CLAT PG question bank
CLAT PG International Law questions 26-50 of 225, with answer keys and explanations covering sources, treaties, State responsibility, recognition, jurisdiction, law of the sea, the United Nations, use of force, and human rights.
Coverage
Revise core LLB subjects through CLAT PG MCQs, passage-led questions, answer keys, explanations, statutes, and exam-oriented legal principles.
Diplomatic protection is the process by which a state takes up the claim of its national against another state. It is not an automatic first step. International law usually expects local remedies to be attempted before the claim is escalated internationally, unless a recognised exception applies. At the same time, the treatment of aliens has long been shaped by debate between deference to domestic systems and the idea of an international minimum standard. The latter concept insists that some forms of mistreatment are unacceptable regardless of how local law is framed. Together, these doctrines show how public international law mediates between state autonomy and individual protection.
Another international organisation
Its national against another state
Any company worldwide
A domestic court against Parliament
Correct answer: B. Its national against another state
That is the direct definition given in the first sentence.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Because international law usually expects local remedies to be tried first
Because states never protect nationals
Because treaties prohibit it
Because only the ICJ may begin a claim
Correct answer: A. Because international law usually expects local remedies to be tried first
The passage expressly links diplomatic protection with the exhaustion of local remedies.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Exclusive military command
Internationally unacceptable mistreatment of aliens
Climate regulation only
Boundary commissions only
Correct answer: B. Internationally unacceptable mistreatment of aliens
The passage says the minimum standard insists that some forms of mistreatment remain unacceptable regardless of local framing.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
State autonomy always defeats individual protection
Individual protection is always direct and never mediated by states
International law balances state autonomy with protection of affected individuals
Local remedies are irrelevant to diplomatic protection
Correct answer: C. International law balances state autonomy with protection of affected individuals
The passage ends by presenting these doctrines as mediating between the state and the individual.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Absolute and inflexible
Important but not without nuance
Limited only to trade law
Identical to complementarity
Correct answer: B. Important but not without nuance
The passage indicates the rule is serious, yet subject to recognised exceptions.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Extradition and asylum move in opposite directions. Extradition seeks surrender; asylum seeks protection. Yet both are structured by legal limits. Extradition usually depends on treaty or statute and commonly reflects principles such as double criminality and speciality. Territorial asylum is comparatively familiar, but diplomatic asylum remains more controversial because it is claimed from premises located within another state. Human rights law has also reshaped the field by affecting removal to places where torture, persecution, or other serious prohibited harm may follow. As a result, traditional interstate rules now operate alongside individual-centred safeguards.
Taxation
Protection
Occupation
Recognition
Correct answer: B. Protection
The first sentence of the passage creates that precise contrast.
Source note: JP International Law notes; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Double criminality
Combatant privilege
Persistent objection
Jus cogens derogation
Correct answer: A. Double criminality
Double criminality is one of the safeguards named in the passage.
Source note: JP International Law notes; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
On the high seas
Within another state
Only in outer space
Only on neutral islands
Correct answer: B. Within another state
That territorial setting is the reason it is more controversial than territorial asylum.
Source note: JP International Law notes; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Imports are expensive
Serious prohibited harm may follow
Tourism is weak
Judges are inexperienced
Correct answer: B. Serious prohibited harm may follow
The passage explicitly refers to torture, persecution, and other serious prohibited harm.
Source note: JP International Law notes; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Purely economic policy
Individual-centred safeguards
Only military alliances
Rules of succession
Correct answer: B. Individual-centred safeguards
That is the concluding synthesis offered by the passage.
Source note: JP International Law notes; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Immunity doctrine rests on respect for sovereign equality, but it is no longer absolute in the traditional sense. State immunity is now often analysed through the restrictive theory, which distinguishes sovereign acts from commercial transactions. Official immunity raises a separate but related question. Some incumbent officeholders enjoy immunity ratione personae by virtue of their status, while immunity ratione materiae concerns official acts and may continue even after office. Litigation involving serious international crimes has made this area especially difficult. The central challenge is to identify the proper balance between sovereign functioning and accountability.
