Deck 8: International Law and Human Rights

Question 1

Critics of the positivist school condemn it for

A) its theological basis.
B) overemphasizing individual welfare.
C) legitimizing immoral but common beliefs and practices.
D) neglecting social context.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is not a school of thought on the origin of law?

A) Ideological/theological school of law
B) Naturalist school of law
C) Positivist school of law
D) Constructivist school of law

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The international system of law

A) is a recent phenomenon.
B) continues to exist only in theory.
C) continues to evolve over time.
D) is primarily based on communitarian values.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Diplomatic practice is an area that was the result of

A) treaties.
B) international customs.
C) a general principal of law.
D) scholarly writing.

Question 5

A primary advantage of international treaties is that

A) they are recognized by everyone.
B) all countries are a party to same treaties.
C) they are easily agreed upon.
D) they are written down.

Question 6

The decision by the United States to seek UN approval before acting in Afghanistan and Iraq reflects the

A) declining military power of the United States.
B) growing sensitivity to international norms of acceptable behavior.
C) universal acceptance of unilateral military action.
D) declining importance of international laws.

Question 7

The principle that there is "a law of nature" that "teaches all mankind,who will but consult it,that all [people] being equal and independent [in the state of nature],no one ought to harm another in his life,health,liberty,or possessions" can be attributed to what philosopher?

A) Immanuel Kant
B) Hugo Grotius
C) Jean Jacques Rousseau
D) John Locke

Question 8

Which of the following is not a source of international law?

A) treaties
B) judicial decisions
C) a constitution
D) international custom

Question 9

Which legal tradition argues that individuals have certain rights and obligations?

A) external
B) Grotion
C) naturalist
D) positivist

Question 10

What is the main critique of the natural law tradition?

A) It places too much emphasis on community.
B) It elevates individual rights over all other concerns.
C) It is overly concerned with ecological rights.
D) It cannot be applied to an international setting.

Question 11

Who is often regarded as the father of international law?

A) Saint Augustine
B) John Locke
C) Saint Thomas Aquinas
D) Hugo Grotius

Question 12

The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is an example of

A) a treaty signed by all states.
B) a judicial decision.
C) a standard binding on all states, even to states that did not sign the treaty.
D) a convention that was the result of international customs.

Question 13

The theological school of thought is closely associated with the writings of

A) Immanuel Kant.
B) John Locke.
C) Saint Thomas Aquinas.
D) Hugo Grotius.

Question 14

The Roman concept of jus gentium means

A) just conduct of war.
B) just cause of war.
C) the law of the peoples.
D) the law of war.

Question 15

Concern with international law has grown rapidly due to all of the following factors except

A) globalization.
B) increasing awareness of environmental degradation.
C) growing awareness of human rights issues.
D) the end of the cold war.

Question 16

Proponents of an external source for international law believe which of the following?

A) Since laws reflect societal beliefs, there can be no universal principles.
B) New norms of moral behavior will always result in new laws.
C) Legal standards always lead to new norms of moral behavior.
D) There is a standard of law that governs all humans, regardless of what particular societies might believe.

Question 17

The notion that treaties are binding between state whom have signed them is known as the doctrine of

A) pacta sunt servanda
B) jus bella
C) jus gentium
D) stare decisis

Question 18

Low politics includes all of the following except

A) trade.
B) diplomatic rules.
C) communications.
D) national security.

Question 19

"High politics" refers to which of the following issues?

A) national security relations
B) diplomatic rules
C) communications
D) trade

Question 20

Which legal tradition argues that internal societal sources are the basis of international law?

A) theological
B) naturalist
C) universalist
D) positivist

Question 21

All of the following are examples of compliance with international law by coercion except

A) threats of violence.
B) sanctions.
C) impeachment.
D) imprisonment.

Question 22

International law is made through all of the following except

A) international treaties.
B) judicial decisions.
C) plebiscites and elections.
D) general principles of law.

Question 23

Which actor would not be permitted to submit a case before the International Court of Justice?

