Available in Russian
Author: Olga Kadysheva
DOI: 10.21128/2226-2059-2025-3-23-39
Keywords: sources of international law; International Law Commission; general principles of law; regional general principles of law; general principles of law with a limited scope of application; Article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice
Since the term “general principles of law recognized by civilized nations” appeared in the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1920, there has been ongoing debate in legal doctrine regarding its meaning, how it is formed, identified, and its scope of application. The abundance of literature devoted to general principles of law speaks more to the diversity of existing opinions than to the existence of an established consensus on these issues, including the question of the existence of general principles of law with a limited territorial scope of application (“regional general principles of law”) and their role in contemporary international law. Unfortunately, the approach of the UN International Law Commission, reflected in the Draft Conclusions on General Principles of Law 2025, does not provide a clear answer to the question of the existence of regional general principles of law, although it does not exclude the possibility of their emergence. At the same time, recognition at the universal level of the existence of regional general principles of law (the most striking examples of which are the general principles of European Union law and the formation by the EAEU Court of the principles of EAEU law) may have a direct practical and, moreover, positive effect for the Commission itself, comparable to the recognition by the Commission several years ago of local international customs. Regional general principles of law may be applicable to disputes having regional significance in jurisdictions with both universal and regional coverage. Furthermore, they can be used to fill gaps in regional international treaties, as well as for the purposes of their interpretation. The process of establishing the regional general principles may differ from the order applicable to universal general principles of law, since courts or states insisting on their existence and application must first prove their local specific character. All this shows that despite the Commission’s obvious intention to fully support a universal approach in international law, it would be counterproductive for the Commission’s authority not to notice the reality emerging at the regional level in terms of regional principles, particularly in terms of recognition by states, as well as national and international courts, of the results of the Commission’s work on general principles of law.
About the author: Olga Kadysheva – Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) in Law, Associate Professor, Department of International Law, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
Citation:
Kadysheva O. (2025) Komissiya mezhdunarodnogo prava OON o regional'nykh obshchikh printsipakh prava: popytka primirit' universalizm i real'nost' [The UN International Law Commission on regional general principles of law: an attempt to reconcile universalism and reality]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.15, no.3, pp.23–39. (In Russian).
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