How to Learn International Law, EU & Organizations: 96 Flashcards from Westphalia to Article 50
Master international law and EU institutions with Flip It deck DS0865: 96 real cards on treaties, jus cogens, monism vs dualism, regulations vs directives.
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International law has a reputation for being vague. It is not; it is just built on a small set of Latin principles, one treaty about treaties, and a handful of institutions with very precise powers. The Flip It deck International Law, EU & Organizations (code DS0865, 96 cards) covers exactly that set, plus a full module on how the European Union makes law. This guide shows how to work through it.
Study this deck: International Law, EU & Organizations
1 / 10International law also known as
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
What is in the deck
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Main sources of international law | Custom, treaties, and general principles of law recognized by most national systems |
| Peace of Westphalia | 1648, the seminal event that established the current international legal order |
| Where are the sources listed authoritatively? | Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice |
| What principle makes treaties binding? | Pacta sunt servanda |
| Two elements of customary international law | Consistent state practice plus opinio juris |
| Jus cogens | Peremptory norms from which no derogation is permitted |
| Monism vs dualism (examples) | France and the Netherlands are monist; the UK is dualist |
| Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention | Permanent population, defined territory, government, capacity to enter relations |
| EU Regulation vs Directive | A regulation applies automatically; a directive sets goals to transpose into national law |
| Article 50 of the TEU | The clause allowing a member state to withdraw from the EU |
Three blocks, three methods
Block 1: foundations and history (about 25 cards). Learn this as a timeline: Lagash and Umma (c. 3100 BCE), the Treaty of Kadesh (1279 BCE), Roman jus gentium, canon law and lex mercatoria, Francisco de Vitoria, Hugo Grotius and De Jure Belli ac Pacis (1625), Westphalia (1648), the League of Nations, the UN (1945), the International Law Commission (1947). Also here: public vs private international law, transnational law (Jessup) and supranational law.
Block 2: sources, treaties and subjects (about 35 cards). This is the technical core and the most tested part. Work it as a vocabulary list: the four Article 38(1) categories, the VCLT definition of a treaty, consent by signature/ratification/accession, reservations vs interpretive declarations, Article 54 termination and withdrawal, the textual/subjective/teleological approaches to interpretation, persistent objectors, erga omnes obligations, the non-use of force as the leading peremptory norm, par in parem non habet imperium, declaratory vs constitutive theories of recognition, acta jure gestionis vs acta jure imperii, the Reparations for Injuries opinion, IGOs vs INGOs, Chapter VII powers of the Security Council, the Peace Palace in The Hague, the UDHR (1948) and the three regional human rights courts.
Block 3: European Union (about 35 cards). Learn it as an organization chart. Institutions: Commission (sole right to propose legislation), Parliament (750 MEPs, proportional representation), Council of the EU (ministers), European Council (heads of government), Court of Justice, European Central Bank (Frankfurt), the Anti-fraud Office. Treaties: TEU and TFEU, Maastricht (1992), the failed 2005 Constitution, Lisbon (2007). Concepts: direct effect, conferral, qualified majority voting, the democratic deficit, the four freedoms, Schengen (1985), the Eurozone (19 states), the EEA, Article 49 accession, the Citizens' Initiative (one million signatures), the Coal and Steel Community and Jean Monnet, Brexit (2020).
Two tips that matter for this deck
Group the Latin. Six maxims carry Block 2: pacta sunt servanda, opinio juris, jus cogens, erga omnes, par in parem non habet imperium, acta jure gestionis/imperii. Review them as one mini-set until each triggers its English definition instantly; they are the cards most likely to appear as short-answer questions.
Pair every "vs" card. The deck is deliberately built on contrasts: public vs private, monism vs dualism, custom vs treaty, declaratory vs constitutive, regulation vs directive, IGO vs INGO, termination vs withdrawal. When one side comes up in review, say the other side out loud before flipping.
Study it on Flip It
Sign in at flip-it.app and search the library for International Law, EU & Organizations (DS0865). Spaced repetition handles the block that resists you, which for most people is the VCLT detail.
Related in the Law & Politics section: the Criminal Law Concepts & Terminology study guide and Political Ideologies Explained.
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