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Legal Terms – General Principles of Law
Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice mandates the Court to prioritize (1) treaties and (2) customary international law as its sources. Nonetheless, this provision also empowers the court to implement “the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.” Therefore, if neither treaty nor custom is sufficient to address a difficult issue, one may turn to "general principles" as a supplementary source. The fundamental principles are widely acknowledged as the standards included in the municipal law of most nations. When a standard, such as the prohibition of judicial prejudice, attains sufficient prevalence, it may be acknowledged as a supplementary source of the substantive content of international law
Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice mandates the Court to prioritize (1) treaties and (2) customary international law as its sources. Nonetheless, this provision also empowers the court to implement “the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.” Therefore, if neither treaty nor custom is sufficient to address a difficult issue, one may turn to "general principles" as a supplementary source. The fundamental principles are widely acknowledged as the standards included in the municipal law of most nations. When a standard, such as the prohibition of judicial prejudice, attains sufficient prevalence, it may be acknowledged as a supplementary source of the substantive content of international law
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