Four years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine in breach of international law. It is the end.
The Romans distinguished between Roman Law (Ius Civile) and the Law of Peoples (Ius Gentium). The law within a country and the law between countries. The first is decided by parliaments or assemblies (the legislative power), evaluated by judges (the judiciary), and applied by the government (the executive). The division of these three powers was described by Montesquieu in De l’esprit des lois (1748). The equilibrium of these powers and their mutual control was enshrined on February 8th 1788, in Federalist paper 51 (“The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments”).
The law is protected and enforced by the police and judges. If one commits a crime, there is a punishment. Hegel, a German philosopher, went so far as to argue that a criminal breaks the law in order to be punished. Crime and punishment go together.
Russia broke international law knowing there are no police and no judges to punish it.
The Romans were clear about this problem. The Roman Jurist gave the following definition of international law ‘what natural reason establishes among all men and is observed by all peoples alike, is called the Law of Nations, as being the law which all nations employ.’ (Gaius 1.1).
Today, it is reason without consequences. Clausewitz (1780-1831) stated that war is the continuation of politics by other means. That means that international law is defined by coercion. There is no other way to apply international agreements such as treaties.
The international order is reasonable but defenceless.
One of the few who understood this matter was Julius Caesar. Relations with foreign powers could be equitable if he applied the principles of Roman Law (Ius Civile) to agreements between different countries. Cicero described the situation in a speech (Pro Rege Deiotaro, 45 BC). Caesar was in his home acting as a judge over a foreign national, King Deiotarus of Galatia, who had tried to kill him, while abroad. A matter which did not concern the law within the Roman state, but a question of international relations. It could not be judged in the regular courts. It was heard in Caesar’s private house. Cicero states, in defence of the foreign ruler: ‘Had he slain you openly, he would have turned against himself not only the hate but also the arms of all nations.’ The consequence of the breach of international law is the attack by foreign nations with their armies.
There should be no difference between a crime committed locally or internationally. Both should be punished.
Russia has invaded another country. Four years ago, international law was breached. Russia still occupies part of a foreign nation.
Is democracy so weak? Are we waiting for it to collapse to solve international disputes?
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