International Law can be majorly classified into Public International Law & Private International Law.

Role of a Public International Lawyer

Public International Law in short involves law governing relationship between States(Countries) in the
world.

Source of such law are majorly UN, Conventions, Declarations, Treaties, ICJ, ICC and several other
International Organization.

If you are a Public International Lawyer representing your government in International Courts or
Arbitration Tribunals then you would be defending your countries in cases which are being presented
before the Court.

Human Rights majorly forms a part of Public International Law thus you could become a UN
representative from India or work for an International NGO in that field. You could also apply for
positions under NHRC, SHRC, NCW, NCPCR, NCST, NCSC etc depending upon the positions and
requirement of the profile. One of the research job their involves interpreting HR treaties and
conventions entered by USA and giving effective suggestions to implement the same.

International Economic Law on several instances borders upon Public or Private International Law and
depending upon the transaction or interaction of the parties the case/ transaction is classified under
either of the categories. (Eg. EU economic policies, Bilateral Investment Treaties etc.)

Role of a Private International Lawyer

Private International Law or Conflict of Law as it is called are cases when subjects of multiple different
countries fall into a conflict which are governed by multiple legal systems.

eg: A a citizen of France married to B a citizen of USA, ceremony taken place UK. In case of intestate
death of one of the parties how would the property be devolved.

Major fields which involve Private International Law: Consumer cases, Family Law, Contract law,
Maritime law.

Importance of International Law

Although international law is an often maligned as being a toothless tiger, there is a lot of international
law that is actually essential to the day to day workings of the global economy. One of the main reasons
international law is seen as lacking value is that the United Nations is often seen as powerless to prevent
repeated violations of international law such as the commencement of the Iraq war in 2003 or the
genocides committed in Serbia and Kosovo in the late 1990s or in Rwanda during the same period. The
Iraq was was a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter which requires countries only to
commence military action in self-defence. The genocides and crimes against humanity referred to above
were flagrant violations of international human rights law. That international law can so easily be
flouted leads many to the conclusion that it is impotent and therefore unimportant.
However, this ignores a number of important facts about the operation of international law which are
not as commonly known. For instance, the reason we are able to send mail internationally is because of
the International Postal Union agreement which regulates the world’s postal systems. Making an
international telephone call is only possible because of the 1865 International Telegraph Convention
that regulates telecommunications around the world. When you fly from one country to another, the
aircraft you fly in is subject to The Convention on International Civil Aviation and when you buy an
imported product at a department store or supermarket its importation was most likely regulated by the
rules of the World Trade Organization. International law affects any interaction across an international
border an as we live in a globalized world with relatively free and open borders, international law is
increasingly important in understanding the rules that regulate the millions of day to day interactions
that occur internationally around the world every day.