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Theory paper

Public International Law

Examined on Charter of the United Nations 1945, Statute of the International Court of Justice 1945, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, Constitution of the World Health Organization, International Health Regulations (2005), as amended in 2014, 2022 and 2024. The constituent instrument of the United Nations — purposes and principles, membership, the organs, and the enforcement powers of the Security Council.

This page is the map of the paper: every syllabus unit, the leading cases with full summaries, and the exam questions the paper actually sets.

Units

  1. Unit 1 · Nature and Sources — Module I — nature, origin and development; definitions; theories and doctrines; nationality and citizenship; the sources of international law (custom, treaties, general principles, judicial decisions, writings, equity, General Assembly resolutions); international law and municipal law; recognition of States and governments
  2. Unit 2 · State Territory, Jurisdiction and the Law of the Sea — Module II — State territory, its acquisition and loss; State jurisdiction; State responsibility; the Law of the Sea Convention 1982 — territorial sea, contiguous zone, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone and high seas; delimitation of maritime boundaries; the common heritage of mankind and the international seabed area
  3. Unit 3 · Treaties and the United Nations — Module III — the law of treaties: definition, kinds and essentials, conclusion, interpretation, rights and duties of parties, validity and enforcement; the United Nations Organisation, the General Assembly, the Security Council, ECOSOC, the International Court of Justice, the Secretariat and the Trusteeship Council; specialised agencies and NGOs
  4. Unit 4 · Contemporary and Allied Laws — Module IV — the World Health Organization, global health law and communicable diseases, and the International Health Regulations

Leading cases in this paper

Exam questions

Where it sits

Statutes