Related:
- International Law Commission
- Summaries of the Work of the International Law Commission” General principles of law
- Seventy-sixth Session (2025)
- Analytical Guide to the Work of the International Law Commission
- Yearbooks of the International Law Commission
- ILC Annual Reports
- Chapter IV General principles of law (2023, pdf) 1
- International law: Sources of international law (Wikipedia)
- Sources of international law: General principles of law (Wikipedia)
Interesting recent lecture by Prof Mads Andenæs and Prof Johann Ruben Leiss, University of Oslo, ‘The Systemic Function of General Principles’ – Prof Mads Andenas & Prof Johann Ruben Leiss, University of Oslo (Feb. 6, 2026). See their paper Article 38(1)(d) ICJ Statute and the Principle of Systemic Institutional Integration; also General Principles and the Coherence of International Law – Principes Généraux Et Cohérence Du Droit International; The Law and Politics of the General Principles of Law in the Twenty-First Century. [continue reading…]
- “To cite but a few examples, in the Corfu Channel case, the International Court of Justice found that the use of indirect evidence, in addition to being admitted in “all systems of law”, was “recognized by international decisions”. 44 In Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, the Court similarly noted that “[i]t is a general principle of law, confirmed by the jurisprudence of this Court, that a party which advances a point of fact in support of its claims must establish that fact”. 45 In the Chagos Marine Protected Area arbitration, the tribunal noted that the “frequent invocation [of the principle of estoppel] in international proceedings has added definition to the scope of the principle”. 4… The European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have likewise relied on prior decisions to justify the existence of the principle iura novit curia. 47 In international criminal law, prior decisions by international courts and tribunals have also played a significant role in the identification of general principles of law.48″ … “27 A general principle of law that is often referred to in practice and in the literature, and which may be considered to be of a general and abstract character, is the principle of good faith. …
28 Examples of general principles of law that have been invoked or applied in practice, and which may be considered to be of a more specific character (because they present, for instance, precise conditions for their application), include the principles of res judicata and lis pendens, and the right to lawyer-client confidentiality. See, respectively, International Court of Justice, Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia), Preliminary Objections, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2016, p. 100, at pp. 125–126, paras. 58–61; Permanent Court of International Justice, Certain German Interests in Polish Upper Silesia, Judgment, 25 August 1925, P.C.I.J. Series A, No. 6, pp. 5 et seq., at p. 20; International Court of Justice, Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data (Timor‐Leste v. Australia), Provisional” .. “Examples of such general principles of law may include pacta sunt servanda, good faith, the principles of lex specialis and lex posterior, respect for human dignity and elementary considerations of humanity.” [↩]
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