American University International Law Review

Volume 23 | Issue 2 Article 2

2007

Customary Law Without Custom? Rules,

Principles, and the Role of State Practice in
International Norm Creation
Niels Petersen

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Petersen, Niles. "Customary Law Without Custom? Rules, Principles, and the Role of State Practice in International Norm Creation."
American University International Law Review 23, no.2 (2007): 275-310.

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 CUSTOMARY LAW WITHOUT CUSTOM?
RULES, PRINCIPLES, AND THE ROLE OF
STATE PRACTICE IN INTERNATIONAL NORM
CREATION

NIELS PETERSEN*

I. THE SOURCES OF UNWRITTEN INTERNATIONAL

L A W ...................................................................................... 2 76
A. CUSTOM: FROM INDUCTIVE TO INTERPRETATIVE
A PPRO ACHES ................................................................... 278
1. Customary Law Without Consuetudo ......................... 280
2. Sliding Scale Approaches ........................................... 283
3. From Legal Methodology to Equity ............................ 284
B . G ENERAL PRINCIPLES ........................................................ 284
II. RULES AND PRINCIPLES ....................................................... 286
A. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN RULES AND PRINCIPLES ........ 286
B. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RULES AND PRINCIPLES ..... 289
C. THE IDENTIFICATION OF PRINCIPLES IN THE
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER ....................................... 291
III. THE DISPENSABILITY OF STATE PRACTICE FOR
ESTABLISHING LEGAL PRINCIPLES ............................. 294
A. THE FUNCTION OF STATE PRACTICE .................................. 294
1. Customary Law as Pactum Tacitum ........................... 294
2. Compliance Theories .................................................. 295
a. Compliance and Legitimacy .................................. 295
b. Rational Choice Approaches ................................. 296
c. E valuation .............................................................. 297

Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Research on

Collective Goods, Bonn. This Article was principally elaborated during my time as
Visiting Doctoral Researcher at the New York University School of Law. I am
grateful to Anne van Aaken, Markus Benzing, Sergio Dellavalle, Matthias
Goldmann, Benjamin Hartmann, Stefan Kadelbach, Benedict Kingsbury, Thomas
Kleinlein, Mattias Kumm, and Jason Morgan-Foster for stimulating discussions
and valuable comments.

275
276 AM. U. INT'L L. REV. [23:275

3. PositivistApproach ..................................................... 299

a. Normative Foundations of Customary Law .......... 299
b. The Role of State Practice .................................... 300
B. THE QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RULES AND
P RIN CIPLES ...................................................................... 302
1. StructuralDifference Between Rules and
P rinciples ................................................................... 302
2. Principlesand FillingLacuna .................................... 303
a. The Preservation of Public Goods ........................ 303
b. The Protection of Human Rights .......................... 305
3. Principles in Legal Doctrineand Jurisprudence........ 306
C. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS.. 306
C O N C LU SIO N ............................................................................... 309

I. THE SOURCES OF UNWRITTEN

INTERNATIONAL LAW
Unwritten norms play a crucial role in international law. While
customary law has nearly no significance in national legal orders, it
is still an important source of international law, despite the growing
importance of treaty law. This is due to the lack of central legislation.
The body of written norms alone cannot serve as a basis for a
coherent legal order with the consequence that the lacuna must be
filled by unwritten rules and principles.
However, theories of the sources of unwritten international law are
problematic. Despite the importance of customary law, the criteria
for the identification of customary norms are less than clear.
Although Article 38(l)(b) of the Statute of the International Court of
Justice ("ICJ Statute") 1 defines custom as a general practice that has
been accepted as law, there is no consensus on how to elucidate the
two elements of this definition. In particular, the element of state
practice is subject to controversy. 2 Scholars have debated what kind

1. Statute of the International Court of Justice art. 38 para. 1, June 26, 1945,
59 Stat. 1055, 1060, 3 Bevans 1153, 1187.
2. See Holger Hestermeyer, Access to Medication as a Human Right, in 8
MAX PLANCK YEARBOOK OF UNITED NATIONS LAW 101, 159 (Armin von
2008] CUSTOMARYLA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

of activity constitutes state practice and disagree on the duration and

frequency of the activity that is necessary to satisfy the definition.3
Further, it seems practically impossible to ascertain the practices of
the nearly 200 states in the international community. Thus, a survey
of customary international law is often highly selective and takes into
account only major powers and the most affected states. But even in
this smaller focus there is no adequate and systematic method for
proving the elements of custom. Consequently, international law
arguments based on custom always suffer from a considerable degree
of arbitrariness.5
This Article seeks to analyze the role of state practice in the
formation of unwritten international legal norms. I will argue that
certain categories of legal norms should be classified as general
principles of international law instead of custom, and thus should not
require the proof of state practice as a constituent element. I will
undertake this analysis in three stages: First, I will sketch
methodological developments in the identification of customary
international law. Second, I will outline and explain my argument in
more detail. Finally, I will analyze the role of state practice as an

Bogdandy & Riidiger Wolfrum eds., 2004) (noting the lack of definite rules for
recognizing customary international law).
3. See ANTHONY A. D'AMATO, THE CONCEPT OF CUSTOM IN INTERNATIONAL
LAW 58 (1971) (noting that there is no consensus as to how much time a practice
must be maintained to evidence the existence of a custom); G. I. Tunkin, Remarks
On the JuridicalNature of Customary Norms of International Law, 49 CAL. L.
REV. 419, 420 (1961) (arguing that the element of time is not dispositive as to
whether a customary law exists).
4. See KAROL WOLFKE, CUSTOM IN PRESENT INTERNATIONAL LAW 81 (1964)
(acknowledging that factors such as wealth, power, and size play a role in the
formation of international custom); Michael Byers, Introduction: Power,
Obligation, and Customary InternationalLaw, 11 DUKE J. COMP. & INT'L L. 81,
84 (2001) (suggesting that an emphasis on state practice in the formation of
customary international law has the inequitable result that international legal norms
will disproportionately favor wealthier states).
5. See Hestermeyer, supra note 2, at 158 (arguing that uncertainty in the area
of customary international law is growing); Onuma Yasuaki, A Transcivilization
Perspective on Global Legal Order in the Twenty-first Century: A Way to
Overcome West-centric and Judiciary-centric Deficits in International Legal
Thoughts, inTOWARDS WORLD CONSTITUTIONALISM: ISSUES IN THE LEGAL
ORDERING OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY 151, 179 (Ronald S.J. Macdonald &
Douglas M. Johnston eds., 2005) (criticizing the manner in which western scholars
identify state practice).
278 AM. U INT'L L. REv. [23:275

element of customary law and show that it is not a necessary element

for the formation of all unwritten law.

A. CUSTOM: FROM INDUCTIVE TO INTERPRETATIVE APPROACHES

Practice was the crucial constituent element in the traditional

understanding of customary international law. Courts and
international tribunals concentrated on this objective element and
tried to identify certain patterns of state behavior. Customary law
was thus determined with an inductive approach by collecting and
systematizing facts of state conduct.6 Consequently, it is not
astonishing that some authors, such as Guggenheim and Kelsen,
proposed to dispense with opinio juris as a constituent element of
custom and to rely only on practice.7
However, the method of establishing rules of customary law has
changed significantly in modem legal scholarship. The range of state
behavior that is considered practice has broadened in scope
considerably. Not only explicit conduct, but also paper practice-
such as the conduct and pronouncements of international
organizations-is recognized as practice by a majority of legal
scholars.8 Moreover, the scholars have increasingly begun to

6. See Bruno Simma, InternationalHuman Rights and General International

Law: A Comparative Analysis, in 4 COLLECTED COURSES OF THE ACADEMY OF
EUROPEAN LAW 153, 216 (1993); see also, e.g., S.S. "Lotus" (Fr. v. Turk.), 1927
P.C.I.J. (ser. A) No. 10, at 18 (Sept. 7) (holding that binding international law
derives from the will of states as expressed via their actions and in conventions
generally accepted as expressing principles of international law).
7. Paul Guggenheim, Les Deux El~ments de la Coutume en Droit
International,in LA TECHNIQUE ET LES PRINCIPES DU DROIT PUBLIC: ETUDES EN
L'HONNEUR DE GEORGES SCELLE 275-84 (Charles Rousseau ed., 1950); Hans
Kelsen, Thorie du droit international coutumier [Theory of International
Customary Law], 1 REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LA THEORIE DU DROIT 253-74
(1939) (Fr.). Both have, however, revised their opinion in later contributions. See
HANS KELSEN, PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 440 (Robert W. Tucker 2d ed.
1966) [hereinafter KELSEN, PRINCIPLES] (adding a second element to the definition
of custom: that the individuals exercising the relevant action or abstention are
convinced that they fulfill a duty or exercise a right); PAUL GUGGENHEIM, TRAITE
DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC [TREATISE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW] 101
(Librairie de l'Universit6, Georg & Cie S.A. 1967) (Fr.).
8. See Rudolf Bernhardt, Customary InternationalLaw, in 1 ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW 898, 900 (Rudolf Bernhardt ed., 1992) (asserting
that omissions by states are evidence of customary law and that any state agency
can contribute to that state's customary law); Michel Virally, Le R6le des
2008] CUSTOMAR Y LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM? 279

emphasize the hierarchical structure of the international legal order.

