publications_unodc_commentary-e

judicial review; and to ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce suchremedies when granted.Status of International Law6. The status of international law within a municipal legal system is generallydetermined by municipal law. Consequently, different rules apply in differentjurisdictions. Where the monist theory is followed, international law and municipallaw on the same subject operate concurrently and, in the event of a conflict, theformer prevails. Where the dualist theory is favoured, international law andmunicipal law are regarded as two separate systems of law, regulating differentsubject matter. They are mutually exclusive, and the former has no effect on thelatter unless and until incorporation takes place through domestic legislation. Onereason for this view is because the making of a treaty is an executive act, while theperformance of its obligations, if they entail alteration of the existing domestic law,requires legislative action. However, in many of those States in which the dualisttheory is preferred, the recognition and observance of fundamental human rights andfreedoms is nevertheless now generally accepted as obligatory, or certainly asinfluential in the ascertainment and expression of domestic law.25