A) Amnesty International
B) the U.S. government
C) the United Nations Security Council
D) the government of India

Question 24

The adjudication of international legal disputes is hindered by

A) state sovereignty.
B) pressure from the UN.
C) other international courts.
D) scholarly writing.

Question 25

What was one of international law's first concerns?

A) regulating the conduct of war
B) establishing an international criminal court
C) defining acts of genocide
D) protecting human rights

Question 26

The optional clause of the ICJ statute is an agreement by states to

A) avoid conflicts through the use of third-party mediators.
B) avoid use of force in conflicts involving other UN members.
C) take complaints concerning the violation of human rights to both domestic and international courts simultaneously.
D) submit to the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.

Question 27

Voluntary compliance to the law occurs when people

A) fear threats of violence.
B) realize that noncompliance could lead to imprisonment.
C) cannot resist the law any more.
D) accept the law's legitimacy.

Question 28

From 1946 through the present,the International Court of Justice has taken up about how many cases every year?

A) 2
B) 10
C) 12
D) 15

Question 29

The authors make an analogy between UN-authorized military action against Iraq in 1991 and an Old West sheriff authorizing posses to chase the outlaws as an example of

A) enforcement by a central authority.
B) a self-help system.
C) adjudication.
D) coercion.

Question 30

International Court of Justice judges are

A) appointed by a judicial board.
B) appointed by the members of the UN Security Council.
C) elected through a complex voting system at the United Nations.
D) directly elected by the populations of the states that are members of the UN Security Council.

Question 31

The increasing sophistication of legal systems is marked by the emergence of institutions for

A) bargaining.
B) adjudication.
C) mediation.
D) sanctions.

Question 32

The Supreme Court ruled that the president had no authority to create special military courts in

A) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006).
B) Boumediene v. Bush (2008).
C) Al-Oday v. United States (2008).
D) Schenck v. United States (1919).

Question 33

All of the following are limitations on the impact of the ICJ and other international courts except

A) jurisdictional limits.
B) lack of enforcement.
C) lack of cases.
D) sovereignty.

Question 34

The just war principle of jus in bello requires that

A) threats of force be declared by legitimate authorities.
B) noncombatants not be intentional targets.
C) wars should be carried out without restraint or restriction.
D) war be used as a last resort.

Question 35

All of the following fit the Western tradition of jus ad bellum except

A) war as a last resort.
B) fighting to bring about peace.
C) self-defense.
D) preemption.

Question 36

Which countries,by tradition,have always been represented by a judge on the International Court of Justice?

A) members of the European Union
B) members of the Group of Seven
C) permanent members of the UN Security Council
D) members of the UN General Assembly

Question 37

What is the name of the former president of Yugoslavia who was brought to trial in 2002 at the international tribunal in the Netherlands?

A) Franjo Tudman.
B) Slobodan Milosevic
C) Boris Yeltsin
D) Lech Walesa

Question 38

The limitations on the effectiveness of international courts

A) make it so that countries can never settle disputes without going to war.
B) prove that the courts have little more than symbolic value.
C) contributed to the failure of the Bulgaria versus Ukraine case, which led to war.
D) do not outweigh their valuable role.

Question 39

The forerunner to the ICJ,the Permanent Court of International Justice,was created as part of the

A) Geneva Convention.
B) United States.
C) League of Nations.
D) United Nations.

Question 40

Compliance to international law is largely based on

A) voluntary compliance.
B) coercion.
C) enforcement by central authorities.
D) the threat of sanctions.

Question 41

The authors argues that

A) national interests will continue to prevail over international law.
B) a moral foundation is required in international law.
C) international law has ceased to evolve.
D) international law will continue to develop.

Question 42

Which of the following was not a leading country in the number of executions in 2004?

A) China
B) United States
C) Iran
D) Mexico

Question 43

The trial of Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague was important because it represents

A) state sovereignty's preeminence as a defense in international law.
B) the Western bias of international law.
C) the difficulty of amassing evidence in international tribunals.
D) the application of standards of international law directly to one individual.

Question 44

An argument that the use of nuclear weapons is immoral under any conditions would rely on the principle of

A) realism.
B) self-defense.
C) discrimination.
D) proportionality.