In such approaches, interpretative methods of norm identification
have gained in importance as against a strict analysis of behavioral
patterns. 9
Indeed, references to state practice are often only a formality. In
the field of international human rights, certain obligations are widely
accepted to form part of customary law." These include the
prohibition of genocide, slavery, torture and other cruel, inhumane or
degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged arbitrary detention,

"Principes" dans le D veloppement du Droit International [The Role of

"Principles"in the Development of InternationalLaw], in RECUEIL D'ETUDES DE
DROIT INTERNATIONAL EN HOMMAGE k PAUL GUGGENHEIM [COLLECTION OF
STUDIES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW IN TRIBUTE TO PAUL GUGGENHEIM] 531, 550
(1968) (Fr.) (demonstrating that a declaration of principle constitutes a method of
establishing a rule of customary law); Andrew T. Guzman, Saving Customary
International Law, 27 MICH. J. INT'L L. 115, 124-25 (2005) (suggesting that
diplomatic correspondence, treaties, statements by heads of state, and domestic
laws can serve to demonstrate state practice); see also Michael Akehurst, Custom
as a Source of InternationalLaw, in THE BRITISH YEAR BOOK OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW 1974-1975, at 1, 4 (1977) (canvassing and criticizing the debate among
scholars regarding whether a given category of state action merely confirms the
existence of an already recognized custom or whether such state action is being
employed by a state with a view to the establishment of custom). Although this
broad approach to state practice is disputed, it reflects the majority of academic
commentators and the legal jurisprudence. See J6rg Kammerhofer, Uncertainty in
the Formal Sources of InternationalLaw: Customary InternationalLaw and Some
of Its Problems, 15 EUR. J. INT'L L. 523, 525-30 (2004) (distinguishing between
the subjective and objective elements, with respect to the formation of customary
law, that are present in the practices of any state).
9. See, e.g., Christian Tomuschat, InternationalLaw: Ensuring the Survival of
Mankind on the Eve of a New Century, in 281 RECUEIL DES COURS 9, 86 (1999)
(noting that the process of "hierachization" has increased over the last decade as
scholars have attempted to define the scope of jus cogens and erga omnes
obligations). Some have criticized this development, however, on the grounds that
the norms underlying the international legal order must be of high quality if the
goal of governing international relations is to be achieved. See generally Prosper
Weil, Towards Relative Normativity in InternationalLaw?, 77 AM. J. INT'L L. 413
(1983).
10. See generally RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF FOREIGN RELATIONS LAW OF THE
UNITED STATES 702 (1987); Louis B. Sohn, The Human Rights Law of the
Charter, 12 TEX. INT'L L.J. 129, 133 (1977) (noting that even states that have
expressed doubt concerning the legality of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights have invoked it when other states have violated the terms of that
instrument).
280 AM. U. INT'L L. REV. [23:275

and systematic racial discrimination." However, these rights are far

from being guaranteed universally around the globe. It suffices to
read reports of the U.N. Human Rights Commission or of Amnesty
International to become aware that these guarantees are still violated
12
in a systematic manner by many states.
Further evidence of the declining importance of state practice as a
constituent element can be found in the jurisprudence of the
International Court of Justice ("ICY). In Military and Paramilitary
Activities ("Nicaraguajudgment"), 3 the ICJ still defined customary
law as consisting of state practice and opiniojuris.4 However, in its
subsequent analysis of the facts, the ICJ concentrated exclusively on
the subjective element of opiniojuris without directing any analysis
to actual state conduct. 5 Thus, the court in principle had upheld the
traditional two-pronged approach, while in substance it only
examined opiniojuris.1 6

1. Customary Law Without Consuetudo

Considering this trend towards an interpretative approach to

customary law, it is not surprising that several authors propose to
concentrate on the opinio juris element of custom, whether for
specific fields of law or for customary law in general. According to
these approaches state practice retains merely an auxiliary function
to determine opiniojuris.

11. See Simma, supra note 6, at 219; RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF FOREIGN

RELATIONS LAW OF THE UNITED STATES 702 cmt. a (listing only such human
rights protections whose customary status had been established as of 1987).
12. See, e.g., Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Annual Report 2006, available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/
AboutUs/annualreport2006.pdf (highlighting human rights abuses across the
globe).
13. Military and Paramilitary Activities (Nicar. v. U.S.), 1986 I.C.J. 14 (June
27) (referring to the dispute between the United States and Nicaragua in relation to
the fall of the Nicaraguan government in 1979 and the United States' support for
and involvement with the "contras").
14. See id. at 97.
15. See id. at 98-104.
16. See Bruno Simma & Philip Alston, The Sources of Human Rights Law:
Custom, Jus Cogens, and General Principles, 12 AUSTL. Y.B. INT'L L. 82, 97
(1988) (criticizing the ICJ for not analyzing the specific conduct of states to
ascertain whether customary law prohibited the actions of the United States in the
Nicaraguajudgment).
2008] CUSTOMARY LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

The first author to have proposed the abandonment of the

requirement of consuetudo was Bin Cheng, when he claimed that the
emergence of instant custom was possible if a consensus among
states on the existence of a certain rule could be identified. 7 In Bin
Cheng's opinion, the U.N. Resolutions on Outer Space, 8 which had
been adopted unanimously, constituted instant customary law and
required no further proof of state practice. He argues that there is
logically no room for other constituent elements if there is already a
clearly established consensus among states. 9
Andrew Guzman's rational choice approach to international law
takes the same direction."0 Guzman's approach supposes that the
validity of an unwritten international law is dependent on state
compliance. A customary rule is established when it influences state
conduct because of its legal nature." Consequently, only the
subjective evaluation of rules by states is relevant for the
determination of customary law.22 State practice may provide
evidence of opinio juris, but state practice need not be shown to
prove the existence of customary law. 3

17. See Bin Cheng, United Nations Resolutions on Outer Space. "Instant"
InternationalCustomary Law?, 5 INDIAN J. INT'L L. 23, 35-40 (1965).
18. See G.A. Res. 1721, U.N. GAOR, 16th Sess., Supp. No. 17, U.N. Doc.
A/5100 (Dec. 20, 1961); G.A. Res. 1962, U.N. GAOR, 18th Sess., Supp. No. 15,
U.N. Doc. A/5515 (Dec. 13, 1963).
19. See Bin Cheng, On the Nature and Sources of International Law, in
INTERNATIONAL LAW, TEACHING, AND PRACTICE 201, 222-29 (Bin Cheng ed.,
1982) (arguing that usage is not necessary when there is unanimity among states
regarding a rule of international law).
20. See Guzman, supra note 8, at 122 (defining the rational choice approach as
one that looks to the incentives for states to behave in a particular manner).
21. See id. at 139-40.
22. See id. at 148-49.
23. See id. at 149 (noting that state practice can serve as a tool for discerning
opiniojuris by identifying a state's intent to be bound by a norm). However, the
majority of the rational choice approaches still consider state practice to be a
constituent element of custom. See Edward T. Swaine, Rational Custom, 52 DuKE
L.J. 559, 567-68 (2002) (asserting that opinio juris without practice is "nothing
more than rhetoric"); George Norman & Joel P. Trachtman, The Customary
International Law Game, 99 AM. J. INT'L L. 541, 541 (2005) (rejecting the
Goldsmith-Posner model of rational choice theory, arguing that their model
remains unsupported). Still others deny the legal quality of international law. See
generally JACK L. GOLDSMITH & ERIC A. POSNER, THE LIMITS OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW 3 (2005) (reasoning that international law evolves as a result of states acting
 282 AM. U. INT'L L. RE V. [23:275

Other authors do not reject the requirement of state practice in

general. Some scholars have proposed to consider certain
declarations of the U.N. General Assembly, such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights,24 as directly binding because they
represent the consensus of the international community." Other
scholars want to differentiate between different types of customary
norms. While state practice is considered suitable for the
establishment of coordinative rules, it is deemed inappropriate for
norms enshrining fundamental moral principles.26
The approaches to redefining customary law by suppressing state
practice as a constituent element have received much criticism.
Famous is the statement of Robert Jennings, who wrote that what
most modern scholars qualify as customary law "is not only not
customary law: it does not even faintly resemble a customary law. '27
By its very notion, custom requires a consuetudo, the existence of
state practice. Moreover, Article 38(1)(b) of the ICJ Statute,28 which
is generally accepted as the principal authority for the sources of
international law, 29 defines customary law as "general practice

rationally to maximize their interests, according to the distribution of state power,

and the perceptions of other states' interest).
24. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A, U.N. GAOR, 3d
Sess., 1st plen. mtg., U.N. Doc. A/810 (Dec. 12, 1948).
25. See Sohn, supra note 10, at 133; Humphrey Waldock, Human Rights in
Contemporary International Law and the Significance of the European
Convention, 11 INT'L & COMP. L. Q. Supp. 1, 15 (1965). See also Yasuaki, supra
note 5, at 176-89 (suggesting that U.N. General Assembly Resolutions are to an
extent more reliable as a source of universal norms than is customary law).
26. See Fernando R. Tes6n, Two Mistakes about Democracy, 92 AM. SOC'y
INT'L L. PROC. 126, 127 (1998) (arguing that it is inappropriate to condition the
identification of norms concerning fundamental moral principles on the presence
of a state practice).
27. See Robert Y. Jennings, The Identification of International Law, in
INTERNATIONAL LAW, TEACHING, AND PRACTICE, supra note 19, at 3, 5.
28. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1, art. 38, para. 1.
29. See, e.g., David A. Gantz, Settlement of Disputes Under the Central
America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement, 30 B.C. INT'L
& COMP. L. REV. 331, 359 n.124 (2007) (citing the ICJ Statute as an authority on
the hierarchy of sources of international law).
2008] CUSTOMAR YLA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

accepted as law." 30 State practice under such a definition is thus an

indispensable element of custom. 3'

2. Sliding Scale Approaches

A further group of scholars 2 advocate a more flexible relationship

between the two constituent elements of custom without wishing
totally to abandon one of them. These authors argue that state
practice and opiniojuris are rather supposed to interact on a sliding
scale. According to them, the existence of frequent and consistent
state practice lightens the burden of proving opinio juris, while a
clearly demonstrated opinio juris establishes a customary rule
without any need to show an affirmative state practice.33 Thus, where
one is presented with a custom between these two extremes, it is
necessary to prove both elements. The stronger one element can be
shown, the less need there is for the other in order to demonstrate the
existence of a customary norm. Some scholars propose to include
some substantive considerations according to which the lack of state
practice can only be balanced if the norms have a moral impact.34

30. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1, art. 38, para. 1
(emphasis added).
31. See, e.g., Christiana Ochoa, The Individual and Customary International
Law Formation, 48 VA. J. INT'L L. 119, 132 (2007) (discussing the practice and
behavior of states as a widely accepted element of customary international law
under both Article 38(l)(b) and the Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law
102).
32. See Frederic L. Kirgis, Jr., Custom on a Sliding Scale, 81 AM. J. INT'L L.
146, 149 (1987) (describing the trade off between state practice and opinio juris
and illustrating the relationship graphically); John Tasioulas, In Defence of
Relative Normativity: Communitarian Values and the Nicaragua Case, 16 OXFORD
J. LEGAL STUD. 85, 109 (1996) (analyzing various arguments that place more
emphasis on either state practice or opinio juris and concluding that custom must
be derived on a case by case basis from some combination of the two); Anthea E.
Roberts, Traditionaland Modern Approaches to Customary InternationalLaw: A
Reconciliation, 95 AM. J. INT'L L. 757, 774 (2001) (advocating an approach to
custom that reflects both state practice and opinio juris in equilibrium, and
critiquing the sliding scale approach due to its tendency to overemphasize one
component at the expense of the other).
33. See Kirgis, Jr., supra note 32, at 149 (describing the sliding scale approach
and explaining that an affirmative showing of one component may substitute for
the other, particularly in cases of "morally distasteful" or "destabilizing" activity).
34. See Tasioulas, supra note 32, at 113 (arguing that the sliding scale
approach is a particularly appropriate interpretation of norm identification in cases
where the norm at issue expresses an important moral value, such as peaceful co-
 AM. U INT'L L. RE V. [23:275

These approaches are, however, subject to the same critique as those

we have dealt with previously.35 Customary law without custom is
difficult to imagine.

