Modern international law dates back to the turn of the twentieth century when world leaders met in The Hague, Netherlands, to create the first laws of war and arms control agreements. They also founded the League of Nations to settle international disputes and bring world peace. These ideas have since been transformed into public international law. However, the evolution of international law is not complete.

There are two kinds of international law: public and private. Public international law governs relations between sovereign states, while private international law regulates dealings between individual citizens of different nations. Both are a significant source of international law. International law is not enforceable by a superior authority, but it is considered binding by the states that practice it. However, some states disagree with it and claim that it does not apply to their circumstances.

There is no single rulebook for international law, as many agreements have emerged since World War II. These agreements deal with a wide variety of issues from the mundane to the profound. These agreements comprise the body of international law. The history of international law is quite extensive, with polities from the eastern Mediterranean to East Asia negotiating various agreements that govern their relationship.

In 2002, the United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention, a human rights treaty that declares genocide a crime against humanity. This is the first human rights treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly. The Convention provides for a court that assesses genocide cases. However, countries may not surrender a person accused of genocide, as their national laws do not allow them to be extradited.