collection of usages which civil- 

 ized nations have agreed to observe in their 

 relations with each other. International law 

 deals with states, namely independent and sov- 

 ereign states, just as municipal law deals with 

 individuals. But there are several important 

 differences between international and municipal 

 laws. International law is not made by any 

 legislative authority; it is not interpreted by 

 any established judicial body; and, more than 

 that, it cannot be enforced by a superior power. 

 It is based, first of all, upon common concep- 

 tions of right and justice, and then upon a set 

 of definite treaties and conventions concluded 

 between the nations of the world. It contains 

 a set of rules and customs which have no 

 other binding force than the consent of those 

 who obey it. 



But the voluntary declaration of the states of 

 their intention to comply with the rules, and 

 the fact that any well-established rules are 

 observed, show that international law does 

 possess a binding character. The fact that 

 states which break any of the accepted rules 

 try to explain that their conduct is in accord- 

 ance with international law also shows the 

 binding character it has acquired. 



Sources of International Law. International 

 law is of recent origin and is the result of the 

 growing spirit that principles of humanity 

 ought to govern relations between the nations. 

 Treaties and agreements between states are 

 among the principal sources of international 

 law. The usual method followed now is to 

 hold conferences to which the various powers 

 send delegates. The first of these conferences 

 was held at Paris in 1856, and its decisions, 

 called the Declaration of Paris, were the first 

 step toward the codification of the rules of 

 international law. This was followed by the 

 Geneva Convention (which see), held in 1864. 

 But the great work of putting into writing 

 and codifying the rules that had been floating 

 as unwritten law in the conscience of the 

 civilized nations was undertaken by the two 

 conferences held at the Hague in 1899 and 

 1907. The last great codification of interna- 

 tional law was accomplished at the London 

 Naval Conference held in 1909, which formu- 

 lated the so-called Declaration of London. 



General Aspects of International Law. In- 

 ternational law deals with sovereign states. 

 Each state has certain rights and duties, which 

 are recognized by the other states, and the 

 mutual recognition of these rights and duties 

 forms the basis of international law. Among 



