Each State remains sovereign but may choose to limit its own sovereignty by making commitments, through such conventions, that restrict its freedom of action in certain domains according to its domestic law.
In international society, States are prevailing actors.Some theorists refer to individuals’ willingness to be part of a group and share its rules.
The community condemns failures to respect the established public or social order and is in charge of compensating the victim. In a system of law, the victim does not procure justice for him- or herself. Law has both a normative role-to establish the standards of behavior-and a judicial one-to ensure the means to enforce respect for the rules.
Each society thus gives itself the means to organize its collective life and regulate its relations with other communities in a harmonious way, following preestablished “rules of the game,” known to all. Law is the set of rules that organizes the lives of individuals in a society.
