Institutions Involved in the Process

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As international law developed in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was widely understood that it was a tool for relations between nation-states. Individuals had no role in the process which resolved disputes between states except as representatives of the states, such as diplomats or naval officers. The classic ‘player’ is the sovereign body of the nation in whatever form it takes for a given state. It can be the President, Prime Minister, King, or Queen, but it is now often the bureaucratic representation of the sovereign power, such as the State Department, the Foreign Ministry, the military, etc. Until the middle of the 20th Century, international law consisted primarily of custom. More recently, customary international law has been increasingly codified.
While that part of the governmental entity charged with foreign relations will have the lead role in developing international law for the country, in practice each subunit of a government has some ability to create what can be recognized as International Law. In the United States, for example, the Executive Branch (acting through the State Department) may sign a treaty, but the President ratifies it with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, and the Congress as a whole may pass laws implementing it. In addition, administrative agencies can make and enforce regulations implementing the treaty and the statutes, and the courts can interpret any of the above and use non-treaty related international law as an exercise of their judicial power.
On the global scale, international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union have become extremely important as forums for creating international law. The most recent development in this area has been the recognition that there is a role, within the sphere of public international law, for individuals to pursue remedies against sovereign nations.
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