The relationship between international law and human security is an important one because legal norms, however derived, are the cornerstones of an ordered, civil and moral society. This chapter provides a discussion on international law and its relevance and relationship to state responsibility. The international community and individual states have obligations and responsibilities according to both formative and substantive law, reflected in the deliberations and rulings of international institutions such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and others. Despite the modern progression of international law, some legal positivists will argue that international law is not real law, but they have few answers as to why most in the international community of states actually recognize and abide by such law. We provide some discussion on this point because a common criticism of international law is that it frequently fails to hold states accountable for their behaviour, and therefore is not real law.

The work by the UN International Law Commission (ILC) was pivotal in bridging the gap between international law and substantive international legal norms that attempt to articulate the role of the state and its responsibilities regarding international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). We argue in this chapter that all these areas of law consist of important and complimentary legal instruments that help to define state responsibility, particularly in the realm of human security. IHL and IHRL are two separate areas of law that have historically evolved quite differently.