3. From Legal Methodology to Equity

This confusion in the legal doctrine underlying customary law has
led Martti Koskenniemi to the conclusion that it is impossible to
justify human rights by positive legal reasoning:
But it is also, and more fundamentally, useless because we do not wish to
condone anything that states may do or say, and because it is really our
certainty that genocide or torture is illegal that allows us to understand
state behaviour and to accept or reject its legal message, not state
behaviour itself that allows us to understand that these practices are
prohibited by law. It seems to me that if we are uncertain of the latterfact,
36
then there is really little in this world we can feel confident about.

Thus, Koskenniemi proposes that human rights should not be

introduced into the positivist discourse in order not to deprive them
of their critical potential.37 This, indeed, is a surrender before the
challenges of modern legal doctrine. However, these challenges have
to be addressed if human rights in particular and unwritten
international law in general are to be taken seriously.

B. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
The most promising proposal has been brought forward by Bruno
Simma and Philip Alston in a seminal article on the sources of
human rights law.38 After a thorough analysis of the present theory of
customary international law, they propose to use general principles in

existence); Roberts, supra note 32, at 790 (explaining that occasional state practice
in breach of a custom with high moral content will not detract from the custom's
general character).
35. See supra notes 28-31 and accompanying text (discussing state practice as
a component of customary law by definition).
36. Martti Koskenniemi, The Pull of the Mainstream, 88 MICH. L. REv. 1946,
1952 (1990) (emphasis added).
37. See id. at 1962 (arguing that technical definitions of human rights best
serve arguments in support of denying rights).
38. See generally Simma & Alston, supra note 16.
2008] CUSTOMAR YLA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

the sense of Article 38(l)(c) of the ICJ Statute 39 as sources of

fundamental human rights.4 These general principles become
effective through general acceptance or recognition by states.4
Resolutions of the U.N, General Assembly can in particular be a
means for such recognition. 2
While this approach would convincingly solve the problem of the
normativity of human rights law4 3 despite the absence of state
practice, some problems remain. If general principles can be
established solely by their acceptance, the only significant distinction
that they would have from customary rules would be the absence of a
requirement of state practice. Human rights would thus be privileged
because fewer conditions would have to be met to establish unwritten
human rights norms. Simma and Alston justify this special treatment
4
of human rights norms by the special nature of human rights.
Therefore, compliance with human rights standards concern internal

39. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1, art. 38, para.
1(c).
40. See Simma & Alston, supra note 16, at 102-06. Cf Albert Bleckmann, Zur
origindren Entstehung gewohnheitsrechtlicher Menschenrechtsnormen [The
Original Formation of Customary Human Rights Norms], in
MENSCHENRECHTSSCHUTZ DURCH GEWOHNHEITSRECHT [HUMAN RIGHTS
PROTECTION THROUGH CUSTOMARY LAW] 29, 42-43 (Eckart Klein ed., 2002);
Oscar Schachter, New Custom: Power, Opinio Juris and Contrary Practice, in
THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 21ST CENTURY 531,
539 (Jerzy Makarczyk ed., 1996) (discussing and approving the theory advanced
by Simma and Alston). But see Robert B. Lillich, The Growing Importance of
Customary InternationalHuman Rights Law, 25 GA. J. INT'L & COMP. L. 1, 16
(1995) (critiquing the argument that general principles may serve as independent
rules of international law).
41. See Simma & Alston, supra note 16, at 102 (emphasizing that the general
principles do not derive from speculation, but instead from states' acceptance and
recognition).
42. See id. at 104 (arguing that customary law should be based on the express
articulation of general principles by states).
43. See Balakrishnan Rajagopal, The Allure of Normativity, 11 HARV. HUM
RTS. J. 363, 363 (1998) (reviewing PHILIP ALSTON, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW (1996))
(discussing the tendency within the international human rights community to
deemphasize pragmatic issues and instead focus on establishing moral certainties
as binding principles).
44. See Simma & Alston, supra note 16, at 99 (distinguishing human rights
obligations from other customary law which can be derived from examining
patterns of state interaction).
286 AM. U. INT'L L. RE V. [23:275

relations within states and are thus independent of the cross-border

interaction of states, which are addressed by state practice.45
The thesis of this Article is that Simma and Alston's treatment of
human rights norms can be applied generally to unwritten
international law. The distinction that I propose does not primarily
consider the dichotomy of internal norms versus interstate norms, but
is based on a theoretical differentiation between norms. I marshal
Robert Alexy's distinction between rules and principles 46 and argue
that this differentiation can be used to distinguish customary
international law from general principles.47

II. RULES AND PRINCIPLES

In order to frame the argument, we first must look at the difference
between rules and principles. Subsequently, I will address the
relationship between both norm categories and, finally, show how
principles may be identified in international legal discourse.

A. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN RULES AND PRINCIPLES

The distinction between legal rules and principles is not new and
has frequently been used in international law. 48 However, there is no

45. See id. (inquiring why human rights obligations could be recognized at all
under traditional theories of customary international law when there is generally a
total lack of state interaction in the performance of human rights obligations and
thus a general absence of the traditional state practice element of customary law).
46. ROBERT ALEXY, A THEORY OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS 47-48 (Julian
Rivers trans., 2002) (defining principles as norms that can be satisfied to varying
degrees and rules as norms that are either satisfied or unsatisfied).
47. This thesis refers to and tries to modify a proposal of Stefan Kadelbach &
Thomas Kleinlein. See Stefan Kadelbach & Thomas Kleinlein, (berstaatliches
Verfassungsrecht [Supranational Constitutional Law], 44 ARCHIV DES
VOLKERRECHTS [ARCHIVE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW] 235, 255-65 (2006). It is
important not to confuse terminology. Alexy's principles are not the same as
general principles of international law although the employed expressions are very
similar. In this article, I will use the term "principle" or "legal principle" when
referring to Alexy's differentiation. When I want to address the source of
international law described in Article 38(l)(c) of the ICJ Statute, I will use the
term "general principles."
48. See, e.g., D.W. Greig, The Underlying Principles of International
HumanitarianLaw, 9 AUSTL. Y.B. INT'L L. 46, 65 (1985); Vaughan Lowe, The
Politics of Law-Making: Are the Method and Character of Norm Creation
Changing?, in THE ROLE OF LAW IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 207, 213-19
2008] CUSTOMA R Y LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

consensus on what the difference is between these two categories of

laws.49 Most often the term principles is used for the more general,
fundamental norms of a legal order, while concrete provisions are
called rules.5 0 Such a distinction is, however, of no heuristic value
because it is only of gradual and not qualitative character.5
For the following analysis, I adopt the differentiation proposed by
Robert Alexy.52 The principal criterion to distinguish rules and
principles is the effect of norms in case of a norm collision. 3 If two
rules conflict, this collision has to be solved by particular collision
rules, such as the lex specialis rule or the lex posterior rule. 4 As a
consequence, the hierarchy between the two norms is always static.
For example, let us suppose that there is a collision between rule A
and rule B and that rule A is more specific. Then rule A will always

(Michael Byers ed., 2000) (analyzing the relationship between principles and rules,
and their role in judicial decision-making); Robert Kolb, Principlesas Sources of
InternationalLaw, 53 NETH. INT'L L. REV. 1, 26 (2006) (distinguishing general
principles of law from the detailed rules developed through the application of
general principles).
49. See generally ALEXY, supra note 46, at 45-47.
50. Compare Joseph Raz, Legal Principlesand the Limits of Law, 81 YALE L.J.
823, 838 (1972) (describing the difference between rules and principles as one of
degree and commenting that rules prescribe specific acts, while principles
prescribe more general actions), with George C. Christie, The Model of Principles,
1968 DUKE L.J. 649, 669 (arguing that principles are simply vague extensions of
rules).
51. See Christie, supra note 50, at 669 (asserting that under the current legal
universe of rules and principles, judges may resort to an ever more vague
description of the norm to support a number of possible decisions in a case).
52. See ALEXY, supra note 46, at 47-48; see also RONALD DWORKIN, TAKING
RIGHTS SERIOUSLY 26-27 (1977) (noting that conflicting principles may be
balanced against one another while conflicting rules cannot). Dworkin's
conception differs in some respects, however, as he conceives rights more as a
"trump card" than as something which may be weighed against the achievement of
public goals. Id. at 266-72.
53. See, e.g., ALEXY, supra note 46, at 48-50 (defining a norm collision as an
instance where two norms lead to two mutually incompatible legal judgments).
The dichotomic differentiation between rules and principles has often been
criticized for analytical and normative reasons. I do not want to address these
criticisms in this contribution because other scholars have already dealt extensively
with them. See, e.g., id. at 61-66; Mattias Kumm, Constitutional Rights as
Principles: On the Structure and Domain of Constitutional Justice, 2 INT'L J.
CONST. L. 574, 589-93 (2004) (reviewing ROBERT ALEXY, A THEORY OF
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS (Julian Rivers trans., 2002)).
54. See ALEXY, supra note 46, at 49.
288 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. [23:275

prevail. The situation is different if two principles come into

conflict.5 5 The relationship between principle C and principle D is
dynamic. It is not determined by collision rules, but by a balancing of
goods. 6 This balancing may in one case lead to the result that
principle C prevails, but under different circumstances principle D
may prove more compelling.
From this distinction, we can draw further conclusions about the
nature of principles and rules. As principles are characterized by a
balancing of goods in cases of conflict, they always serve the
purpose of protecting a common or an individual good and are thus
value-related.5 Rules, on the other hand, are in general conduct-
related. In the latter respect, there are, however, exceptions. It is
possible to imagine situations in which a value is protected in an
absolute manner, always prevailing over conflicting values. In such a
case, the protective norm has to be classified as a rule. Such rules
will, however, be exceptional. In a world of conflicting goals and
values, the latter could only be protected by rules if a hierarchy of
values was established which allows a solution of conflicts between
these values. Even if theoretically conceivable, such legal systems
would lack the necessary flexibility so that their existence is
improbable in practice. 9 Moreover, rules may prescribe specific
conduct in order to protect a certain value-for instance, the
prohibition of torture shall protect human dignity. In this case,
however, the protection that the rule provides is only indirect and can

