In its widest sense, international law can include public international law, private international law and, more recently, supranational law. In its narrowest meaning, the term international law is used to refer to what is commonly known as public international law. Private international law is also referred to as conflict of laws. Conflict of laws can also refer to conflicts between states in a federal system, such as the USA.
It is derived from a number of sources, including custom, legislation and treaties. Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) defines a treaty as 'an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law ... These treaties may be in the form of conventions, agreements, charters, framework conventions or outline conventions. Custom, also referred to as customary international law, is another binding source of law, and originates from a pattern of state practice motivated by a sense of legal right or obligation. Laws of war were a matter of customary law before being codified in the Geneva Conventions and other treaties.
Private international law refers to the body of rights and duties of private individuals and business entities of different sovereign states. It addresses two main questions: 1) the jurisdiction in which a case may be heard, and 2) which laws from which jurisdiction(s) apply. It is distinguished from public international law because it governs conflicts between private individuals or business entities, rather than conflicts between states or other international bodies.
public international law-м\народ публич право
