Canadian Legal Research Manual

International law, also known as public international law, is the body of law that governs:

• relationships between nations,
• relationships between intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank, and
• relationships between nations and intergovernmental organizations.

Some of the primary areas of law that international law is concerned with are state sovereignty, human rights, international trade, and international use of force and warfare, as well as the settlement of international disputes.

International law is different than domestic law, which is the law or legal system within a specific country like Canada. It is also different than foreign law, which refers to the law of other countries.

►See Foreign Law for researching the law of other countries.

The following books provide an introduction to international law.

►See our International Law research guide for more resources.