law of nations

American  

noun

1. international law.

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law of nations British  

noun

1. another term for international law

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Etymology

Origin of law of nations

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

The Constitution contemplates Congress having limited law-enforcement powers and even specifies crimes it can punish: treason, counterfeiting, “offences against the law of nations” and “piracies and felonies on the high seas.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Cases have been filed under the Alien Torts Statute, which gives U.S. courts jurisdiction in instances concerning “violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.”

From New York Times

But while their attitude was very Europe-centric, the legal notion that planting a flag was an act of establishing sovereignty quickly stuck and became accepted worldwide as part and parcel of the law of nations.

From Scientific American

Arab Bank that foreign corporations cannot be sued under the 1789 Alien Tort Statute, which was originally intended to punish piracy and injuries to ambassadors under the common “law of nations.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The statute allows federal courts to hear “any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.”

From Washington Post