Examiner's Traps and Recent-Trend Radar

• Good offices vs mediation: good offices – third party does not take part in negotiations; mediation – third party proposes terms.

• Arbitration vs conciliation: award binding vs recommendation non-binding.

• Extradition vs deportation; asylum vs refugee status; refugee vs IDP.

• Constitutive vs declaratory theory; Estrada (no recognition of governments) vs Stimson (non-recognition of territory taken by force) vs Tobar (unconstitutional governments).

• Hague law vs Geneva law; Common Art 2 (international) vs Common Art 3 (non-international); AP I vs AP II.

• ICC vs ICJ vs ITLOS vs PCA vs ICTY. ICC – individuals; ICJ – States; ITLOS – law of the sea; PCA – arbitration administrator; ICTY – ad hoc.

• Veto: affects substantive SC matters only; abstention and absence are not vetoes; procedural matters need nine votes without veto; ICJ judge election has no veto.

• Advisory opinions are not binding; interim measures are binding; judgments are binding only between parties (Art 59).

• GA vs SC: GA recommendations are non-binding; SC Chapter VII decisions are binding (Art 25, Art 48).

• Art 51 is an exception to Art 2(4); self-defence is available only against an ‘armed attack’ (Nicaragua), and Art 51 also demands reporting to the SC.

• WTO: MFN (Art I) vs national treatment (Art III); safeguards (Art XIX) vs anti-dumping (Art VI) vs countervailing duties (SCM); WTO ≠ UN specialised agency.

• Art 38 sources – ‘T-C-G-J’: Treaty, Custom, General principles, Judicial decisions/publicists.

• Refugee grounds – ‘RRN-PS-PO’: Race, Religion, Nationality, Particular Social group, Political Opinion (five).

• P5 – ‘CFRUU’: China, France, Russia, UK, USA.

• GC I–IV: Land-wounded, Sea-wounded, POWs, Civilians – ‘LSPC’ (increasing order of coverage: 1 land, 2 sea, 3 POW, 4 civilians).

• WTO principles: MFN, NT, Bindings, Transparency, Exceptions, S&DT.

• Dispute settlement (Art 33): N-E-M-C-A-J-R-O (Negotiation, Enquiry, Mediation, Conciliation, Arbitration, Judicial settlement, Regional agencies, Other).

These are the kinds of items that frequently appear in recent papers. Check the latest official status of each:

1. ICJ: Climate Change AO (23 July 2025); AO on Israel’s obligations in relation to UN and other organisations (October 2025); South Africa v Israel, Ukraine v Russia, Gambia v Myanmar – pending/merits stages; ICJ triennial election (Nov 2026) – five seats; Indian judge’s term ends Feb 2027.

2. ICC: warrants against Putin and Netanyahu/Gallant; Duterte proceedings; withdrawals (Hungary, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger); ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s leave and investigation; US sanctions on ICC officials (2025).

3. UN: Secretary-General selection (2026; Guterres’s term ends 31 December 2026); UNSC elections for 2027–28; UN80 reform initiative and budget crisis; Pact for the Future (September 2024); veto-initiative debates.

4. Recognition: Palestine recognised by additional States in 2024–25; Russia’s recognition of the Taliban (July 2025); Kosovo’s status.

5. Refugees/asylum/extradition: India’s Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025; Rohingya cases; extradition of Tahawwur Rana (April 2025); Choksi proceedings (Belgium); Hasina extradition request; CAA Rules 2024.

6. Dispute settlement: Indus Waters Treaty abeyance (April 2025) and the Court of Arbitration’s awards (June–August 2025); ITLOS climate AO (2024); Chagos treaty (2025); Special Tribunal for aggression against Ukraine.

7. WTO: MC13 (Abu Dhabi, 2024), MC14 (Yaoundé, 2026); Fisheries Subsidies Agreement in force (15 September 2025); Appellate Body crisis and MPIA; US tariff measures and WTO law; Okonjo-Iweala’s second term; e-commerce moratorium; India’s food security/public stockholding stance.

8. IHL: Gaza humanitarian law debates (starvation, Art 54 AP I, hospitals), Ukraine war (Register of Damage, aggression tribunal), autonomous weapons, 75 years of Geneva Conventions, Ottawa Convention withdrawals announced by some European States (2025).

1. Eliminate by articles: many options are wrong because they swap Art 51 (self-defence) with Art 2(4) (use of force), Art 33 with Art 36 etc. Memorise article numbers with their headings.

2. ‘Binding vs non-binding’ trap: GA resolutions, advisory opinions, Red Notices, soft law – non-binding; SC Chapter VII decisions, ICJ judgments between parties, interim measures – binding.

3. India-specific hooks: India is not a party to the Refugee Convention, Rome Statute, AP I/II, Ottawa, CCM, TPNW, NPT, VCLT 1969; India is a party to Geneva Conventions 1949, Genocide Convention, CWC, BWC, CCW, UNCLOS, WTO agreements.

4. Assertion–Reason: check if the reason actually explains the assertion (e.g., asylum is a State right, hence no individual right to be granted asylum – correct explanation).

5. Match-the-case: link each case to a single keyword (see 9.3); Asylum ≠ Haya de la Torre; Nottebohm ≠ Barcelona Traction.

6. Time-box: this unit’s questions are recall-based; spend under 40 seconds per question and use the saved time for analytical units.

Notes prepared for UGC NET Law (Paper 2) Unit III. Always confirm the latest figures and events against UN, ICJ, ICC, WTO, MEA (India) and UGC NET notifications.