55. See id. at 48 (describing the difference between competing principles and
conflicts of rules as the most defining distinction between the two).
56. See Robert Alexy, Zum Begriff des Rechtsprinzips [The Concept of Legal
Principles], in ARGUMENTATION UND HERMENEUTIK IN DER JURISPURDENZ
[ARGUMENTATION AND HERMENEUTICS IN JURISPRUDENCE] 59, 64 (Werner
Krawietz et al. eds., 1979) (F.R.G.).
57. See ALEXY, supra note 46, at 54-55 (noting that the balancing of competing
principles is controlled by the idea of "conditional relation of precedence").
58. See DWORKIN, supra note 52, at 26 (discussing the importance of the
"weight" of a principle and noting that court rulings based upon a balancing will
often result in a controversial decision).
59. See Mattias Kumm, Liberale Gerechtigkeitstheorien und die Struktur der
Grundrechte [Liberal Theories of Justice and the Structure of Fundamental
Rights], in JURISTISCHE GRUNDLAGENFORSCHUNG [LEGAL RESEARCH] 218, 220
(Robert Alexy ed., 2005).
2008] CUSTOMARY LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM? 289

be considered the effect of the principle. In these cases, principles

can be reasons for the existence of certain protective rules.60
To clarify the concept of principles in international law, let us
consider humanitarian intervention. Basically, the underlying
problem is the conflict of two core principles in the international
legal order-the preservation of peace and the protection of human
rights. 61 Assuming that we generally accept humanitarian
62
intervention as an exception to the prohibition of the use of force,
we have to balance the two principles according to the factual
circumstances for determining its legality. Neither of the two
principles will always prevail. Rather, the result of balancing the two
goals depends on the dimension and gravity of the human rights
violation, the potential effects of the military intervention, and the
danger that such intervention poses to international peace and
security.63

B. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RULES AND PRINCIPLES

However, the debate on humanitarian intervention is more

complex. Many scholars deny the acceptability of a military
intervention for humanitarian reasons, claiming that a gross violation

60. See Neil MacCormick, "Principles"of Law, 19 JURIDICAL REV. 217, 222
(1974) (Scot.) (describing variations upon liability rules as examples of a broader
liability principle that has been applied to a specific circumstance).
61. See Nico Krisch, Review Essay, Legality, Morality, and the Dilemma of
HumanitarianIntervention after Kosovo, 13 EUR. J. INT'L L. 323, 331 (2002).
62. See, e.g., Julie Mertus, Reconsidering the Legality of Humanitarian
Intervention: Lessons from Kosovo, 41 WM. & MARY L. REV. 1743, 1763, 1771
(2000) (arguing that while the parameters for the use of force are not totally clear,
it is likely that the U.N. Charter implicitly permits humanitarian intervention).
63. See, e.g., Richard B. Lillich, ForcibleSelf-Help by States to Protect Human
Rights, 53 IOWA L. REV. 325, 347-51 (1967) (asserting that where a test attempts to
balance competing principles, such test must be informed by the standards of the
legal system from which the principles derive-in this case, the international legal
order); see also Richard B. Lillich, HumanitarianIntervention through the United
Nations: Towards the Development of Criteria, 53 ZEITSCHRIFT FUR
AUSLANDISCHES OFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VOLKERRECHT [HEIDELBERG
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW] 557, 562-63 (1993) (F.R.G.) (reviewing the
twelve criteria set forth by the International Law Association for assessing the
legality under international law of humanitarian interventions); John Norton
Moore, The Control of Foreign Intervention in Internal Conflict, 9 VA. J. INT'L L.
205, 262 (1969) (concluding that the U.N. Charter contains complementary
policies restricting unilateral force, yet urging action to protect human rights).
290 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. [23:275

of human rights can never justify an exception to the prohibition of

the use of force. 64 According to this position, the preservation of
peace always prevails; a balancing with the protection of human
rights is a priori excluded.65 Such an argument is not directed against
the existence of principles as such. It only shows that the
preservation of international peace and security is not only protected
by a legal principle, but also by a rule. According to Article 2(4) of
the U.N. Charter, 66 "all members shall refrain in their international
relations from the threat or use of force." The preservation of peace
is the underlying principle, which has been specified by the rule
prohibiting the use of force.67

64. See, e.g., Bruno Simma, NATO, the UN and the Use of Force: Legal
Aspects, 10 EUR. J. INT'L L. 1, 2-3 (1999) (emphasizing that Article 2(4) of the
U.N. Charter is a "watertight" prohibition against the use of force); see also
Marcello G. Kohen, L 'Emploi de la Force et la Crise du Kosovo: Vers un Nouveau
D~sordre JuridiqueInternational [The Use of Force and the Crisis in Kosovo:
Toward a New International Legal Disorder], 32 REVUE BELGE DE DROIT
INTERNATIONAL [BELGIAN INTERNATIONAL LAW REVIEW] 122, 134 (1999)
(rejecting the argument that the use of force to prevent a humanitarian crisis in
Kosovo was permissible); Nico Krisch, Unilateral Enforcement of the Collective
Will: Kosovo, Iraq, and the Security Council, in 3 MAX PLANCK YEARBOOK OF
UNITED NATIONS LAW 59, 59-60 (Jochen A. Frowein & Riidiger Wolfrum eds.,
1999) (reflecting on potential justifications for human rights-based military
intervention in Kosovo and Iraq, and arguing that the intervening states claimed
the right to enforce their collective will unilaterally); Micheal Byers & Simon
Chesterman, Changing the Rules about Rules? Unilateral Humanitarian
Intervention and the Future of International Law, in HUMANITARIAN
INTERVENTION 177, 178-79 (J.L. Holzgrefe & Robert 0. Keohane eds., 2003)
(offering an "exceptional illegality" approach for justifying humanitarian
intervention that would be "more consistent with the position of states, and in
keeping with the principles of international law").
65. See, e.g., Simma, supra note 64, at 5 (explaining that in the absence of U.N.
Security Council authorization of the use of force, military action in the form of
humanitarian intervention is necessarily a breach of Article 2(4) of the U.N.
Charter).
66. U.N. Charter art. 2, para. 4 (requiring that all members should refrain from
the threat or use of force).
67. See J.L. HOLZGREFE, The Humanitarian Intervention Debate, in
HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION, supra note 64, at 15, 40 (arguing that the phrase,
"or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations," in
Article 2, para. 4 of the U.N. Charter supplements the prohibition on the
unauthorized use of force, and does not provide a loophole as some critics have
suggested).
2008] CUSTOMAR Y LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

If there is a conflict between a rule and a principle, the former

generally prevails because it is the more specific norm. 68 The scope
of a rule cannot be limited by conflicting principles, but only by
exceptional rules, such as the right to self-defense. In such a case,
principles only come into play if the conflicting rule refers either
explicitly or implicitly to principles.6 9 Assuming that humanitarian
intervention would be recognized as an exception to the prohibition
of the use of force, such a rule would require in its application the
balancing of the underlying principles. In World Trade Organization
("WTO") law, Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade ("GATT")7" and Article XIV of the General Agreement on
Trade in Services ("GATS")7 ' have similar effects. Both provide for
exceptions from the rules of world trade law in order to pursue the
principles enumerated in those articles.7 2 Principles are thus
important in three types of legal arguments: first, in situations that
are not governed by any rule; second, in constellations of rules where
the relevant rules refer either explicitly or implicitly to external
principles; and finally, when a rule is open to interpretation and can
be specified by underlying principles.73

C. THE IDENTIFICATION OF PRINCIPLES IN THE INTERNATIONAL

LEGAL ORDER

The two concepts that I have used for my argument are often
criticized, not without reason, for being a gateway into the legal

68. See ALEXY, supra note 46, at 83-84.

69. See id. at 72-75.
70. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade art. XX, Oct. 30, 1947, 61 Stat.
A-I1, 55 U.N.T.S. 194 (containing a list of general exceptions to the general
agreement, such as when it is necessary to protect public morals, or human, animal
or plant life, among others).
71. General Agreement on Trade in Services art. XIV, Apr. 15, 1994, 1869
U.N.T.S. 183 (1994) (providing exceptions to the general agreement that are
substantially similar to the exceptions provided in Article XX of the GATT).
72. See Padideh Ala'i, Free Trade or SustainableDevelopment? An Analysis of
the WTO Appellate Body's Shift to a More Balanced Approach to Trade
Liberalization, 14 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. 1129, 1132-36 (1999) (discussing the
history and evolution of Article XX exceptions under the GATT).
73. JAN-REINARD SIECKMANN, REGELMODELLE UND PRINZIPIENMODELLE DES
RECHTSSYSTEMS [RULES-BASED AND PRINCIPLES-BASED MODELS OF THE LEGAL
SYSTEM] 141 (1990).
292 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. [23:275

discourse for natural law maxims.74 According to the drafting history,

general principles in the sense of Article 38(1)(c) of the ICJ Statute75
were meant to serve as a counterbalance to legal positivism. 76 In
order to rationalize the legal discourse, the requirement "as
recognized by civilized nations" has been introduced.77 Only those
natural law principles that have been widely recognized by the
international community as such should enter into legal discourse.78
The recognition requirement thus already shows that general
principles do not necessarily have to be derived from natural law
maxims. They rather refer to the implicit consensus of the
international community. 79 They are thus distinct from customary
international law insofar as they do not require the proof of state
practice. The existence of an opinio juris is thus sufficient to
establish general principles.8"
This implicit state consensus can be identified by referring to not
directly binding declarations of a considerable part of the
international community. Such expressions of an opiniojurismay be
found in resolutions of the U.N. General Assembly or declarations of
other representative international bodies and organs. Further, the
preambles of multilateral treaties, which are not directly legally
binding, may indicate the existence of general principles.
The second strand of critique addresses the concept of legal
principles as such. Ronald Dworkin introduced the category of

