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Audrey Kitagawa answers the following question

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Question

what is the purpose of public international law if there are no effective enforcement mechanisms to apply it? Maria Kyriacou


Answer

Audrey Kitagawa: The implementation and enforcement of international laws pose a different issue than the actual creation and existence of the international law itself. The creation of the law is there to address, insure, and protect the rights of the underprivileged or what is individual or organizations or institutions or governments to be able to say that these rights are important, these rights need to be protected, these people need to have their rights be, be afforded rights and privileges. But the question of whether or not they are enforced and implemented is another question. So it is the case that we have many international laws that are not enforced, that are not implemented. To that extent, it can add to discouragement, but that does not mean that the laws themselves are not important or that the laws themselves should not be there. Today we have the International Criminal Court, it is seen as a hopeful sign towards the implementation as well as enforcement of international laws that deals with issues of human rights and human rights violators. So that is an important public international institution. We also have the World Court that addresses the issues confronting governments and making, making decisions regarding the rights of governments and on the international stage. So we do have enforcement institutions, institutions that seek to implement these laws. So, but that doesn't mean that we can't try to do better, that we should not also exercise more of our political will to ensure the implementation and enforcement of international laws. But we certainly do have a whole panoply of international law.