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8 - The International Court of Justice as the Master of the Sources

from Part II - The ICJ and International Dispute Settlement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2023

By
Jean d’Aspremont
Edited by
Carlos Espósito  and
Kate Parlett
Carlos Espósito
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Kate Parlett
Affiliation:
Twenty Essex, London
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Summary

This chapter explains the Court’s significant role as the ‘master of the sources’ of international law. The author considers what he defines as the ‘repressive dimension of Article 38’, before turning to consider the ways in which the Court has concretely used its role in respect of the sources of international law. Finally, the chapter critically examines how repression and mastery can often work together in international legal thought.

Keywords

sources of international lawtreatiescustomary international lawprinciplesArticle 38 of the Statutemaster of the sources
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the International Court of Justice , pp. 165 - 186
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

d’Aspremont, J., ‘What Was Not Meant to Be: General Principles of Law As a Source of International Law’, in Pisillo Mazzeschi, R. and De Sena, P. (eds.), Global Justice, Human Rights, and the Modernization of International Law (Springer, 2018) 163.Google Scholar
d’Aspremont, J., ‘The Four Lives of Customary International Law’, 21 International Community Law Review (2019) 229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzmaurice, M., ‘The History of Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice: The Journey from the Past to the Present’, in Besson, S. and d’Aspremont, J., Oxford Handbook on the Sources of International Law (Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 179.Google Scholar
Tams, C., ‘Meta-Custom and the Court: A Study in Judicial Law-Making’ 14 The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (2015) 51.Google Scholar
Tomka, P., ‘Custom and the International Court of Justice’, 12(2) The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (2013) 195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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