Law

=== International law ===
{{main|International law}}{{see|Sources of international law}}
{{see also|Conflict of laws|European Union law|Public international law}}{{Wikisource-multi|Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union|Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union}}
[[File:United Nations Security Council (2005).jpg|thumb|[[United Nations Security Council]] in 2005]]
[[International law]] can refer to three things: public international law, private international law or conflict of laws and the law of supranational organisations.
* [[Public international law]] concerns relationships between sovereign nations. The [[Sources of international law|sources]] for public international law development are [[Custom (law)|custom]], practice and treaties between sovereign nations, such as the [[Geneva Conventions]]. Public international law can be formed by [[international organisations]], such as the United Nations (which was established after the failure of the [[League of Nations]] to prevent World War II),{{efn| [[Winston Churchill]] (''The Hinge of Fate'', 719) comments on the League of Nations' failure: "It was wrong to say that the League failed. It was rather the member states who had failed the League."<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the UN |url=https://www.un.org/aboutun/history.htm |work=About the United Nations/History |access-date=1 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218221016/http://www.un.org/aboutun/history.htm |archive-date=18 February 2010}}</ref>}} the [[International Labour Organization|International Labour Organisation]], the [[World Trade Organization|World Trade Organisation]] (WTO), or the [[International Monetary Fund]]. Public international law has a special status as law because there is no international police force, and courts (e.g. the [[International Court of Justice]] as the primary UN judicial organ) lack the capacity to penalise disobedience. The prevailing manner of enforcing international law is still essentially "self help"; that is the reaction by states to alleged breaches of international obligations by other states.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=D'Amato |first1=Anthony |title=Is International Law Really 'Law'? |journal=Northwestern University Law Review |date=11 November 2010 |volume=79 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=facultyworkingpapers |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803005041/https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=facultyworkingpapers |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Robertson|2006|p=90}}<ref>Schermers-Blokker, ''International Institutional Law'', 900–901</ref> However, a few bodies, such as the WTO, have effective systems of binding arbitration and dispute resolution backed up by trade sanctions.<ref>Petersmann, ''The GATT/WTO Dispute Settlement System'' [http://www.law2lawyer.com/2011/07/21/international-criminal-court/ International Criminal Court] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723080755/http://www.law2lawyer.com/2011/07/21/international-criminal-court/ |date=23 July 2011 }}, 32</ref>
* [[Conflict of laws]], or private international law in [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] countries, concerns which [[jurisdiction]] a legal dispute between private parties should be heard in and which jurisdiction's law should be applied. Today, businesses are increasingly capable of shifting [[Capital (economics)|capital]] and [[labour (economics)|labour]] supply chains across borders, as well as trading with overseas businesses, making the question of which country has jurisdiction even more pressing. Increasing numbers of businesses opt for commercial arbitration under the [[Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards|New York Convention 1958]].<ref>Redfem, ''International Commercial Arbitration'', 68–69</ref>
* [[European Union law]] is the first and so far the only example of a [[supranational law]], i.e. an internationally accepted legal system, other than the [[United Nations]] and the [[World Trade Organization]]. Given the trend of increasing global economic integration, many regional agreements—especially the [[African Union]]—seek to follow a similar model.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gaffey |first1=Conor |title=Why the African Union wants to be more like the EU |url=https://www.newsweek.com/african-union-africa-rwanda-ethiopia-trade-455238 |access-date=1 January 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=4 May 2016 |language=en |archive-date=1 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101080200/https://www.newsweek.com/african-union-africa-rwanda-ethiopia-trade-455238 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Babarinde |first1=Olufemi |title=The EU as a Model for the African Union: the Limits of Imitation |journal=Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series |date=April 2007 |volume=7 |issue=2 |url=http://aei.pitt.edu/8185/1/BabarindeEUasModellong07edi.pdf |access-date=1 January 2020 |publisher=Miami – Florida European Union Center |archive-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101072421/http://aei.pitt.edu/8185/1/BabarindeEUasModellong07edi.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In the EU, sovereign nations have gathered their authority in a system of courts and the [[European Parliament]]. These institutions are allowed the ability to enforce legal norms both against or for member states and citizens in a manner which is not possible through public international law.<ref>Schermers–Blokker, ''International Institutional Law'', 943</ref> As the [[European Court of Justice]] noted in its 1963 [[Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen|Van Gend en Loos decision]], European Union law constitutes "a new legal order of international law" for the mutual social and economic benefit of the member states.<ref>{{cite web | title = C-26/62 ''Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen'' |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61962J0026:EN:HTML |publisher=Eur-Lex |access-date=19 January 2007 |archive-date=21 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321191046/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61962J0026:EN:HTML |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=C-6/64 ''Flaminio Costa v ENEL''| url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61964J0006:EN:HTML| publisher=Eur-Lex| access-date=1 September 2007| archive-date=9 January 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109104422/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61964J0006:EN:HTML| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chalmers |first1=D. |last2=Barroso |first2=L. |title=What Van Gend en Loos stands for |journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law |date=7 April 2014 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=105–134 |doi=10.1093/icon/mou003 |url=https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/12/1/105/628605 |access-date=1 January 2020 |doi-access=free |archive-date=26 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226142407/https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/12/1/105/628605 |url-status=live }}</ref>