General Principles as a Source of International Law

Imogen Saunders is Lecturer in Law at the Australian National University, Canberra.

• Summary of ContentsIntroduction 1. A Framework for Analysing General Principles I. Introduction: A Tetrahedral Framework II. Jurisprudential Legitimacy: A Brief Consideration of Positivism and Natural Law III. Function: A Binding Source of International Law? IV. Type V. Methodology VI. Conclusion 2. History of Article 38(1)(c) I. Introduction II. Development Pre-World War I III. Development Post-World War I IV. Article 38(1)(c) and the PCIJ V. Conclusion: Applying the Tetrahedral Framework 3. Consideration of Article 38(1)(c) by the PCIJ I. Introduction: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff II. Cases in Chronological Order 4. Development of Article 38(1)(c): 1945–91 I. Introduction II. Historical Development: PCIJ to ICJIII. Cases IV. Conclusion 5. Development of Article 38(1)(c) by the ICJ: 1992–2019 I. Introduction II. Cases (Except for the Separate and Dissenting Opinions of Judges Weeramantry and Cançado Trindade) III. Contributions of Judge Weeramantry IV. Contributions of Judge Cançado-TrindadeV. Conclusion 6. General Principles in Other Courts and Tribunals I. Introduction II. International Criminal Tribunals III. International Economic Law IV. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea V. Regional Bodies VI. Conclusion 7. Commentary in Context I. Article 38(1)(c) as a Norm-Creating Source of International Law II. The Rule/Principle Distinction III. Judicial Discretion IV. Where are General Principles Drawn From? V. Content of General Principles 8. Global General Principles I. Types of Legal Systems II. Perspectives on General Principles III. The Comparativist’s Warning IV. Global General Principles in the Information Age9. A Model of General Principles I. A Tale of Two Sources: Illegitimate Duality II. General Principles and Legitimate Duality III. The Future of General Principles

This is a book that is far, far more than an examination of one paragraph of a section of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. It is a book that examines the very nature of international law and, beyond that, of law itself. It is a stunning work in the finest traditions of the greatest international law thinkers.