Abstract

FERNANDEZ SANCHEZ, Pablo Antonio. Was Francisco de Vitoria Really the Father of International Law?. Anu. Mex. Der. Inter [online]. 2022, vol.22, pp.151-193.  Epub Aug 07, 2023. ISSN 1870-4654.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24487872e.2022.22.16951.

Francisco de Vitoria was the first intellectual who reflected on the new characteristics that the discovery of America would bring to the organization of the world. He used doctrinal arguments by which his paternity of international law was recognized, as it developed in subsequent centuries. He had the virtue of considering the existence of a totus orbis, which today we would call the “international community”. He would later rival Hugo Grotius in relation to the paternity of this branch of law. However, the thought of him was perhaps not well understood. Vitoria was not thinking of a legal system whose center was the State, but the person.

Keywords : Francisco de Vitoria; Hugo Grocio; clasic international law; global law; international community; totus orbis.