Developments in customary international law: theory and the practice of the International Court of Justice and the international ad hoc criminal tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia

Contents......Page 8
List of Abbreviations......Page 18
List of Cases and Documents......Page 22
Foreword......Page 34
Preface......Page 36
Acknowledgements......Page 38
Introduction......Page 40
A. Custom as a source of international law......Page 48
1. Custom......Page 49
3. Formal and material sources of international law and further distinctions......Page 50
III. Introduction to the theory of customary international law......Page 52
IV. Scope of the theoretical assessment......Page 53
V. Theory of the formation of customary international law......Page 54
A. Positivism......Page 55
1. Voluntarist conceptions......Page 57
2. Other opinio juris-based approaches to customary international law......Page 63
3. Ago’s theory of spontaneous law......Page 64
4. Practice-based approaches......Page 65
5. Strict normativism: Hans Kelsen’s pure theory of international law and neo-Kelsenian approaches......Page 66
7. Later approaches: Haggenmacher, Mendelson and others......Page 68
8. Commentary on the late positivist approaches......Page 71
B. Two-element approaches......Page 72
C. Two-element conceptions of the formation of customary international criminal law and customary international human rights law......Page 75
1. Different sorts of customary international law......Page 76
2. The deductive approach to custom-formation......Page 78
3. The ‘core rights’ approach......Page 81
4. Two-element approaches to customary international human rights and humanitarian law: assessment......Page 83
D. Naturalist conceptions......Page 85
1. Moral theoretical approaches to the formation of customary international law......Page 86
2. Assessment......Page 87
E. Realist Conceptions......Page 88
1. New Haven and similar approaches......Page 89
2. The customary international law game......Page 91
3. Assessment of the New Haven and the game theory concepts of custom......Page 93
1. The Sliding-Scale Approach......Page 94
2. Ascending and descending conceptions of international criminal law......Page 96
3. Evaluation of the sliding-scale approach and subsequent up and down arguments......Page 97
4. Institutionalised law-making: Charney’s ‘universal international law' and subsequent ideas......Page 98
5. Assessment of institutionalised law-making approaches......Page 99
6. Critical Legal Studies perceptions of the formation of customary norms......Page 100
7. Assessment of the CLS conception of customary international law......Page 103
G. Theory of customary international law: tentative conclusions......Page 104
H. Evidence......Page 106
II. The relationship of customary international law with other sources of international law: general principles of international law and customary international law......Page 110
A. Preliminary considerations......Page 112
B. General principles of national or international origin......Page 113
2. General principles of a genuine international origin......Page 114
3. A third category?......Page 115
4. General principles of international law originating from any source of international law......Page 116
5. Preliminary Conclusion......Page 118
C. General principles of law as a source of international human rights and international criminal law......Page 119
2. Kolb, Henkin and Yasuaki......Page 120
3. Simma’s and Paulus’ approach to international criminal law......Page 121
4. Discussion of a general principles approach to international human rights and international criminal law......Page 122
D. Concluding remarks on the relationship of custom and the general principles of law......Page 124
IV. Interpretative methods and their relationship with the finding of customary international law......Page 125
1. The notion of interpretation......Page 127
2. Underlying concepts......Page 129
1. Article 31 (1) and (2) VCT......Page 131
2. Article 31 (3) (c) VCT......Page 132
3. Article 31 (3) (c) and the Oil Platforms Case......Page 133
4. Further interpretative rules of the VCT......Page 134
5. Subsidiary means of interpretation......Page 135
C. Interpretation of treaties by the ICJ, the ICTY and the ICTR......Page 136
1. Grammatical interpretation, supporting elements and systematic interpretation......Page 137
2. Object and purpose, effectiveness and other circumstances......Page 138
4. Assessment......Page 140
2. Notion and theoretical underpinnings......Page 141
3. Analogy in the jurisprudence of ICJ and ICTY......Page 143
4. Final considerations on the relationship between analogy and custom......Page 145
E. Final assessment of the relationship between interpretation and analogy and the discovery of new customary international law......Page 147
