Stockholm university

International law is a legal discipline and what might be described as the public part of international law. It consists of rules and principles that regulate how States, international organisations and certain other international actors cooperate and act towards each other.

International law may also affect companies, international organisations and individuals. Unlike national law, international law is a horizontal legal system in which the rules of law are created and enforced by the States themselves. This is done by the States giving their consent to be bound by a certain rule, usually in written form as a treaty (e.g. in agreements, conventions, or protocols), or through practice (referred to as customary international law). The starting point is that States are sovereign and legally equal to each other.

Research in this area is often interdisciplinary. Examples of obvious issues relevant for international law are how a state has the right to exercise power within its own territory, the extent to which the international community can control and interfere with how a state treats its inhabitants, and how a state can be held responsible under international law for an act or omission. Other issues may overlap with other areas of law, such as what rights and obligations a state has for oceans or the environment, or how individuals responsible for serious violations of international law can be brought to justice (procedural law and criminal law).
 

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close-up of the barbs from the perimeter of auschwitz
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Researchers

David Fisher

Professor emeritus in international Law

Department of Law

Said Mahmoudi

Professor emeritus

Department of Law
Said Mahmoudi

Per Ahlin

Universitetslektor i Folkrätt

Department of Law
Per Ahlin

Lily Katinka Viktoria Svanberg

Universitetslektor

Department of Law
Dr of Laws Katinka Svanberg

Sally Alexandra Longworth

Senior lecturer

Department of Law
Sally Longworth

Love Rönnelid

Bitr. lektor

Department of Law
Love

Research projects

Courses and programmes

 

 

Doctoral studies

If you want to further immerse yourself in legal science, and in particular within the field of Public International Law, apply for doctoral studies at the Department of Law. We offer a dynamic environment with research of the highest class and of strong international character.

Read more about doctoral studies at SU Law

News

Selected reading

Departments and centres

Centres and other units

The Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice (SCILJ) is a part of the department of law at Stockholm University. Its mission is, inter alia, to develop research in international law, especially the relationship between international law and other legal systems and between international law and international politics and ethics, to strengthen the links between academia and practice, and to make international law visible in public discourse. The Center shall have an interdisciplinary and practice oriented character.

The Centre organizes a broad range of activities, including the 2021 Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law.

Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice

Departments

By offering a wide range of academic programmes in law bringing together researchers, teachers and students from different horizons, the Department of Law at Stockholm University creates strong and stimulating educational and research environments of the highest class.

Department of Law