CLAT PG question bank
CLAT PG International Law questions 201-225 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 system combines political organs, legal procedures, and practical institutional development. The Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security, and decisions within its authority may bind member states. The General Assembly generally recommends, but its resolutions can carry political legitimacy and contribute to legal development. Peacekeeping is not described in detail in the Charter but developed as a practical institutional technique. The ICJ decides contentious cases between consenting states and gives advisory opinions when properly requested by authorised organs or agencies. The Reparation for Injuries advisory opinion recognised that the UN possesses international legal personality necessary for its functions.
All private inheritance disputes.
International peace and security.
Domestic police recruitment.
Ordinary contract registration.
Correct answer: B. International peace and security.
That is the Charter role identified in the passage.
Source note: UN Charter; ICJ Statute; Reparation for Injuries Advisory Opinion
A world criminal court.
A replacement for all treaties.
Recommendatory, though politically and legally influential.
A domestic legislature.
Correct answer: C. Recommendatory, though politically and legally influential.
The passage explains that Assembly resolutions usually recommend but may influence legal development.
Source note: UN Charter; ICJ Statute; Reparation for Injuries Advisory Opinion
A private business model.
A treaty invalidity rule.
A nationality doctrine.
A practical institutional development.
Correct answer: D. A practical institutional development.
The passage says peacekeeping developed practically rather than through detailed Charter text.
Source note: UN Charter; ICJ Statute; Reparation for Injuries Advisory Opinion
State consent.
Application by any individual.
Automatic media interest.
A private arbitral award.
Correct answer: A. State consent.
The passage refers to contentious cases between consenting states.
Source note: UN Charter; ICJ Statute; Reparation for Injuries Advisory Opinion
The territorial sovereignty of the UN.
The international legal personality of the UN.
The end of statehood.
The invalidity of all advisory opinions.
Correct answer: B. The international legal personality of the UN.
The passage identifies UN legal personality as the point of the advisory opinion.
Source note: UN Charter; ICJ Statute; Reparation for Injuries Advisory Opinion
State responsibility and the law on force are connected but distinct. State responsibility asks whether conduct is attributable to a state, whether an international obligation has been breached, whether wrongfulness is precluded, and what consequences follow. Reparation may take the form of restitution, compensation, or satisfaction. Countermeasures are non-forcible measures aimed at inducing compliance and are subject to proportionality and procedural limits. The law on force begins from Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. Self-defence under Article 51 is preserved where an armed attack occurs, but necessity and proportionality remain controlling requirements. Armed reprisals are not a lawful substitute for countermeasures.
A textbook author.
A private newspaper only.
The state.
A domestic family court.
Correct answer: C. The state.
Attribution is the first stage in state responsibility analysis.
Source note: ILC Articles on State Responsibility; UN Charter Articles 2(4) and 51
Recognition.
Nationality.
Treaty reservation.
Reparation.
Correct answer: D. Reparation.
Those are the classic forms of reparation identified in the passage.
Source note: ILC Articles on State Responsibility; UN Charter Articles 2(4) and 51
Non-forcible and aimed at inducing compliance.
Armed attacks against civilians.
Permanent annexations.
Unrelated to breach.
Correct answer: A. Non-forcible and aimed at inducing compliance.
The passage specifically describes countermeasures as non-forcible compliance-oriented measures.
Source note: ILC Articles on State Responsibility; UN Charter Articles 2(4) and 51
A state dislikes criticism.
An armed attack occurs.
A treaty is translated late.
A trade preference is denied.
Correct answer: B. An armed attack occurs.
The passage ties Article 51 to armed attack.
Source note: ILC Articles on State Responsibility; UN Charter Articles 2(4) and 51
A form of treaty interpretation.
A nationality rule.
A lawful substitute for regulated countermeasures.
A type of asylum.
Correct answer: C. A lawful substitute for regulated countermeasures.
The passage expressly rejects armed reprisals as a replacement for lawful countermeasures.
Source note: ILC Articles on State Responsibility; UN Charter Articles 2(4) and 51
International protection of individuals operates through overlapping fields. Human rights law applies in ordinary times and emergencies, though some obligations may be derogated from only under strict conditions and some rights remain non-derogable. Refugee law focuses on protection against persecution and is anchored by non-refoulement. Human rights law has expanded that protection by preventing removal to torture or other serious prohibited harm even outside the Refugee Convention definition. International humanitarian law regulates armed conflict through principles such as distinction, proportionality, precautions, humane treatment, and protection of persons hors de combat. These fields overlap, but their triggers and tests are not identical.
For every right without limit.
Only in trade disputes.
Only after treaty registration.
Under strict conditions for certain obligations.
Correct answer: D. Under strict conditions for certain obligations.
The passage distinguishes conditional derogation from non-derogable rights.
