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The condition of having an obligation, either in terms of morality or of law, to follow or desist from a certain path, or to use a certain procedure if one wishes to achieve a valid legal result. All jural law is, by its nature, binding on those to whom it applies. Much philosophical speculation has taken place, over millennia, as to the means whereby bindingness is conferred on law. But this is a false question, as all societies have worked on the assumption that that which they designate as law is, by virtue of it being law, binding. If, for example, rules or laws are promulgated for a game, those playing it do not ask if those rules are binding on them. It is inherent in the concept of laws or rules that they bind those who come within their aegis. Hence, international law is no less, and no more, binding on its subjects than any other law is within its area of jurisdiction. It should be noted that, as with all non-scientific law, the word binding in this context refers to the existence of an obligation to follow a rule, and not necessarily to its actual observance. Indeed, in logic an action can only be termed a breach of a rule on the assumption that the entity in question is under an obligation to observe it. See also customary international law; international law; pacta sunt servanda. |
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