structural:summarization, structural:scholar_edition, structural:expansion, information:classification
Monism and dualism

There are generally two approaches to the relationship between international and national law, namely monism and dualism. Monism assumes that international and national law are part of the same legal order. Therefore, a treaty can directly become part of national law without the need for enacting legislation, although they will generally need to be approved by the legislature. Once approved, the content of the treaty is considered as a law that has a higher status than national laws. Examples of countries with a monism approach are France and the Netherlands. The dualism approach considers that national and international law are two separate legal orders, so treaties are not granted a special status. The rules in a treaty can only be considered national law if the contents of the treaty have been enacted first. An example is the United Kingdom; after the country ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, the convention was only considered to have the force of law in national law after Parliament passed the Human Rights Act 1998.