How This Unit Is Tested

Weightage: Paper 2 (Law) has 100 MCQs (2 marks each) spread over 10 units, so every unit contributes roughly 8–12 questions. Unit III (Public International Law and IHL) is a scoring unit because questions are factual and repeat the same cases, articles and conventions year after year.

• Statement-based (I, II, III – which is correct): e.g., about Article 38 ICJ Statute, non-refoulement, Geneva Conventions.

• Assertion–Reason (A/R): e.g., custom vs. treaty, recognition theories, principle of speciality.

• Match the following: case ↔ principle (Nottebohm ↔ genuine link; Asylum case ↔ diplomatic asylum; Lotus ↔ residual freedom of States), treaty ↔ year, organ ↔ function, WTO agreement ↔ subject.

• Chronological ordering / ‘which is NOT correct’: years of conventions, order of Geneva Conventions.

• Factual recall: number of members of UNSC/ICJ/ILC, article numbers (Art 2(4), Art 33, Art 51, Art 94 etc.).

1. Case-law matching (ICJ and PCIJ cases) – the single most repeated format.

2. Article-number questions from UN Charter, ICJ Statute, VCLT, GATT, Geneva Conventions.

3. Current-affairs-linked questions: ICJ advisory opinions, ICC warrants, Palestine recognition, WTO Ministerial Conferences, Indus Waters Treaty, UNSC composition, Secretary-General selection.

4. India-specific questions: Extradition Act 1962, India’s non-membership of the Refugee Convention and Rome Statute, Article 51 and Article 253 of the Constitution, Gramophone Company, Vishaka, Kulbhushan Jadhav.

5. IHL: Geneva law vs Hague law, Additional Protocols, grave breaches, combatant/POW status.

Study tip: For each topic below, learn (a) definition, (b) key articles/year, (c) 3–5 leading cases, (d) India angle, (e) recent development. That is exactly how the MCQs are framed.