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International Law

2,177 Questions

International law governs the legal frameworks, treaties, and conventions regulating relations between nations. This collection covers human rights, humanitarian interventions, diplomatic immunity, and refugee protections. These questions are highly relevant for UPSC, State PSC, and specialized law entrance examinations.

Humanitarian law principlesDiplomatic immunityHuman rights conventionsInternational crime lawsRefugee protection frameworks

International Law Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements relating to ‘custom’ as a source of International Law is correct?

  1. A practice, in order to be recognized as ‘custom’, should be universal in practice.

  2. A customary practice is not customary law unless opinio juris is present.

  3. A custom is required to be ancient and immemorial.

  4. <font size="2">A </font>custom should be complete in uniformity.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Article 38(1)(b) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice accepts "international custom" as a source of law, but only where this custom is 1) evidence of a general practice, (the objective component) (2) accepted as law. (the opinio juris or subjective component)

Multiple choice

Which of the following Articles of the UN Charter embodies the principle of self-determination as one of the purposes of United Nations?

  1. Article 1(1)

  2. Article 1(2)

  3. Article 1(4)

  4. Article 1(3)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Article 1(2) of the UN Charter provides for developing friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of people, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace. 

Multiple choice

According to Article 38 of the Statute of International Court of Justice, which is the correct order of the sources of International Law?

  1. Customs, International conventions, General principles of law recognized by civilised States, Judicial decisions and Juristic opinions

  2. International conventions, General principles of law recognized civilised States, Judicial decisions and Juristic opinions

  3. International conventions, Customs, General principles of law recognized by civilised States, Judicial decisions and Juristic opinions

  4. International conventions, Judicial decisions and Juristic works, Customs, General principles of law recognized by civilised States
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Article 38 of the International Court of Justice provides that 

  1. The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply: a. international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states; b. international customs, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations; d. subject to the provisions of Article 5 - judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. 
Multiple choice

According to the provisions of the UN Charter, the primary responsibility for the maintenance of International Peace and Security rests with

  1. General Assembly

  2. Security Council

  3. Both <font size="2">1 and 2</font>

  4. Security Council and International Court of Justice
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility, the Security Council acts on their behalf.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements relating to the binding nature of the resolutions of Security Council is ‘true’?

  1. Only the resolutions of Security Council passed under Chapter VII of the Charter are binding, rest are not.

  2. As per Article 25 of the Charter, the resolutions of the Security Council are partly binding and partly recommendatory.

  3. As per Article 25 of the Charter, all the resolutions passed by the Security Council under the UN Charter are binding on the part of the states.

  4. As per Article 25 of the Charter, the resolutions passed by the Security Council are only recommendatory in nature and not binding on the states.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In general, resolutions adopted by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, are considered binding, in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is not true with respect to the Human Rights under the UN Charter?

  1. Human Rights are natural and inalienable.

  2. The existence of Human Rights is independent of positive law.

  3. Human Rights are well<font size="2">-</font>defined under the provisions of the UN Charter.

  4. The UN has the duty to promote universal respect and the observance of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Whereas human-made law regards law from the position of its origins (i.e. who it was that posited it), positive law regards law from the position of its legitimacy. Thus, the existence of Human Rights is not independent of positive law.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements relating to the principle of ‘Non-Intervention’ proclaimed under Article 2(7) of the UN Charter is true?

  1. Non-Intervention in domestic matters of a state is an absolute principle.

  2. Even the UN Charter does not authorise the UN to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of a state.

  3. The UN cannot interfere in the domestic matters of a state with its express consent.

  4. The UN is competent to intervene, in domestic matters of a state, where the provisions of Charter and rules of International Law permit it.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Article 2(7) of the UN Charter provides that nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorise the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll. 

Multiple choice

On which subject(s) individuals get accused by the International Criminal Court?

  1. Genocide

  2. War-crime

  3. Crime against individual

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction over four main crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. The question mentions the first three, which were part of the original Rome Statute of 1998. The crime of aggression was added later through the Kampala amendments (2010) and became active in 2018. The question appears to focus on the original jurisdiction.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following can enforce the judgement of International Court of Justice?

  1. General Assembly on the recommendations of Security Council

  2. Secretary General

  3. Security Council on the request of International Court of Justice

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Article 94(2) of the UN Charter states that if any party fails to perform the obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment by the ICJ, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council, which may make recommendations or decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgment.

Multiple choice

S1. The Council of Europe Convention to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence will take effect this August.

A. In particular, the plight of victims who happen to be in abusive relationships in Eastern Europe have come in for some scrutiny by Human Rights Watch over the last three years. B. The new treaty seeks to address the psychological effects of violence among adults in the family on children, protection for male victims where relevant and provision for a monitoring mechanism and prosecution of perpetrator. C. Not surprisingly, there are striking parallels to the situation in Europe around the world, as is evident from a 2013 World Health Organization study. D. Persistent instances of physical abuse encountered among large migrant populations of women, and the need to strengthen the legal framework forms part of the context to the Istanbul Convention. S6 In fact, the same report characterises physical or sexual violence against women as a public health phenomenon of epidemic proportions, affecting more than one-third of all women globally.

Directions: In the following question the first and the last sentence are marked S1 and S6. The rest of the passage is split into four parts and named ABCD. These parts are not given in their correct order. Read the sentences carefully and find out which of the following orders is correct.

  1. BACD

  2. DABC

  3. CDAB

  4. CADB

  5. DCBA
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option. The opening sentence introduces the topic and the first sentence to follow takes this topic forward by telling us the context of this convention. The next sentence follows with the details of the context under which this convention would take place. The next sentence of this passage is a discussion on the prospects of the new treaty being developed. The next sentence mentions that there are parallels to this situation over the world. Thus, the last sentence S6 concludes with the details of the report mentioned in the previous sentence. All the sentences of the passage are therefore linked within the context.

Multiple choice

The law relating to prisoners of war has been codified by

  1. Hague Conventions

  2. Geneva Conventions

  3. Vienna Conventions

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The law relating to prisoners of war has been codified by Geneva Conventions. Chapter II of the Annex to the 1907 Hague Convention IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land covered the treatment of prisoners of war in detail. These provisions were further expanded in the 1929 Geneva Convention on the Prisoners of War and were largely revised in the Third Geneva Convention in 1949. 

Multiple choice

UN charter begins by proclaiming

  1. "We the peoples of United Nations"

  2. "We the states of UN"

  3. "We sovereign states"

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

UN charter begins by proclaiming, ' We the peoples of the United Nations determined'.