Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: (a) Define International Law. Enumerate its weaknesses and give…

(a) International law, in Oppenheim’s formulation, is the body of rules which states and other international persons regard as binding in their mutual relations; Brierly similarly describes it as the law of the society of states. Its source is primarily state practice and consent, not a central legislature. Its weaknesses are structural: there is no world government, no general police, and no compulsory enforcement; the ICJ has jurisdiction only with consent, and many states do not accept compulsory jurisdiction; treaty obligations depend on consent and can be avoided by reservations or non-ratification; power politics can override legal norms. Improvement requires strengthening the ICJ by wider acceptance of optional clause and better compliance with judgments, systematic codification through ILC, expanding international criminal law and accountability, and institutionalising dispute settlement in trade, environment and human rights. India’s consistent support to multilateralism and the UN Charter reflects this need.

(b) State recognition is the formal acknowledgment by an existing state that a new entity possesses statehood, usually assessed against the Montevideo Convention criteria: permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter relations. It is also distinct from UN admission. It may be declaratory, confirming existing statehood, or constitutive, creating legal effects. De jure recognition is full, conclusive and permanent; it confers complete legal standing, diplomatic relations, treaty capacity and immunity. De facto recognition is provisional, based on effective control and factual existence, and may be withdrawn if the entity fails to consolidate. It produces limited legal consequences, such as the validity of acts of the recognised government in municipal courts, as illustrated by the municipal-law effect discussed in Luther v. Sagor. Bangladesh in 1971 provides a typical example: many states first recognised it de facto during the liberation struggle and later upgraded recognition to de jure after independence was secured.

(c) Nationality is the legal bond between a person and a state, giving the person rights and duties and the state jurisdiction and protection. The Nottebohm case emphasised that nationality must be a genuine connection, not merely a formal certificate, for diplomatic protection to be effective. Its importance is central: it determines diplomatic protection, extradition, consular assistance, voting rights, eligibility for public office, and the treatment of persons in state succession and statelessness. Modes of acquisition include birth, naturalisation, marriage, adoption, domicile and reintegration. At birth, states apply jus sanguinis, descent, or jus soli, birth on territory; India follows a mixed system under the Citizenship Act, 1955, with the 2003 amendment restricting jus soli for certain categories. Naturalisation requires residence, good character and oath; marriage may confer nationality in some systems but not automatically in India; adoption and domicile are recognised in limited cases, while reintegration restores nationality lost by choice.

(d) Internal waters, or inland waters, are waters on the landward side of the baseline, including juridical or historic bays, ports, rivers and estuaries; a state’s sovereignty over them is complete, subject to rights such as transit passage in international straits. Territorial sea is the belt seaward of the baseline, up to twelve nautical miles, over which the coastal state has sovereignty but must allow innocent passage by foreign ships. The distinction is one of legal status: internal waters are treated as part of the national domain, while the territorial sea is a zone with qualified sovereignty. The breadth of the territorial sea evolved from the three-mile cannon-shot rule to the twelve-mile limit accepted in UNCLOS 1982. This compromise balanced coastal-state security, resource control and freedom of navigation. India adopted the 12-nm limit through the Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Application of Indian Law) Act, 1968.

(e) ECOSOC, established under Articles 61-72 of the UN Charter, is the principal organ for coordinating the UN’s economic and social work. Unlike the Security Council, whose Chapter VII decisions can be binding, ECOSOC recommends, studies and coordinates. Its importance lies in linking development, health, labour, statistics, population and environment through specialised agencies and programmes such as WHO, ILO, FAO, UNESCO and UNDP, with which it works through relationship agreements rather than direct control; the IMF and World Bank retain autonomous governance. It promotes higher living standards, full employment and social progress, and after the 2005 World Summit its reform agenda sought better coordination, less duplication and stronger follow-through. Its role in sustainable development is central: the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, created after Rio+20 by UNGA resolution 67/290 in 2013, operates under ECOSOC to monitor SDG progress. Thus ECOSOC is the UN forum for translating commitments into coordinated action.