2. Прочитайте и переведите текст. In its widest sense, international law can include public international law, private international law
and, more recently, supranational law. In its narrowest meaning, the term international law is used to
refer to what is commonly known as public international law. Private international law is sometimes
referred to as conflict of laws. Conflict of laws can also refer to conflicts between states in a federal
system, such as the USA.
Public international law is the body of rules, laws or legal principles that govern the rights and
duties of nation states in relation to each other. It is derived from a number of sources, including
custom, legislation and treaties. Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969)
defines a treaty as ‘an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed
by international law …’. These treaties may be in the form of conventions, agreements and charters.
Custom, also referred to as customary international law, is another binding source of law, and
originates from a pattern of state practice motivated by a sense of legal right or obligation. Laws of
war were a matter of customary law before being codified in the Geneva Conventions and other
treaties.
International institutions and intergovernmental organizations whose members are states have
become a principal vehicle for making, applying, implementing and enforcing public international law,
especially since the end of World War II. The best-known intergovernmental organization is the
United Nations, which develops new recommendatory standards, e.g. the Declaration of Human
Rights. Other international norms and laws have been established through international agreements
such as Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war or armed conflict, as well as by other international
organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization,
the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund.
Private international law refers to the body of rights and duties of private individuals and
business entities of different states. It is concerned with two main questions: 1) the jurisdiction in
which a case may be heard, and 2) which laws from which jurisdiction(s) apply. It is distinguished
from public international law because it governs conflicts between private individuals or business
entities, rather than conflicts between states or other international bodies.
Supranational law, or the law of supranational organizations, refers to regional agreements where
the laws of a nation state are not applicable if in conflict with a supranational legal framework. At
present, the only example of this is the European Union, which constitutes a new legal order in
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international law where sovereign nations have united their authority through a system of courts and
political institutions.