Relationship Between Municipal Law and International Law

In order to understand the passage between the International Law and Municipal Law, it is important to understand the meaning of both the laws. In a layman’s term, International Law simply portrays that it is a set of rules that comes into an action when a minimum of two nation states interact with each other; whereas on the other hand, Municipal Law that is also known as the National Law of the country, is applicable within the national territory of India.

Various Theories Between Municipal and International Law

The relationship or link between the Municipal Law and International Law can be primarily explained with the help of two principal theories I.e., Monism and Dualism. To understand the relationship between the two laws, it is necessary to understand the aforementioned theories in particular. On one hand International Law is said to be the law of the nations; whereas on other hand, Municipal Law is said to be the law of land.

Monistic Theory

In a nutshell, “monistic” portrays the unity of legal systems. This perspective of theory believes that, there is perhaps no difference between Municipal Law and International Law. People following this theory believe that the science and body of law are no different but a single law and that alone is known to be International Law. However, this theory portrays that the International Law is pompous as the Municipal Law.

Dualist Theory

There is no such pro-bone rule as to transfer rights and obligations from one system to another because the individuals are the residents of the country and are subject to national law. In a nutshell, there are numerous theories to explain the linkage between the International and National Law and sometimes, various arguments are formed in order to show which of the two laws is superior. People believing in the Dualism Theory believe that there is no contradiction between the International and National Law and that those statutes do not have to offer the same role.