International Vocabulary

Asylum - a status offered by one nation to a citizen of another nation, because the individual fears harm from the nation of origin.

Bilateral Treaties - a voluntary agreement between two sovereign states.

Civil and Political Rights - under terms of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, each party to the treaty agrees to protect the sanctity of life, rights protecting accused persons and criminals, mobility rights and civil rights.

Collective Security - involves the uniting of individual states against an aggressor state in order to maintain international peace and security. Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations identifies the maintenance of collective security as one of the organization’s purposes.

Convention - is another term to describe a treaty.

Customary Law - exists when there is evidence of widespread and consistent practice among states, and there is a genuine belief among states that such practice is legally binding.

Customs Act - identifies the powers and duties of customs officers, the procedures for importing goods, and the rules for the collection of customs duties.

Customs Tariff Act - identifies the rates of duties placed upon goods imported to Canada, as well as listing goods prohibited from being imported to Canada.

Diplomatic Immunity - special rights or privileges that protect foreign diplomatic representatives from physical harm or civil or criminal proceedings under the laws of the host nation.

Dualism - is used to describe the status of international law as it requires domestic legislative action for international implementation. Therefore, domestic and international law must coexist.

Dumping - the process whereby imports are sold into a domestic market at a price lower than the cost of production in the country of origin.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - under terms of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, each party to the treaty agrees to protection of workers’ rights, family rights, rights to health and an adequate standard of living, educational rights and cultural rights.

Export and Import Permits Act - requires permits be obtained prior to importing or exporting particular goods, in order to protect Canadian producers from unfairly low pricing on imports, and to restrict export sale of controlled products (such as military hardware) and other products of strategic importance (such as water).

Extradition - a process whereby one state will surrender, at the request of another state, a person accused or convicted of a violation of the requesting state’s domestic law. In Canada, our government will not allow the extradition of any individual facing a death penalty in the requesting state.

Human Rights - claims for recognition by an individual that take precedence over other claims, and that other individuals, groups and societies are duty bound to recognize.

The concept of human rights has a number of critical attributes, including:

• Universality - human rights are universal and, as such, apply to everyone regardless of nationality, race, religion, political beliefs, age or gender
• Morality - human rights are not simply demands for rights; they involve a moral entitlement to the right in question that other individuals and society must honour
• Humanity - the moral basis for human rights is the humanity and inherent dignity of the individual
• Obligations - a human rights claim by (an) individual(s) mean(s) that a set of responsibilities and obligations on the duty bearer(s) come into play, governing the kinds of interactions that can occur within a particular situation.

Immigration Policy - immigration policy in Canada has historically been an instrument of economic policy, with many immigrants welcomed to Canada to further the objectives of the national government.

Internal Displacement - the movement of mass numbers of people within a nation, this may cause hardship for both the displaced and non displaced citizens of a nation.

International Trade Law - the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRIL) was established in 1966 to enhance the efficiency of international trade.

Multilateral Treaties - a voluntary agreement between more than two sovereign states.

NonRefoulement - a fundamental principle of international refugee law, prohibiting the forced return of a refugee to the territory where life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Not every nation state adheres to the principle of nonrefoulement.

Ratification - a process whereby an agreement or treaty becomes binding on nations when the terms of the agreement or treaty are adopted as internal domestic law of the nation.

Refugee - a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution. A refugee claimant receives Canada's protection when he or she is found to be a Convention refugee as defined by the United Nations' 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and its 1967 Protocol.

Rule of Law - in international law, the rule of law functions only as individual states enact domestic legislation to guide and direct the international activities of the state. Such domestic legislation may address international treaties of either bilateral or multilateral nature.

Self Determination - both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political Rights, have in common Article One that identifies the right to self determination. Claims for self determination by a group of people may be contrary to the objectives of national governments.

Sovereignty - according to international law, every nation state has complete control over its territory, its people, and its choice of government, subject to the rules of international law.

Special Imports Measures Act - provides protection against dumping important products on Canadian markets.

State - is a sovereign territory recognized by other states and the United Nations. Under international law, each state has sovereignty over its domestic affairs.

Statute of the International Criminal Court - the Statute of the International Criminal Court lists and defines crimes within its jurisdiction.

Terrorism - the unlawful use of or threat of, violence against persons or property to further political or social objectives.

Treaty - a written voluntary agreement made by two or more sovereign states.

United Nations Convention on Refugees - according to the United Nations, a refugee is a person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence, has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.