Question 45

Which of the following countries has not ratified the ICC treaty?

A) Germany
B) the United States
C) South Korea
D) Great Britain

Question 46

The precedent that obeying orders does not excuse combatants from responsibility for war crimes was first established

A) at the Versailles Conference.
B) in the Treaty of Westphalia.
C) at the war crimes tribunals after World War II.
D) at the war crimes tribunals after the massacres in Rwanda.

Question 47

What factor is an impediment to the progress of human rights?

A) international organizations
B) sovereignty of nations
C) nationalism
D) a lack of effective treaties

Question 48

Which school of thought on human rights argues that human rights are immutable?

A) universalists
B) relativists
C) culturalists
D) determinists

Question 49

UN efforts to advance human rights have been supplement by all of the following except

A) domestic courts
B) regional organizations
C) multinational corporations
D) nongovernmental organizations

Question 50

Which school of thought on human rights argues that rights are culturally specific?

A) universalists
B) relativists
C) culturalists
D) determinists

Question 51

Which international human rights convention or treaty has the United States not signed?

A) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
B) The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
C) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
D) The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Question 52

In their approach to rights Western countries tend to be more

A) traditional.
B) legalistic.
C) individualistic.
D) communitarian.

Question 53

The belief that people ought to be provided with adequate education,nutrition,housing,sanitation,health care,and other basic necessities for the fulfillment of human dignity falls under the category of

A) proscriptive rights.
B) civil liberties.
C) prescriptive rights.
D) cultural rights.

Question 54

Approximately what percentage of Americans believed the United States had tried very hard to avoid killing or wounding civilians in Iraq?

A) 40 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 70 percent
D) 80 percent

Question 55

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights favors which approach to human rights?

A) relativist
B) universalist
C) individualist
D) communitarian

Question 56

In their approach to rights non-Western countries tend to be more

A) traditional.
B) legalistic.
C) individualistic.
D) communitarian.

Question 57

The standard of proportionality would have been violated by the

A) Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad during WWII.
B) use of nuclear weapons against Yugoslavia to force its withdrawal from Kosovo.
C) trench warfare during WWI.
D) U.S. blockade of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis.

Question 58

The newly established International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over

A) genocide and other systematic crimes carried out as official policy during wars.
B) illegal international financial transactions.
C) national courts dealing with international cases.
D) human rights abuses occurring within any country in the world.

Question 59

All of the following are current international tribunals except

A) Bosnia
B) Rwanda
C) Nuremburg
D) Sierra Leone

Question 60

Countries that sign the Universal Declaration of Human rights are

A) legally bound as if they had signed a treaty.
B) promising to immediately halt all human rights violations.
C) helping to enshrine human rights into global norms.
D) also required to sign other human rights conventions.

Question 61

Non-western states are mostly individualist in orientation.

Question 62

International law is most effective when applied to "high politics."

Question 63

The current international legal system is modern and sophisticated.

Question 64

The two schools that believe external roots provide a source of law are the ideological and naturalist schools of law.

Question 65

It is definitive that the U.S.and British invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a just cause of war.

Question 66

What are the sources of international law?

Question 67

All signs point to increasing respect for international law and at least rudimentary standards of justice.

Question 68

Nonadherence to the optional clause of the ICF statute entirely exempts a country from ICF jurisdiction.

Question 69

The International Court of Justice was the first established international court.

Question 70

What are the two schools of thought whose followers believe in the external sources of law? How do they differ?

Question 71

No tribunal was established to prosecute those who committed atrocities in Rwanda.

Question 72

The authors believe that the ICJ has little more than symbolic value.

Question 73

Treaties are only binding on the countries who sign them.

Question 74

What do followers of the positivist school of international law believe?

Question 75

Overall compliance to the law is higher at the international level.

Question 76

Describe a recent example in which international law and/or world values have influenced "high politics."

Question 77

How is the domestic legal system similar to the international system? How is it different?

Question 78

The positivist school of law advocates that law reflects society and the way people want that society to operate.

Question 79

International custom is an important source of international law.

Question 80

As a primitive society,the global community continues to focus on self-help for enforcement.