Commercial transactions
Religious ceremonies
All domestic legislation
Constitutional amendments
Correct answer: A. Commercial transactions
That distinction is stated directly in the passage.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Status while in office
Only retired officials
Commercial contracts
Private tax disputes
Correct answer: A. Status while in office
The passage associates ratione personae with the status of certain incumbent officeholders.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Official acts
Child custody law
Merely travel privilege
Only treaty signatures
Correct answer: A. Official acts
The passage specifically says that ratione materiae concerns official acts.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
The complete absence of treaties
Litigation involving serious international crimes
The end of diplomacy
The abolition of sovereignty
Correct answer: B. Litigation involving serious international crimes
The passage expressly identifies serious international crimes as a source of modern difficulty.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Territorial conquest
Accountability
Agricultural reform
Political party finance
Correct answer: B. Accountability
That balance is the passage's final analytical point.
Source note: Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Treaties are based on consent, but consent is shaped by legal rules. Capacity, authority, signature, ratification, accession, reservations, entry into force, interpretation, and termination each have their place in the treaty system. Interpretation begins with ordinary meaning in context and in light of object and purpose. Reservations may be permitted, but not where prohibited or incompatible with the treaty's object and purpose. Preparatory work and surrounding circumstances may be used as supplementary means where uncertainty remains. The system values both textual discipline and practical coherence.
No legal rules at all
A sequence of legal rules governing how consent works
Only economic considerations
Private morality alone
Correct answer: B. A sequence of legal rules governing how consent works
The passage lists multiple treaty law rules showing that consent is legally structured, not free-form.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Object and purpose
Domestic criminal law
Military necessity
Judicial election
Correct answer: A. Object and purpose
That is the standard interpretive approach stated in the passage.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Territorial size
Object and purpose of the treaty
Any later reservation by another state
Tax policy
Correct answer: B. Object and purpose of the treaty
The passage gives that as the key limiting test.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
No treaty text exists
Uncertainty remains after the primary rule is applied
One party is economically stronger
A treaty becomes politically unpopular
Correct answer: B. Uncertainty remains after the primary rule is applied
The passage says supplementary means assist where uncertainty still remains.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Strategic ambiguity
Practical coherence
Military command
Secret negotiations only
Correct answer: B. Practical coherence
The passage closes by linking treaty interpretation with both textual fidelity and practical coherence.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
International law recognises that not every apparent treaty is valid. Error, fraud, corruption, coercion, and conflict with peremptory norms all raise questions about the quality of consent or the permissibility of the agreement itself. Coercion by the threat or use of force goes to the heart of sovereign consent. Jus cogens goes even further by marking certain norms as peremptory and non-derogable. A treaty inconsistent with such a norm cannot stand simply because the parties wished it. The discipline of treaty law therefore operates not only through consent, but also through limits on what states may lawfully agree to.
Consent or legal permissibility
Only enforcement
Only state succession
Only judicial review
Correct answer: A. Consent or legal permissibility
The passage explains that some defects undermine consent, while conflict with jus cogens goes to legality itself.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Because it affects the reality of sovereign consent
Because it makes all treaties political
Because it concerns trade tariffs
Because it abolishes custom
Correct answer: A. Because it affects the reality of sovereign consent
The passage says coercion by force strikes at the heart of sovereign consent.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
The states are neighbours
The parties wanted it
It was signed in public
It contains a preamble
Correct answer: B. The parties wanted it
The passage makes clear that party consent does not validate a treaty contrary to a peremptory norm.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Consent is the only value in treaty law
Treaty law includes substantive limits on what states may lawfully agree
Peremptory norms are optional
Fraud always voids every part of every treaty
Correct answer: B. Treaty law includes substantive limits on what states may lawfully agree
The passage ends by insisting that treaty law includes limits beyond mere consent.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
A coerced treaty raises a validity problem
A treaty conflicting with jus cogens may be void
States may by consent contract out of every peremptory norm
Fraud may affect consent
Correct answer: C. States may by consent contract out of every peremptory norm
That option directly contradicts the passage's explanation of peremptory norms.
Source note: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties