CLAT PG question bank
CLAT PG International Law questions 51-75 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.
The United Nations framework does not assign the same powers to every organ. The General Assembly remains important for deliberation, recommendations, and political legitimacy, while the Security Council carries primary responsibility for international peace and security. Chapter VII decisions may bind member states. Peacekeeping emerged as a practical institutional development, often grounded in consent, impartiality, and limited force. Modern practice shows that political disagreement does not erase the legal significance of the institutional design. It instead makes legal characterisation even more important.
Recommendation and political legitimacy
Binding criminal jurisdiction
Automatic military command
Treaty registration only
Correct answer: A. Recommendation and political legitimacy
The passage presents the Assembly as a deliberative and recommendatory organ with political significance.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
International peace and security
Private family law
National elections
State succession
Correct answer: A. International peace and security
That is the classic Charter role stated in the passage.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
They may bind member states
They are always advisory
They apply only to observers
They abolish treaty law
Correct answer: A. They may bind member states
The passage expressly identifies binding force as the reason for their special significance.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
A criminal punishment system
A practical institutional development
A substitute for all diplomacy
A private military market
Correct answer: B. A practical institutional development
The passage describes peacekeeping as an institutional development rather than a Charter article phrase.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Less important
Even more important
Impossible
Relevant only to historians
Correct answer: B. Even more important
That is the concluding claim of the passage.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
The International Court of Justice performs two principal functions. It decides contentious disputes between states that have consented to its jurisdiction, and it provides advisory opinions at the request of authorised organs and agencies. These two functions are distinct, though both influence legal development. Provisional measures preserve rights pending final decision and are treated seriously in modern jurisprudence. Questions of jurisdiction, admissibility, intervention, and the effect of advisory opinions all show that procedure in international adjudication is never merely technical. It shapes the authority and reach of the Court's work.
Commercial arbitration
Advisory opinions
Domestic judicial review
UN peacekeeping
Correct answer: B. Advisory opinions
The passage identifies those two functions at the outset.
Source note: ICJ Statute; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
State consent
UN membership alone
Private claimant applications
Security Council referral only
Correct answer: A. State consent
The passage says contentious disputes are decided between consenting states.
Source note: ICJ Statute; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Replace final judgments
Preserve rights pending final decision
Apply only to non-state actors
Exist only in advisory proceedings
Correct answer: B. Preserve rights pending final decision
That is exactly how the passage explains their function.
Source note: ICJ Statute; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Merely technical
Closely tied to the Court's authority and reach
Unrelated to law
Relevant only to academics
Correct answer: B. Closely tied to the Court's authority and reach
The passage expressly rejects the idea that procedure is merely technical.
Source note: ICJ Statute; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Advisory opinions and contentious cases are identical
The Court's authority is shaped partly by procedural architecture
Only merits matter in international adjudication
Provisional measures are symbolic only
Correct answer: B. The Court's authority is shaped partly by procedural architecture
The passage consistently presents procedure as shaping authority and reach.
Source note: ICJ Statute; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
The prohibition on the threat or use of force is one of the structural rules of the Charter system. Article 51 preserves self-defence if an armed attack occurs, but the requirements of necessity and proportionality remain central. Alongside these familiar categories stand more contested ideas such as anticipatory self-defence, intervention by invitation, and unilateral humanitarian intervention. States often describe similar conduct in very different legal language. For that reason, the persuasive force of a claim depends not only on rhetoric but on whether it fits recognised legal categories and the facts genuinely support the legal characterisation.
Self-defence
Retorsion
Recognition
State succession
Correct answer: A. Self-defence
Article 51 and self-defence are the main preserved exception discussed in the passage.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Political slogans only
Central legal requirements of self-defence
Rules of treaty ratification
Tests for diplomatic immunity
Correct answer: B. Central legal requirements of self-defence
The passage specifically says they remain central even where self-defence is available.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Intervention by invitation
Existence of the UN Charter
Meaning of a treaty preamble
Status of nationality
Correct answer: A. Intervention by invitation
The passage lists intervention by invitation among contested ideas.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Facts do not matter
States often frame conduct strategically
Only judges speak in law
International law rejects categories
Correct answer: B. States often frame conduct strategically
The passage says states describe similar conduct in different legal language, indicating strategic framing.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
A strong military budget
Facts that genuinely fit the category invoked
Media approval
Population size
Correct answer: B. Facts that genuinely fit the category invoked
The passage ends by stressing fit between fact and legal category.
Source note: UN Charter; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
State responsibility does not ask first whether conduct was morally bad. It asks whether conduct is attributable to a state and whether that conduct breaches an international obligation in force for that state. Once those elements are satisfied, questions of excuse, consequence, and remedy arise. The law recognises cessation, assurances of non-repetition, and full reparation. Reparation may include restitution, compensation, and satisfaction. The structure matters because it separates primary rules from secondary consequences. A state may dispute attribution, breach, or remedy, and the answer to each question may differ.
Was politically unpopular
Breaches an international obligation
Affected only private law
Occurred after a treaty was signed by others
Correct answer: B. Breaches an international obligation
The passage identifies attribution and breach as the starting questions.
Source note: ARSIWA; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Compensation
Automatic annexation
Domestic impeachment
Electoral review
Correct answer: A. Compensation
Compensation is one of the forms of full reparation expressly listed in the passage.
Source note: ARSIWA; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Because legal disputes can concern attribution, breach, or remedy separately
Because every issue is solved by one rule
Because morality alone decides the case
Because procedure is irrelevant
Correct answer: A. Because legal disputes can concern attribution, breach, or remedy separately
The passage shows that responsibility analysis proceeds in stages, and different stages may be disputed separately.
Source note: ARSIWA; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Whether an obligation exists and what follows when it is breached
Domestic and foreign trade
Peace and war only
Recognition and state succession
Correct answer: A. Whether an obligation exists and what follows when it is breached
That is the classic ARSIWA distinction reflected in the passage.
Source note: ARSIWA; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Every wrongful act leads only to compensation
Attribution alone completes the analysis
Responsibility analysis is layered rather than one-dimensional
Only courts can discuss breach
Correct answer: C. Responsibility analysis is layered rather than one-dimensional
The passage presents state responsibility as a layered legal framework rather than a single-step inquiry.
Source note: ARSIWA; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
International human rights law transformed the place of the individual in public international law. Treaty bodies, reporting procedures, complaint mechanisms, and judicial institutions have all contributed to that change. Derogation clauses recognise that emergencies occur, but they do not permit the suspension of every right. Some guarantees remain non-derogable. The distinction matters because emergency powers are frequently invoked at moments of maximum pressure. The legal question is therefore not whether crises exist, but which restrictions remain legally permissible even under serious strain.
Only diplomats
The individual
Only corporations
Only military alliances
Correct answer: B. The individual
That transformation is the central opening claim of the passage.
Source note: International human rights law; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Unlimited permissions
Recognition that emergencies occur, but within legal limits
Proof that rights do not matter
Rules of state succession
Correct answer: B. Recognition that emergencies occur, but within legal limits
The passage explicitly says derogation clauses recognise emergencies but do not erase legal limits.
Source note: International human rights law; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Because emergencies occur at moments of maximum pressure
Because treaties never operate in emergencies
Because no right can ever be limited
Because only courts may invoke emergencies
Correct answer: A. Because emergencies occur at moments of maximum pressure
The passage says the legal significance of the distinction becomes sharp in times of severe strain.
Source note: International human rights law; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Which restrictions remain lawful
Whether states may leave the UN
Whether courts can speak foreign languages
Whether diplomacy is obsolete
Correct answer: A. Which restrictions remain lawful
That is the precise contrast drawn in the final sentence.
Source note: International human rights law; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law
Some rights remain non-derogable
Emergency powers are legally structured
A derogation clause suspends every right at once
Human rights law changed the place of the individual
Correct answer: C. A derogation clause suspends every right at once
That statement directly contradicts the passage's treatment of derogation.
Source note: International human rights law; Malcolm N Shaw, International Law