II. Theoretical conceptions of the development of customary international (criminal) law......Page 150
A. The humanisation of humanitarian law......Page 151
B. A communitarian vision......Page 152
C. Increasing fragmentation......Page 155
III. Assessment......Page 156
I. Introduction......Page 160
A. The PICJ’s Lotus Case......Page 161
B. Discussion of the Lotus findings in the light of the formation of customary international law......Page 164
III. Two-element approaches to custom: the customary law on the continental shelf and further cases......Page 165
A. The Asylum Case, the Fisheries Case and further judgements......Page 166
B. The North Sea Continental Shelf Cases......Page 168
C. Discussion of the impact of the North Sea Continental Shelf findings on the methodology of customary international law......Page 170
D. Continental Shelf Case I (Tunisia v Libya)......Page 171
E. Continental Shelf Case II (Libya v Malta)......Page 173
F. The Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons......Page 176
G. The importance of the conclusions of the Nuclear Weapons advisory opinion for the formation of customary international law......Page 178
A. The Corfu Channel Case......Page 179
B. The Advisory Opinion on the Reservations on the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Prohibition of the Crime of Genocide......Page 181
C. Relevance of the findings in the Advisory Opinion on the Genocide Convention and further developments: the Barcelona Traction Case and the Genocide Case (Bosnia Herzegovina v. Serbia Montenegro)......Page 184
V. A first drawback for the deductive approach: the South-West Africa Cases......Page 186
VI. Deduction affirmed? The Gulf of Maine Case......Page 189
A. The Court’s findings......Page 190
B. Further assessment of the Nicaragua Judgment......Page 194
A. The ICJ’s findings......Page 196
B. Assessment of the Yerodia judgment......Page 200
C. Compararison: the discussions at the Institut de Droit International on the immunities from execution and jurisdiction of Heads of State and Government in international law......Page 201
A. Advisory Opinion on the Construction of a Wall in the Palestinian Territories......Page 203
B. The 2002 Congo Case and the Srebrenica judgement......Page 206
A. The evidence assessed......Page 207
B. The methods applied......Page 209
I. Introduction......Page 214
II. Preliminary considerations: the definition of international criminal law......Page 215
A. Differences in the scope of ratione materiae jurisdiction......Page 216
B. The applicability of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols to the conflict in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia......Page 220
C. The succession situation in the SFRY and the applicable treaty law......Page 221
D. The existence of an international or non-international armed conflict on the territory of Yugoslavia......Page 223
IV. The case law of the ICTY and the ICTR on customary international law......Page 225
A. The ‘sources based approach’: international legal instruments and international jurisprudence as evidence of new customary international law......Page 226
1. Nuremberg Jurisprudence and the military trials following World War II......Page 227
2. Risks ensuing from utilizing the Nuremberg jurisprudence and similar case law as evidence of new customary law......Page 234
3. Other international and domestic case law on matters of international humanitarian law......Page 239
4. International humanitarian law instruments......Page 241
5. International human rights instruments......Page 244
6. The ILC Draft Code of Crimes......Page 253
7. The influence of the Rome Statute......Page 255
8. The ICRC Study on Customary International Humanitarian Law and ICRC opinions......Page 257
1. Prerequisites for the application of Articles 2 and 3 ICTY Statute / Article 4 ICTR Statute: The Tadić case......Page 259
2. Conclusions on the Tadić Interlocutory Appeal......Page 263
3. Affirmation of the findings of the Tadić Interlocutory Appeal judgment: the Martic Case, the Čelebići Case and subsequent judgments......Page 265
4. The ‘customs of war’ in Article 3 ICTY Statute / Article 4 ICTR Statute: the Kupreškić Trial Chamber judgment and subsequent decisions......Page 269
5. Assessment of the findings of the Kupreškić Trial Chamber......Page 273
6. The prohibition on destroying civilian property......Page 275
8. Outrages upon personal dignity......Page 276
9. Terrorisation of a civilian population: the Galić appeal judgment......Page 277
10. Assessment......Page 280
11. Rape......Page 281
12. The Hadžihasanović Decision on Interlocutory Appeal Challenging Jurisdiction in Relation to Command Responsibility and subsequent case law......Page 282