Source note: ICCPR; Refugee Convention; Geneva Conventions
Non-refoulement.
State immunity.
Outer space appropriation.
Diplomatic bag rules.
Correct answer: A. Non-refoulement.
The passage identifies non-refoulement as the anchor of refugee protection.
Source note: ICCPR; Refugee Convention; Geneva Conventions
A colder climate.
Torture or other serious prohibited harm.
A lower salary.
A different university system.
Correct answer: B. Torture or other serious prohibited harm.
That expansion is expressly stated in the passage.
Source note: ICCPR; Refugee Convention; Geneva Conventions
Treaty registration.
Recognition of governments.
Humane treatment.
Taxation of goods.
Correct answer: C. Humane treatment.
Humane treatment is included in the passage's list of IHL principles.
Source note: ICCPR; Refugee Convention; Geneva Conventions
Typography and formatting.
Only political popularity.
Only treaty depositaries.
Triggers and tests.
Correct answer: D. Triggers and tests.
That is the passage's central analytical caution.
Source note: ICCPR; Refugee Convention; Geneva Conventions
International criminal law imposes responsibility directly on individuals for serious international crimes. Genocide requires special intent to destroy a protected group in whole or in part. Crimes against humanity require a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. War crimes require a nexus with armed conflict and serious violations of humanitarian law. The Rome Statute rejects official capacity as a defence before the ICC, though arrest and cooperation may raise separate issues. Complementarity means the ICC is not a universal first-instance criminal court. It acts where national systems are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate or prosecute. Legal precision matters because morally grave facts may fit different crimes depending on elements.
Special intent to destroy a protected group in whole or in part.
Any unlawful killing.
Any property destruction.
Any armed conflict.
Correct answer: A. Special intent to destroy a protected group in whole or in part.
The passage identifies special intent as the key element.
Source note: Rome Statute; Genocide Convention; Nuremberg principles
Only a military base.
A civilian population.
Only a commercial ship.
Only a treaty registry.
Correct answer: B. A civilian population.
The passage states the civilian population requirement.
Source note: Rome Statute; Genocide Convention; Nuremberg principles
Recognition of statehood.
Nationality disputes.
Armed conflict.
Trade preferences.
Correct answer: C. Armed conflict.
The passage identifies armed conflict nexus as necessary for war crimes.
Source note: Rome Statute; Genocide Convention; Nuremberg principles
Always fully effective.
The only possible courts.
Irrelevant to the Rome Statute.
Unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate or prosecute.
Correct answer: D. Unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate or prosecute.
That is the complementarity test in the passage.
Source note: Rome Statute; Genocide Convention; Nuremberg principles
Precise matching with legal elements.
Only emotional description.
Automatic conviction.
No proof of mental element.
Correct answer: A. Precise matching with legal elements.
The passage warns against collapsing different atrocity crimes into one moral category.
Source note: Rome Statute; Genocide Convention; Nuremberg principles
International economic law is no longer only about lowering barriers. WTO law rests on disciplines such as most-favoured-nation treatment, national treatment, tariff bindings, and dispute settlement between members. Exceptions allow regulatory space but are controlled by legal tests, including chapeau analysis under GATT Article XX. Investment treaties protect investors through standards such as fair and equitable treatment and protection against uncompensated expropriation, yet modern treaty practice increasingly preserves the host state's right to regulate. Environmental law adds principles such as prevention, precaution, environmental impact assessment, and sustainable development. The modern challenge is to prevent discrimination and abuse while preserving legitimate public regulation.
Diplomatic asylum.
Non-discrimination.
State succession.
Combatant status.
Correct answer: B. Non-discrimination.
MFN is one of the core non-discrimination disciplines in trade law.
Source note: WTO Agreements; investment treaty doctrine; Rio Declaration
Nationality law.
Consular immunity.
Chapeau analysis.
Outer space registration.
Correct answer: C. Chapeau analysis.
The passage specifically refers to chapeau analysis under GATT Article XX.
Source note: WTO Agreements; investment treaty doctrine; Rio Declaration
Refugee exclusion.
Piracy definition.
UN membership.
Investment protection.
Correct answer: D. Investment protection.
The passage lists FET as an investment treaty protection standard.
Source note: WTO Agreements; investment treaty doctrine; Rio Declaration
The host state's right to regulate.
A guarantee of investor profit.
Complete investor immunity from law.
Automatic annexation of investment property.
Correct answer: A. The host state's right to regulate.
The passage contrasts investor protection with regulatory space.
Source note: WTO Agreements; investment treaty doctrine; Rio Declaration
Unlimited private power.
Legitimate public regulation.
Abolition of environmental law.
Removal of all trade rules.
Correct answer: B. Legitimate public regulation.
That balance is the passage's concluding point.
Source note: WTO Agreements; investment treaty doctrine; Rio Declaration