Relevance of international law

As defined by Oxford (2003) international law is “a set of rules generally recognize by civilized nations as governing their conduct towards each other and towards each other’s citizens”. This definition gives us a good understanding of how this unit is connected to the program because it talks about rules governing the behaviour of nations.

Apart from other strands within the program, the international relations strand is a very strong strand with around 9 units. The field of international relations is defined by Goldstein (2005) as;

“The relationships among the world’s state governments and the connection of those relationships with other actors (such as the United Nations, multinational corporations, and individuals), with other social relationships (including economic, culture and domestic politics), and with geographic and historical influences” (p. 556).

In international relations, nations operate in an anarchic system where there is no central form of authority unlike the domestic environment where the judicial and policing arms of government maintain order. That is why various international laws try to emulate the practices that occur domestically at the international level.

For example, the Geneva Convention talks about treatment of prisoners of war. States and their military personnel are not allowed to kill soldiers from the opposing side who surrender willingly. This rule of engagement is similar to police treatment of individual’s suspected of committing an offence. Suspects who willingly surrender after committing an offence are not to be harm by police officers.

In PNG, there are many cases where police have broken the code of conduct by shooting notorious criminals who surrender willingly on their knees making them permanently disable. This act is a serious case of human rights abuse including abuse of state power and authority.  

As Papua New Guineans we need to connect whatever we are doing with the nation’s vision. Regardless of the many negative criticisms about the Vision 2050 and the many skeptics, we have to run with the plan in order to see it materialize.

Pillar four of the Vision 2050 (2009, p. 9), especially the directional and enabling statement under international relations about PNG increasing its bilateral relations with other countries, and international organizations makes understanding international law important to future decision makers.

Goldstein (2005) said international law is derived from traditions and agreements (bilateral or multilateral) signed by states. That means the country needs not only people with a legal background but international relations practitioners and academics to steer the government in its bilateral or multilateral relations with the aim of addressing its national interest.

The directional and enabling statement under national security about PNG allocating fund to security forces to guard our sea, land and air borders from external threats will involve adherence to international laws like the Law of the Sea. This makes this unit vital to help one make sense of the Law of the Sea and how it influences the behaviour of states in the international arena.

Pillar five also justifies the importance of learning about international law. Environmental sustainability and climate change is said to be two controversial issues respectively. The blame should be on West for their rapid industrialization leading to massive emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leading to climate change.

Now developing countries like PNG will need to work collectively with other countries in the world to mitigate challenges posed by climate change. For example, the directional and enabling statement about reducing greenhouse emission by 90 percent to 1990 levels requires international collaboration under the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, a multilateral treaty to fight climate change.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website the Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the Convention on Climate Change that commits its parties by setting internationally binding emissions reduction targets. The target listed in the Vision 2050 was derived from the Kyoto Protocol.

Also on the case of gender issues, the Vision 2050 adheres to the United Nation Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For example, PNG as a signatory to the Convention commits itself to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms. As highlighted in Pillar six of the Vision 2050 (2009, p. 10) PNG needs to address the issue of regulating the production and sale of gender discriminatory songs.

Songs like ‘resa mama’ or ‘raun mama’ have a sexual connotation. They depict women as sex objects or in other words say that all women are prostitutes. Countries who are signatories of CEDAW are under international law obligated to stem out such practices.

References

Goldstein, J. (2005). International relations (6^th ed.). Beijing: Peking University Press.

Government of Papua New Guinea. (2009). Papua New Guinea Vision 2050. Waigani: Government Printing Office.

Griffiths, M., O’Callaghan, T., & Roach, S. C. (2008). International relations the key concepts (2^nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Shaw, M. N. (2009). International Law (6th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.