13. Drawbacks to the deductive approach: the Ojdanić Interlocutory Appeal on Joint Criminal Enterprise Liability and further judgments......Page 286
C. Mixed methodologies......Page 288
1. Blurring of different sources of international law (general principles of international law and customary international law)......Page 289
2. The need for a differentiation between methodologies: the case law of the ICTY on the customary criminality of co-perpetratorship......Page 292
3. Blurring of customary international law and interpretation......Page 293
4. No differentiation between customary international law and analogy......Page 297
A. International legal instruments approach......Page 298
2. Widespread and systematic attack......Page 299
1. Discriminatory intent requirement......Page 301
2. Murder......Page 302
3. Rape......Page 303
4. Complicity in genocide......Page 304
5. Command responsibility......Page 305
C. Common sense approach......Page 306
1. Extermination......Page 307
2. Other inhumane acts......Page 308
1. The customary international law character of the prohibition of genocide, acts of complicity and public incitement to genocide......Page 309
2. Individual criminal responsibility......Page 310
3. Joint criminal enterprise liability......Page 311
A. Determining agencies......Page 312
1. The Nuremberg trials, the case law of the ICJ, and the case law of the ICTY and ICTR......Page 313
4. International treaties and UNGA resolutions......Page 314
6. ICRC opinions......Page 315
7. Assessment......Page 316
B. A hierarchy of determining agencies for customary international criminal law?......Page 317
C. The methodologies applied when identifying new customary international law......Page 318
1. Different approaches to custom......Page 319
2. Relationship between the four approaches......Page 320
D. Merging of different methods and sources of international (criminal) law......Page 322
VIII. The approaches of the ICTY and the ICTR compared......Page 324
I. Introduction......Page 326
II. Article 21 (1) (b) of the ICC Statute: further development of customary international criminal law?......Page 327
A. Preliminary issues......Page 328
B. Article 21 (1) (b) ICC Statute: controversies......Page 330
C. Travaux préparatoires......Page 332
D. Conclusion......Page 334
III. Clash of custom with aspects of legality? – The nullum crimen sine lege principle and its implications for the formation of new customary international criminal law......Page 335
A. The principle nullum crimen sine lege in national and international law: overview......Page 336
B. Scope of the principle in international law......Page 338
1. International human rights instruments: Article 11 UDHR......Page 339
2. Article 7 (1) ECHR and Article 15 (1) ICCPR......Page 340
3. Article 7 (2) ECHR and Article 15 (2) ICCPR......Page 342
5. The ILC Draft Code against Peace and Security of Mankind and the interpretation of nullum crimen sine lege in international legal scholarship......Page 344
1. Nullum crimen as a principle of justice: the Tadić Interlocutory Appeal......Page 347
2. Individual requirements of the principle of legality: the Čelebići Trial Chamber judgement......Page 348
4. The Hadžihasanović Interlocutory Appeal decision......Page 350
5. No creation of new law: the Aleksovski Appeals Chamber judgment......Page 351
6. Limitations on the methodology of customary international criminal law: The Vasiljevic Trial Chamber judgment and the Ojdanić Appeals Chamber decision......Page 352
8. ICTR Cases......Page 355
D. Conclusions on the interpretation of the nullum crimen principle by the ICTY and ICTR......Page 356
E. Further development of nullum crimen sine lege – Article 22 of the ICC Statute......Page 357
2. The rule of strict construction and prohibition of interpretation in malam partem......Page 358
3. The prohibition of analogy......Page 359
4. Article 22 (3) ICC Statute......Page 360
IV. Overall conclusion on the impact of the nullum crimen sine lege principle on the finding of new customary international law......Page 361
II. The conclusions from the case law of the ICJ, the ICTY and the ICTR......Page 364
1. Concerning the evidence of new customary international law......Page 365
2. The different methods of determining new customary international law......Page 367
1. Considering the relevant evidence of a new customary rule......Page 368
2. Considering the methodologies applied......Page 369
C. Implications for the theory of international law......Page 372
D. Conclusions......Page 374
A. Introduction......Page 376
2. The classical two element approach to customary international law......Page 377
3. Application of the international legal instruments approach......Page 378
4. The core rights approach......Page 379
6. General principles of law......Page 380
C. Conclusion......Page 381
Bibliography......Page 382
Index......Page 402