law of nations
3
6.7
- noun
- /lɔː ʌv ˈneɪʃənz/
- Specialized
:
derecho de gentes
- Nothing in the classical law of nations addresses email or the physical location of servers.
Examples
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Article one, section eight, clause ten empowers Congress to pass laws to deal with problems arising under the "law of nations."
Academic text (1999) -
The law of nations was not then positive law in the United States.
Academic text (1999) -
Under the just law of nations, you people are pirates.
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Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions.
Blog text (26) -
In particular, acts of inhumanity to prisoners, which are forbidden by the customary laws of nations as well as convention, are to be prevented by the government having responsibility for the prisoners...
Blog text (33) -
According to Blackstone's Commentaries, perhaps the most important legal reference work for the American Founders, "offenses against the law of nations" include injury to the ambassador of a foreign state and any injury to a foreign national traveling under a "safe conduct" or "passport."
Academic text (2003) -
Moynihan writes, "In the annals of forgetfulness, there is nothing quite to compare with the fading from the American mind of the idea of the law of nations."
Academic text (1991) -
At the time of the American Revolution and its immediate aftermath, a well-established norm of the law of nations was already commonly recognized as entitling belligerents to restrict trade with the countries they were at war with.
Academic text (2018) -
Men have learned from the history of modern Europe that the law which is called the law of nations—that is, the rule of justice which regulates the relations of people with people—has become weak and powerless.
Blog text (30) -
The law of nations sets the standards for how countries should interact with each other.
Synonyms
73
4.1
Rules that countries follow when they deal with each other
Rules that countries accept to govern how they deal with each other
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the body of laws governing relations between nations' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'law' (rules) with 'of nations' (pertaining to nations), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it refers to laws concerning nations. The 'of' genitive construction is a standard, cross-linguistic pattern, making the phrase predictable to a B1 learner despite its somewhat formal register.
Etymology
Law of nations comes from the image of a shared rule: law that applies to many nations. People used it to talk about rules between countries, which is why today it means 'international law'.