Effectively in practice since the Middle Ages,^[1] “international law” the term commonly used with reference to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that have their source in the international community of states, rather than individual states, and that bind states together in common adherence to recognized values and standards of behavior. In its most general sense, international law consists of rules and principles of general application dealing with the conduct of states and of intergovernmental organizations and with their inter-relations, as well as with some of their relations with persons, whether natural or juridical.