What exactly is international law? Is there a general reference for seeing what the specific laws are?
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International law is a system of law that countries decide to apply between eachother. When countries interact with each other in either public (government actions) or private (non-government i.e. companies) affair, they rely on international law.
The Statute of the International Court of Justice (1945) outlines the source of international law in Article 38.
The first place to look for sources of international law are treaties. Any treaty between nations is an example of international law. Another source of international law is custom. If a custom is practiced and recognized as law, then it is an international law. Another source is a a general principle of law among nations. The latter on is a little less specific, and can include things like equity, UN resolutions, peremptory norms (*jus cogens*), unilateral obligations, and soft law. The final source and one that is rarely used comes from judicial decisions and “teachings of the most highly qualified publicists.”
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