74. See, e.g., Stephen Hall, The Persistent Spectre: NaturalLaw, International
Order and the Limits of Legal Positivism, 12 EUR. J. INT'L L. 269, 293-95 (2001)
(describing the historical relationship between ius gentium and natural law and the
natural law-relation of general principles).
75. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1, art. 38, para. 1.
76. See, e.g., William C. Bradford, The Duty to Defend Them: A Natural Law
Justificationfor the Bush Doctrine of Preventive War, 79 NOTRE DAME L. REV.
1365, 1439 (2003) (citing Justice Kotaro Tanaka of the ICJ as stating that Article
38(l)(c) "extends the concept of the source of international law beyond the limit of
legal positivism according to which ... international law is nothing but the law of
the consent and auto-limitation of the state").
77. See, e.g., Hall, supra note 74, at 293.
78. See id. at 292 (reiterating that recognition is key to the idea of general
principles, not consent or enactment of measures on the international legal stage).
79. See ALFRED VERDROSS, DIE QUELLEN DES UNIVERSELLEN VOLKERRECHTS
[THE SOURCES OF UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL LAW] 128 (1973) (explaining that
principles can be recognized through implicit consensus).
80. See Simma & Alston, supra note 16, at 104.
2008] CUSTOMARY LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

principles in order to attack Hart's legal positivism."' He criticized

Hart's theory 82 by showing that modem legal systems cannot be
conceived as a pure system of rules.83 They always contain principles
that cannot be identified by purely formal means, like a coherent rule
of recognition.84 Courts have to argue with principles being derived
from moral considerations.8 5 It is one of the merits of Dworkin's
analysis to point out that it is impossible to understand modem and
complex legal systems as pure systems of rules.86 Legal systems,
including international law, always require legal decisions in which a
balancing of goods is necessary. However, it is not compelling to
derive principles from moral considerations. 8 By trying to qualify
legal principles as general principles of law in the sense of Article
38(1)(c) of the ICJ Statute,88 this Article tries to rationalize the
debate regarding legal principles. The latter cannot be derived by
moral considerations alone, but in essence have to be identified by
formal indicators.

81. See DWORKIN, supra note 52, at 28-45 (explaining that legal principles are
a conceptual predecessor to formal rules of law and as such form a basis on which
modem jurisprudence rests).
82. See H.L.A. HART, THE CONCEPT OF LAW 259 (Peter Cane et al. eds., 2d ed.
1994) (1961) (responding to Dworkin's criticism of his work as portraying the
legal system as "all or nothing" rules, and admitting that legal principles have a
role, albeit small, to play in the understanding of the legal system as a whole).
83. See DWORKIN, supra note 52, at 22-45 (critically assessing Hart's concept
of legal positivism because legal principles, policies and rights are influential,
especially in cases of judicial discretion, yet defy traditional categorization as a
cohesive or formalized set of rules).
84. See id. at 43-45 (characterizing the view of legal positivists as being that
legal principles cannot be categorized or even listed as legal principles because
they are countless and constantly evolving).
85. See id. at 28-45 (explaining that legal rights, policies, and principles can
exist prior to formal rules of law, and form the theoretical basis upon which judges
can draw to express moral considerations and beliefs which may exist outside of
formal rules of law).
86. See SIECKMANN, supra note 73, at 247; Roger Cotterrell, Legality,
Liberalism's Empire: Reflections on Ronald Dworkin's Legal Philosophy, 1987
AM. B. FOUND. RES. J. 509, 514 (1987) (stating that Dworkin views legal discourse
expansively and not in a narrow, easily catalogued system of rules and
regulations).
87. See Cotterrell, supra note 86, at 514 (explaining the central role and
inseparability of morality in both the development of jurisprudence and to the
lawyer and legal practice itself).
88. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1, art. 38, para. 1.
 AM. U.INT'L L. REv. [23:275

IIl. THE DISPENSABILITY OF STATE PRACTICE

FOR ESTABLISHING LEGAL PRINCIPLES
As we have seen, the difference in establishing either custom or
general principles is the requirement of state practice. This section
will explain why this difference justifies a separate category for legal
norms because of their character either as rules or as principles. As
shall be shown in the following, it is the function of state practice to
stabilize the system of customary norms. However, the practice
requirement can only fulfill this function in the course of establishing
rules. Principles are characterized by a functional difference that
renders the practice requirement dispensable. Finally, it shall be
shown that it is compatible with the doctrine of sources to qualify
legal principles as general principles of law in the sense of ICJ
Statute Article 38(1)(c).

A. THE FUNCTION OF STATE PRACTICE

The function of state practice cannot be determined without

considering the theory we are employing to explain the normativity
of customary law. In the following, we will examine the most
important theories of the role of state practice in the establishment of
customary norms.8 9

1. Customary Law as Pactum Tacitum

The oldest theory of customary law considers custom as pactum
tacitum. This opinion can be found in the works of Francisco
Suarez,9" Hugo Grotius,9" Christian Wolff,92 and Emer de Vattel. 93

89. See generally Alfred Verdross, Entstehungsweisen und Geltungsgrund des

universellen vdlkerrechtlichen Gewohnheitsrechts [Origins and Foundation of
Universal Customary International Law], 29 ZEITSCHRIFT FOR AUSLANDISCHES
OFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VOLKERRECHT [HEIDELBERG J. INT'L L.] 635 (1969)
(providing a detailed overview of classical theories of customary international
law).
90. FRANCISCO SUAREZ, DE LEGIBUS, AC DEO LEGISLATOR [ON LAWS AND
GOD THE LAWGIVER] (1612), reprinted in 2 THE CLASSICS OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW: SELECTIONS FROM THREE WORKS OF FRANCISCO SUAREZ, S. J. 90-101
(Gwladys L. Williams et al. trans., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1964) (1617).
91. HUGO GROTIUS, DE JURE BELLI AC PACIS LIBRI TRES [ON THE LAW OF
WAR AND PEACE: THREE BOOKS] (1646), reprinted in 3 THE CLASSICS OF
2008] CUSTOMAR Y LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

According to this theory, customary law is established through a tacit

treaty of the states. Tacit treaties only need a common will of the
parties. A subjective element is thus sufficient. Practice is only
needed to determine the existence of a corresponding subjective
element.94 Consequently, practice is nothing more than an auxiliary
in identifying customary law and consequently need not be
considered a constituent element of customary law.

2. Compliance Theories

a. Compliance and Legitimacy

Modem, preponderantly American theories of customary law

attempt to determine the validity of customary law according to its
ability to secure compliance. An influential approach in this respect
was presented by Thomas Franck in his treatise The Power of
Legitimacy Among Nations.9 5 Franck tries to determine the validity
of a norm by proving its legitimacy. Only legitimate norms are
supposed to exercise a sufficient compliance-pull. 96 For this purpose,
he elaborates four criteria for the identification of a rule of customary

INTERNATIONAL LAW 9, 15 (James B. Scott ed., Francis W. Kelsey trans., Carnegie

Institution of Washington 1913) (1625).
92. CHRISTIAN WOLFF, Jus GENTINUM METHODO SCIENTIFICA PERTRACTATUM
[LAW OF NATIONS TREATED ACCORDING TO A SCIENTIFIC METHOD] (1764),
reprinted in 13 THE CLASSICS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 9, 18-19 (James B. Scott
ed., Joseph H. Drake trans., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 1934)
(1764).
93. See E. DE VATTEL, LE DROIT DES GENS, OU PRINCIPES DE LA Loi
NATURELLE, APPLIQUES A LA CONDUITE ET AUX AFFAIRES DES NATIONS ET DES
SOUVERAINS [THE LAW OF NATIONS, OR THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL LAW,
APPLIED TO THE CONDUCT AND TO THE AFFAIRS OF NATIONS AND OF SOVEREIGNS]
(1758), reprinted in 3 THE CLASSICS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 3, 8 (James B. Scott
ed., Charles G. Fenwick trans., Carnegie Institution of Washington 1916) (1758).
94. Ren&-Jean Dupuy, Coutume sage et coutume sauvage [Wise Custom and
Wild Custom], in LA COMMUNAUTE INTERNATIONALE: MtLANGES OFERTS k
CHARLES ROUSSEAU [THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: VARIOUS WORKS IN
TRIBUTE To CHARLES ROUSSEAU] 75, 77 (1974) (positing that tacit agreement
gives support to the consensual element of customary law).
95. THOMAS M. FRANCK, THE POWER OF LEGITIMACY AMONG NATIONS
(1990).
96. See id. at 24 (accepting a common definition of legitimacy that includes
generally accepted rules as they operate to exert influence over states).
296 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. [23:275

law: pedigree, determinacy, coherence, and adherence. 97 In his

conceptualization, state practice does not play a role. It only serves
as an auxiliary to identify one of the four elements establishing a rule
of customary law. 98

b. Rational Choice Approaches

Other authors relying on compliance use game theory and rational

choice models to predict whether states will comply with certain
rules and whether the rules may thus be considered valid.9 9 They
propose to establish customary law by identifying the equilibrium of
different behavioral patterns. 100 The approaches based on rational
choice models differ however in terms of the consequences of their
analyses.
The contribution having received the most attention was the
normative critique of international law by Jack Goldsmith and Eric
Posner. 10 They claim that behavioral patterns in international
relations can be explained by game theoretic models.0 2 According to

97. Id. at 49; see also Anthony S. Winer, The CISG Convention and Thomas
Franck's Theory of Legitimacy, 19 N.W. J. INT'L L. & Bus. 1, 5 (1998) (explaining
how Franck's four properties can exert influence in the arena of international law
and particularly in the case of the acceptance and legitimacy of the CISG
Convention).
98. See FRANCK, supra note 95, at 49 (elucidating the indicators of legitimacy,
among which community practice is not a factor, as Franck stresses the importance
of viewing rules as dynamic sources and not staid practices of states).
99. See Guzman, supra note 8, at 163, 166-71, 173 (applying rational choice
analysis to treaty formation, persistent and subsequent objectors, and new states).
See generally Norman & Trachtman, supra note 23, at 541-42. (analyzing
rationalist theory under a "repeated multilateral prisoner's dilemma model" of
customary international law); Swaine, supra note 23, at 621 (using game theory to
demonstrate the shortcomings of traditional customary international law).
100. See Guzman, supra note 8, at 118 (stating that Guzman's theory of
customary international law still rests on the understanding that behavioral norms
create customary law among states); Norman & Trachtman, supra note 23, at 541-
42 (asserting that customary international law has the innate ability to affect state
behavior); Swaine, supra note 23, at 621 (suggesting that states may prefer the
flexibility of customary law because it allows them, if their behavior changes, to
abandon customary law with little economic fallout).
101. See Jack L. Goldsmith & Eric A. Posner, A Theory of Customary
International Law, 66 U. CHI. L. REv. 1113-77 (1999) (explaining their novel
presentation of the "norms" of customary international law and how they stem
from national self-interest rather than legal or moral obligations).
102. See id. at 1120.
20081 CUSTOMARY LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM? 297

their theory, patterns of coherent state behavior only emerge in cases

of coercion or coincidence of interest.'0 3 However, if there is a
coincidence of interest, law is not needed to coordinate state
behavior. Thus, Goldsmith and Posner deny the effectiveness of
customary international law.0 4
Other rational choice approaches do not contest the legal quality
of customary international law.' 05 However, they disagree on the
importance of state practice in establishing customary norms. Some
authors try to identify custom on the basis of behavioral patterns so
that state practice is the decisive element.10 6 Andrew Guzman, on the
other hand, concentrates on the subjective evaluation of rules by
states for the determination of customary law. 0 7 Thus, state practice
may be evidence of opinio juris, but it is not required for proof of
customary law.

c. Evaluation

If the validity of legal norms is supposed to depend on

compliance, the primary function of law should be the influence
upon and determination of individual behavior." 8 However,
approaches concentrating on compliance do not give an answer in
this respect. The main characteristic of law is its contra-factuality. 9
Law is only effective in influencing behavior if states comply with

103. See id. at 1122-24.

104. See id. at 1132 (insisting that states act in their own self-interest, not out of
a sense of obligation).
105. See Norman & Trachtman, supra note 23, at 541-42 (refuting Goldsmith
and Posner's claim and contending that customary international law can change the
relative incentives of states to comply).
106. See id. at 544 (stating that customary international law requires at least
some degree of state practice); Swaine, supra note 23, at 592 (focusing on state
interest in rational choice analysis).
107. See Guzman, supra note 8, at 122.
108. See, e.g., Edward Jenks, Address Before the Sociological Society: The
Function of Law in Society (June 26, 1923), in 5 J. COMP. LEGIS. & INT'L L. 169,
171 (1923).
109. NIKLAS LUHMANN, AUSDIFFERENZIERUNG DES RECHTS [DIFFERENTIATION
OF LAW] 84 (1981); see also MICHAEL BYERS, CUSTOM, POWER AND THE POWER
OF RULES 6 (1999); Stefan Oeter, InternationalLaw and General Systems Theory,
44 GERMAN Y.B. INT'L L. 72, 88 (2001); Andreas Fischer-Lescano & Philip Liste,
V6lkerrechtspolitik [The Politics of International Law], 12 ZEITSCHRIFT FOR
INTERNATIONALE BEZIEHUNGEN [JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS] 209,
212 (2005) (quoting LUHMANN, supra, at 84).
298 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. [23:275

the law for reasons independent of the content of the law." 0 If a

certain behavior could also be expected without legal norms-for
example, because it lies in the best interest of the participating states
anyway-law would not serve any social purpose, but merely mirror
existing factual relationships between states."'
Game theoretic or legitimacy focused models may provide an
explanation as to why certain customary norms emerge." 12 They do
not, however, give any reason for state compliance with such norms.
International law is only effective if the violation of legal provisions
imposes additional costs on states." 3 The question of whether such
additional costs arise in the case of a violation of international law is
an empirical one and cannot be explained by rational choice models
or by approaches concentrating on the legitimacy of norms.
Exemplary is the circular argument of Goldsmith and Posner. Their
model presupposes that international law lacks the potential to
influence state behavior because of content-independent reasons."4 It
is no surprise, then, that their rational choice analysis reveals that
legal norms lack effectiveness-this is a direct consequence of their
premise.

110. See generally Anne van Aaken, Making International Human Rights
Protection More Effective: A Rational-ChoiceApproach to the Effectiveness of lus
Standi Provisions, 32 CONF. ON NEW POL. EcON. 29 (2006) (distinguishing
compliance with effectiveness of legal norms). The notion of compliance aims at
the simultaneity of state behavior and norm-content, while effectiveness considers
the reason why states comply with a norm. Even if states comply, a norm is only
effective if compliance is induced by content-independent reasons. See id. at 30-
32.
111. See Goldsmith & Posner, supra note 101, at 1132 (presenting the rational
choice perspective, which holds that a customary norm does not cause behavior,
but merely reflects behavior that is induced by states' self interest).
112. See Anne van Aaken, To Do Away With InternationalLaw? Some Limits to
"The Limits of International Law," 17 EUR. J. INT'L L. 289, 292 (2006)
(questioning methodology used by Goldsmith and Posner in their game theory
analysis).
113. See Guzman, supra note 8, at 134.
114. See Goldsmith & Posner, supra note 101, at 1132 (insisting that payoffs,
and not customary international law, are the only factors determining state
behavior).
2008] CUSTOMARYLA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

3. PositivistApproach

Today's majority view in European legal scholarship considers

customary law to be state practice with a supervening opinio juris
because customary law is recognized by the international community
as a source of law. 1 5 However, this argument seems at first glance to
be circular. It does not explain why the recognition of the
international community has any normative character. 1 6 The
existence of a doctrine of sources cannot be established by reliance
upon elements of this doctrine itself.'

a. Normative Foundations of Customary Law

An explanation may be found in the positivist legal theory of

H.L.A. Hart." 8 Hart distinguishes between primary and secondary
rules of a legal order.11 9 While primary rules are rules that direct
general conduct, secondary rules are rules of recognition. 2 Their
function is to identify primary rules. Rules of recognition tell us
which rules can be considered law.' 1 The secondary rules of the
international legal order would thus be the sources doctrine.2

115. See Bernhardt, supra note 8, at 901.

116. See id. ("Consuetudo, State practice accepted as obligatory, is binding
because the international legal order recognizes this source of law.").
117. See Alejandro Lorite Escorihuela, A lf Ross: Towards a Realist Critique and
Reconstruction of International Law, 14 EUR. J. INT'L L. 703, 730 (2003)
(criticizing the sources doctrine for encompassing a "paradoxical exposition of the
sources of law in a norm the very authority of which the sources are supposed to
explain").
118. See, e.g., H.L.A. Hart, Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals,
71 HARV. L. REv. 593 (1957); H.L.A. Hart, Analytical Jurisprudence in Mid-
Twentieth Century: A Reply to Professor Bodenheimer, 105 U. PA. L. REV. 953
(1957).
119. See HART, supra note 82, at 100-10.
120. Id. at 100.
121. Id.
122. But Hart is not very clear on whether international law contains secondary
rules. "In form, international law resembles such a regime of primary rules, even
though the content of its often elaborate rules are very unlike those of a primitive
society, and many of its concepts, methods, and techniques are the same as those
of modem municipal law." HART, supra note 82, at 227. However, if a centralized
legislative procedure is not required, there is no reason why the sources doctrine
should not be considered as a rule of recognition in the sense of his theory. Despite
some practical problems, it provides a tool for the identification of the primary
rules of international law.
300 AM. U. INT'L L. RE v. [23:275

In order to establish the secondary rules of a legal order, Hart does

not resort to a normative explanation. 23 He does not deduct the legal
order from a basic norm. Instead he refers to sociology. 2 4 Secondary
rules are valid if they are recognized by courts and officials in their
decisions. 125 Understood in light of Hart's theory, recognition of the
rule on establishment of custom by the international community does
not refer back to the sources doctrine. 26 It has to be understood as
empirical recognition rather than in the normative sense of a basic
norm.

b. The Role of State Practice

The insight that state practice is a constituent element of

customary law because the corresponding rule of recognition
requires it to be does not explain the normative reason for a
requirement of state practice. 21 If we want to analyze the distinctive
characteristics of custom and general principles, we have to
determine the function of state practice as an element for proving the
existence of the law. As we have seen, the classical theory of
international custom perceived state practice not as a normative
requirement, but only as a means of proving the existence of consent
between the states.
The inductive method for determining customary law can be
28
traced back to the sociological positivism of Auguste Comte.
12 9
According to this school, science had to be based on facts.
Awareness could only be attained through experience. 30 The

123. But see KELSEN, PRINCIPLES, supra note 7, at 558 (introducing the basic
norm (Grundnorm) as reason for the normativity of every legal system).
124. See HART, supra note 82, at 100.
125. Id. at 105.
126. But see Escorihuela, supra note 117, at 729 (deriding the sources doctrine
of ICJ Statute Article 38 as "sheer metaphysics" and suggesting its rejection in
favor of analysis of judicial decisions).
127. See Guzman, supra note 8, at 122 (denigrating state practice as having no
direct contribution to the existence of customary norms, while conceding that it
may influence state conduct).
128. See Oscar Schachter, International Law in Theory and Practice, in 178
RECUEIL DES COURS 9, 60 (1982) (Fr.) (noting the influence of Comte's
sociological positivism on legal thinkers).
129. AUGUSTE COMTE, DISCOURS SUR L'ESPRIT POSITIF [DISCOURSE ON THE
POSITIVE SPIRIT] (1844).
130. Id.
2008] CUSTOMAR Y LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

prevailing method was thus an inductive one, deriving patterns of

behavior by an abstraction from facts. However, as law is per
definition not descriptive, but always prescriptive,' the sociological
methodology cannot be transferred to the legal sciences without
reflection. The reason for introducing practice as a constituent
element of customary law is rather a more modest one: law should
not consist of abstract, utopian norms, but rather be affiliated with
social reality.' 32 Behavior is thus not a normative reason itself. Its
consideration is just a means to reconcile law and reality.
The reconciliation of law and reality by consideration of state
practice is particularly important for norms that have a coordinative
function in bilateral situations.'3 3 Such norms are of a directly
reciprocal character; in other words, any state can react to non-
compliance by denying the fulfillment of the corresponding
obligation.' If coordinative norms are thus not supported by a
basically consistent state practice, they would lose their conduct
guiding function.' 3 5 State practice is thus a formal requirement that
encourages the stability of norms.

131. See Craig Haney, Psychological and Legal Change: On the Limits of a
Factual Jurisprudence, 4 L. & HUM. BEHAV. 147, 163 (1980) (distinguishing
between prescriptive and descriptive disciplines).
132. See id. at 148 (describing the emergence in the nineteenth century of a
concept of law whereby the law was viewed as an instrument for achieving
positive goals).
133. See Joost Pauwelyn, A Typology of Multilateral Treaty Obligations: Are
WTO Obligations Bilateralor Collective in Nature?, 14 EUR. J. INT'L L. 907, 908
(2003) (suggesting that multilateral, as contrasted with bilateral, obligations
presuppose a collective interest of states above and beyond the particular interests
of each state participating in the obligation).
134. See id. (introducing the concept of suspending obligations as a
countermeasure for breach).
135. See Kirgis, Jr., supra note 32, at 148-49 (discussing the relationship
between conduct, consistency, and state practice); see also Daniel Bodansky,
Customary (and Not so Customary) International Environmental Law, 3 IND. J.
GLOBAL LEGAL STUD. 105, 111 (1995) (discussing transboundary pollution and
claiming that consistent, uniform state practice is emphasized in traditional
customary law).
302 AM. U. INT'L L. RE V. [23:275

B. THE QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RULES AND

PRINCIPLES

State practice does not provide a similar function in the context of

legal principles, however. With respect to principles, the removal of
the requirement of state practice increases the rationality of legal
discourse, and, in contradistinction to its role with respect to rules,
such a treatment does not decrease the stability of the international
legal system. This argument shall be elaborated in two steps: First we
will inquire into the structural difference between rules and
principles and second we will consider the functional difference
between the two concepts.

1. StructuralDifference Between Rules and Principles

Rules can be classified either as facilitative rules or as moral
rules. 13 6 Both types have in common that they prescribe concrete
conduct. They can thus easily be identified by analyzing a conduct-
related practice. Principles, on the other hand, serve to protect
individual or common values and thus always have a moral
function.137 They do not refer to a certain conduct, but to a specific
objective. Consequently, it is not possible to describe principles with
reference to specific conduct because different conduct may lead to
the same objective. It is certainly conceivable to derive principles by
means of an inductive reasoning that analyzes patterns of behavior.
However, such a mode of reasoning is always indirect. In this
context, state practice is not the formal confirmation of a norm
anymore, but only an indication of the existence of a more abstract
principle. Consequently, there is no normative reason to treat state
practice differently than other indicators. In the context of principles,
it should thus not be considered a constituent element, but only one
factor amongst others in determining the existence of an opiniojuris.

136. See Roberts, supra note 32, at 764 (2001) (discussing the legal spectrum
between facilitative and moral rules); see also HART, supra note 82, at 79-81
(explaining the distinction between primary and secondary rules which essentially
regulate moral and legal conduct, respectively).
137. Kadelbach & Kleinlein, supra note 47, at 262-63 (discussing the moral
underpinnings of principles and listing several moral values protected by
principles).
2008] CUSTOMA R Y LA W WITHO UT CUSTOM? 303

2. Principlesand FillingLacuna

Moreover, the rationality of the legal argumentation could be

increased by abandoning the practice requirement.' 3 8 In this context,
we have to distinguish two situations. On one hand, we will consider
the preservation of public goods, and on the other hand we will deal
with the protection of individual human rights.

a. The Preservation of Public Goods

It is impossible for a legal order to provide a specific rule to cover

every legally relevant situation. As the international legal order is
characterized by decentralized legislation, the lack of rules governing
a certain situation is even more common than in national legal
orders. However, a non liquet is excluded as a result of legal
decisions. 13 9 Therefore, the lawyer has to find different solutions for
problems that cannot be determined by rules. The classical approach
to this situation in international legal scholarship is the application of
the Lotus principle.14 According to this principle, any attempt to
constrain the state's freedom of action in the absence of a legal
41
prohibition is a violation of state sovereignty.
However, in cases where two states rely simultaneously on their
sovereignty, this approach often does not provide a suitable solution.
A clear delimitation of competing freedoms is not possible on an
abstract level without further guidelines. 142 A good example is the

138. See generally Martti Koskenniemi, General Principles: Reflexions on

Constructivist Thinking in InternationalLaw, in 18 OIKEUSTIEDE-JURISPRUDENTIA
120, 138-41 (1985) (suggesting that the application of legal principles could
rationalize legal discourse).
139. See, e.g., Lighthouses (Fr. v. Greece), 1934 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B) No. 62 (May
17); Interpretation of Convention of 1919 Concerning Employment of Women
During the Night, Advisory Opinion, 1932 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B) No. 50 (Nov. 15).
See generally JOOST PAUWELYN, CONFLICT OF NORMS IN PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL
LAW: How WTO LAW RELATES TO OTHER RULES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 150-51
(Cambridge Univ. Press 2003); Prosper Weil, "The Court Cannot Conclude
Definitively..." Non Liquet Revisited, 36 COLUM. J. TRANSNAT'L L. 109, 109-19
(1998) (canvassing the debate over non liquet in international law).
140. See S.S. "Lotus," 1927 P.C.I.J. (ser. A) No. 10 (Sept. 7) (formulating the
background assumption in international law that a state is constrained only by rules
to which it has consented).
141. Id.
142. See generally MARTTI KOSKENNIEMI, FROM APOLOGY TO UTOPIA: THE
 AM. U. INT'L L. RE[. [23:275

law of transboundary pollution, 4 3 which is in principle governed by

competing sovereignty considerations.' 44 In the Trail Smelter
Arbitration,'45 Canada and the United States disputed the liability of
Canada for the cross-border effects of smelter pollution. 4 6 At Trail, a
Canadian smelting plant discharged 600 to 700 tons of sulphur
dioxide into the atmosphere every day. The sulphur dioxide gas
clouds carried southwards over the U.S.-Canadian border and caused
extensive damage to crops, timber, pasture, livestock, and buildings
in the United States. In the arbitration, the United States claimed
damages for the pollution of its territory.
In such a case, both parties may rely on their territorial
sovereignty. While Canada may claim that it has the right to use its
territory as it likes, the United States will rely on its own territorial
integrity, according to which the United States need not tolerate any
conduct that causes harm to its territory.'47 The core of the dispute is
thus a pure balancing of competing interests. Such a balancing of
competing interests may, however, only be accomplished by resort to
principles of equity, 148 which will be even more difficult and
arbitrary in multilateral than in bilateral situations. 149

STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ARGUMENT 206-09 (1989) (considering

state sovereignty-based arguments).
143. See generally EYAL BENVENISTI, SHARING TRANSBOUNDARY RESOURCES:
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND OPTIMAL RESOURCE USE 22-42 (2002) (discussing how
Lotus limitations inhibit optimal resource allocations on an international scale).
144. Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum, Raum und Umwelt [Space and Environment], in
VOLKERRECHT [INTERNATIONAL LAW] 357, 94 (3d ed. 2004) (F.R.G.) (stating
that customary law is not an efficient mechanism for governing transboundary
pollution).
145. Trail Smelter (U.S. v. Can.), 3 R. Int'l Arb. Awards 1905 (Perm. Ct. Arb.
1935).
146. See Kevin J. Madders, Trail Smelter Arbitration, in 4 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW 900, 900-01 (Rudolf Bernhardt ed., 2000)
(explaining the facts of the case and the difficulties of resolving the issues through
diplomatic channels).
147. See Albrecht Randelzhofer, TransfrontierPollution, in 4 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, supra note 146, at 913, 913-14 (discussing the
competing principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity).
148. See Madders, supra note 146, at 902 (analogizing the Trail Smelter case to
equitable decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court on interstate disputes).
149. See John E. Noyes, The International Tribunalfor the Law of the Sea, 32
CORNELL INT'L L. J. 109, 181 (1998) (discussing the difficulty of incorporating
equity as a concept into multilateral international arbitrations such as that
concerning the Law of the Sea); see also JOHN GRAHAM MERRILLS,
2008] CUSTOMAR Y LA W WITHOUT CUSTOM?

In the absence of rules governing a certain situation, legal

principles may increase the rationality of the legal discourse, as
principles may serve as authoritative guidelines for balancing the
competing interests. 150 They may play a particularly important role in
relation to the protection of public goods, which shall be understood
as goods to which everyone has free access without having to bear
the costs of his conduct.151 Examples of common goods are
environmental goods, such as clean air and water. Because these
constellations deal with the protection of specific goods, and not with
the regulation of a certain conduct, they will often not be governed
by customary rules. In order to handle such cases, we need legal
principles if we do not want to rely on equity alone.

b. The Protection of Human Rights

With regard to the protection of human rights, the second
constellation we have identified, reciprocity plays no role
whatsoever.'52 The motivation to protect one's own citizens does not
depend on whether other states observe human rights.'53 The
behavior of other states does not give an incentive for complying
with human rights obligations. 5 4 Human rights norms may in the
worst case be utopian, but they do not impair the stability of the
international legal system. State practice is thus not a precondition
for their determination.

INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 138-39 (Grotius Publications Ltd. 2d ed.

1991) (discussing the problems with courts relying on equity in the context of
multilateral treaties).
150. See KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 142, at 142.
151. See generally Garret Hardin, The Tragedy of the Commons, 162 ScI. 1243
(1968).
152. But see Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally
Wrongful Acts, G.A. Res. 56/83, art. 48, U.N. Doc. A/RES/56/83 (Jan. 28, 2002)
(addressing when a non-injured state is permitted to invoke violations committed
by another state); Bruno Simma, From Bilateralism to Community Interests in
International Law, in 250 RECUEIL DES COURS 217, 364-73 (1994) (Fr.)
(discussing the development of responsibility in the human rights field and
differentiating human rights obligations from other international obligations).
153. See Simma, supra note 152, at 365 (differentiating between human rights
treaties and typical international treaties by stating that human rights treaties are
primarily for protecting citizens from the states party to the treaty).
154. See id. at 369 (contending that while states party to a human rights treaty
may not realize tangible benefits, there are, from a normative point of view,
nevertheless reciprocal legal rights and duties).
306 AM. U. INT'L L. REv. [23:275

3. Principlesin Legal Doctrine andJurisprudence

Parts of legal doctrine and international jurisprudence have

already implicitly admitted that international law contains principles
not being supported by state practice. Some authors, although in
principle recognizing a strict practice requirement, have postulated
that special rules could be deducted from general customary
principles even if a contrary state practice existed.' 55 Such a mode of
deductive reasoning has also been adopted by the ICJ in its Nuclear
Tests Case, where the court finds that international obligations
assumed through unilateral declarations are binding because of the
principle of good faith. 5 6 This finding, however, cannot be supported
without also abandoning the practice requirement for the general
norm. This is a consequence of the fact that, if a special rule logically
follows from a general principle, the contravening practice would
also disprove the existence of the general norm.157 It is thus telling
that the ICJ in the Nuclear Tests Case merely assumed the existence
of the good faith principle without substantiating it.'58

C. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS

Having shown that the difference between rules and principles

justifies a distinct classification in the system of sources, it stands to
reason that legal principles should be qualified as general principles

155. See Albert Bleckmann, Vlkergewohnheitsrecht trotz widerspriichlicher

Praxis? [Customary International Law in Spite of Contradictory Practice?], 36
ZEITSCHRIFT FUR AUSLANDISCHES OFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VOLKERRECHT
[HEIDELBERG J. INT'L L.] 374, 390 (1976) (stating that some specific principles
could be derived from overarching principles and that the specific principles would
not need to be confirmed through state practice); Christian Tomuschat, Obligations
Arisingfor States Without or Against Their Will, in 241 RECUEIL DES COURS 292-
304 (1993) (Fr.).
156. Nuclear Tests Case (Austi. v. Fr.), 1974 I.C.J. 253, 267-68 (Dec. 20)
(finding that the principle of good faith transformed France's unilateral declaration
that it would abstain from further nuclear testing to a legal obligation to so
abstain).
157. But see 1 OPPENHEIM'S INTERNATIONAL LAW 29 (Robert Jennings &
Arthur Watts, eds., 9th ed. 1992) (arguing that the ICJ in the Nicaraguajudgment
found state practice necessary to a rule of customary international law need not
have been rigorously in conformity with the rule thus established).
158. See Nuclear Tests Case, 1974 I.C.J. at 268 ("One of the basic principles
governing the creation and performance of legal obligations, whatever their
source, is the principle of good faith.") (emphasis added).
2008] CUSTOMAR YLA W WITHOUT CUSTOM? 307

in the sense of ICJ Statute Article 38(l)(c).'5 9 Some authors pretend

that general principles can only be identified by analogy to the forum
domesticum. 60 They draw their argument from the drafting history of
the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice ("PCIJ
Statute").' 6' However, the conclusion drawn from the drafting history
is not without debate.' 62 Furthermore, according to Article 32 of the
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, drafting history is only a
63
subsidiary means of interpreting treaties.
General principles were originally meant to serve a gap-filling
function."64 The drafters of the ICJ Statute feared that certain
situations would be covered neither by treaty provisions nor by
customary law. 65 In order to avoid a non liquet, they introduced the
"general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.' 66 The
element of recognition by civilized nations was added because the
majority of the drafting committee wanted to prevent general

159. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1,art. 38, para. 1.
160. See B~la Vitanyi, Les positions Doctrinales Concernant le sens de la
Notion de "PrincipesGndraux de Droit Reconnus par les Nations Civilisdes," 86
REVUE GENERALE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC 48, 96-102 (1982) (Fr.)
(giving an overview of doctrinal approaches identifying general principles by
analogy to the forum domesticum).
161. See G. J. H. VAN HOOF, RETHINKING THE SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
139-46 (1983) (discussing the ICJ Statute drafters' dual view of general principles
of law, first as accepted by all nations, and second as natural law).
162. See Simma & Alston, supra note 16, at 102 (stating that the drafters of the
ICJ Statute did not want speculation to lead to the formation of general principles,
but rather general acceptance or recognition by states).
163. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties art. 32, May 23, 1969, 1155
U.N.T.S. 331.
164. See M. Cherif Bassiouni, A FunctionalApproach to "General Principlesof
InternationalLaw," II MICH. J. INT'L L. 768, 776 (1990) (examining how general
principles are used to clarify and interpret international law); Johan G. Lammers,
General Principles of Law Recognized by Civilized Nations, in ESSAYS ON THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER 53, 64 (Frits Kalshoven et
al. eds., 1980) (describing the use of general principles by arbitral tribunals prior to
the establishment of the PCIJ). See generally Alain Pellet, Article 38, in THE
STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: A COMMENTARY 677
(Andreas Zimmerman et al. eds., 2006) (stating that although general principles of
law were relied upon occasionally prior to the establishment of the PCIJ, the
specific language of Article 38 encouraged reliance on general principles).
165. See Pellet, supra note 164, at 765 (noting that some drafters were
concerned that the use of general principles would lead to subjectivity by judges).
166. Statute of the International Court of Justice, supra note 1, art. 38, para. 1.
308 AM U. INT'L L. REV. [23:275

principles from being a gateway for principles of natural law. 167

Contrary to treaty or customary norms, which both require an
expression of state consensus either by drafting a written agreement
or by a specific explicit practice, general principles thus appeal to the
168
implicit consensus of states.
When the PCIJ Statute was drafted there were no other means to
determine such an implicit consensus than by resorting to the internal
legal orders of the members of the international community. 169 Such
analogies to national private law corresponded to the coordinative
character of the international legal system of the beginning of the last
century. 170 Today, however, the structure of the legal order has
changed and other means to determine an implicit state consensus
have developed. 1 ' There are thus two modes to determine general
principles: on the one hand, they can be derived by analogy to
national legal orders; on the other hand, they can be established by
reference to resolutions of the U.N. General Assembly or of other
international institutions representing a considerable majority of the
international community. 172

167. See VAN HOOF, supra note 161, at 139.

168. See VERDROSS, supra note 79.
169. See VAN HOOF, supra note 161, at 138-39 (noting the feeling that the
international community was relatively homogeneous at the time the PCIJ was
created and the view that internal legal orders were thus representative of general
principles).
170. See Bleckmann, supra note 40, at 39.
171. See Simma & Alston, supra note 16, at 102.
172. See Lammers, supra note 164, at 59 (reiterating that general principles
could be found in foro domestico or in the principle of res judicata); Bassiouni,
supra note 164, at 772 (discovering two legal sources for general principles in
Article 38(1)(3) of the PCIJ Statute and Article 38(1)(c) of the ICJ Statute);
Hermann Mosler, General Principles of Law, in 2 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PUBLIC
INTERNATIONAL LAW 519-25 (Rudolf Bernhardt ed., 1995) (providing examples of
international decisions which used one of the different modes to determine general
principles); Kadelbach & Kleinlein, supra note 47, at 255-56 (distinguishing three
categories of general principles: (1) those which can be derived from national legal
order; (2) those which can be established by an implicit international consensus;
and (3) those which are inherent in every legal order-though this group could be
perceived as a subgroup of the first two categories); see also supra Part II.C
(explaining the second mode of determining general principles in more detail).
2008] CUSTOMARYLA W WITHOUT CUSTOM? 309

CONCLUSION
Even in times of an increasing institutionalization of international
law, unwritten international law counts-indeed, it may even gain
importance. This is so, in particular, if one accepts that international
regimes are not self-contained. It plays a considerable role in the
discussions on human rights, 17 3 democracy, 7 4 and accountability in
the context of international financial institutions, as well as in
attempts to introduce human rights'75 and environmental1 6
considerations into the scope of world trade law. Considering the
growing complexity of present international law, a rethinking of the
doctrine of sources becomes necessary. It is not without reason that
this issue has attracted much attention in recent international law
scholarship. This Article has attempted to reanimate the discussion of
general principles of law as a second primary source of unwritten

173. See generally John D. Ciorciari, The Lawful Scope of Human Rights
Criteria in World Bank Credit Decisions: An Interpretative Analysis of the IBRD
and IDA Articles of Agreement, 33 CORNELL INT'L L.J. 331 (2000) (examining
how one could interpret the World Bank Charter in light of universal human
rights); Genoveva Hernndez Uriz, To Lend or Not to Lend: Oil, Human Rights,
and the World Bank's Internal Contradictions, 14 HARV. HUM. RTS. J. 197 (2001)
(providing the human rights provisions incorporated into the World Bank's
Chad/Cameroon project loan as an example of effective application of a human
rights policy).
174. See STEFANIE KILLINGER, THE WORLD BANK'S NON-POLITICAL MANDATE
150-55 (2003); Adrian Leftwich, Governance, Democracy and Development in the
Third World, 14 THIRD WORLD Q. 605, 610-11 (243).
175. See JAN NEUMANN, DIE KOORDINATION DES WTO-RECHTS MIT ANDEREN
VOLKERRECHTLICHEN ORDNUNGEN [THE COORDINATION OF WTO LAW WITH
OTHER INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDERS] 288 (2002) (F.R.G.); Ernst-Ulrich
Petersmann, Human Rights and InternationalEconomic Law in the 21st Century:
The Need to Clarify Their Interrelationships,4 J. INT'L ECON. L. 3, 37-38 (2001)
(suggesting that the WTO use universal human rights when interpreting WTO
rules).
176. See Rao Geping, The Law Applied by World Trade Organization Panels,
17 TEMP. INT'L & COMP. L.J. 125, 130-31 (2003) (examining the Beef-Hormone
dispute as one based in environmental law and critiquing the Panel's holding that
customary international law did not override WTO provisions even if it was
considered a general principle because it was not clear how widely accepted it was
by the international community); Sarah Harrell, Beyond "Reach "? An Analysis of
the European Union's Chemical Regulation Program Under World Trade
Organization Agreements, 24 WIS. INT'L L.J. 471, 484 (2006) (arguing that the
precautionary principle of environmental law is so widely accepted, evidenced by
its inclusion in numerous environmental treaties, that it rises to the level of
customary international law and could have an effect on WTO decisions).
310 AM. U. INT'L L. REV. [23:275

international law besides custom. The point of departure for the

distinction between both categories of sources is a differentiation
between two different types of norms drawn from legal theory-
rules and principles. While rules are conduct-related and must thus
be determined according to the traditional inductive approach of
custom, principles are value-related. Thus, principles are
consequently identified by a rather interpretative approach, taking
into account resolutions of plenary international institutions and law-
making treaties. This approach does not diminish the uncertainty
related to arguments based on unwritten international law. It
attempts, however, to provide a theoretical foundation and
framework of evaluation for what is already a widespread practice in
international legal discourse.