LLB-II PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

1. Sources of international law
Course: LLB II
Subject : Public International Law
Unit: 3

2. 2
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
According to Article 38(1) of the Statute of the ICJ the
five traditional sources recognized under international law
are as follows: -
• Treaty: - means an international agreement concluded
between states or parties – may be bilateral /multilateral
and may be called any of the following names/types: -
charter, convention, covenant, Protocol.
– Effect of ratification of a treaty.
– Effect of domestication of a treaty into national law: -
See Agbakoba v. director of SSS (1994) 6 NWLR (pt.351)
475; Abacha v. Fawehinmi (2000)6 NWLR (pt. 660) 228.

3. 3
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
• Custom: - is evidence of a general practice accepted as
law. This can be established by the existence of
bilateral/multilateral relations between states based on
the belief of the existence of a legal obligation (i.e. opinion
juris-legal belief or state practice). E.g., the 4 Geneva
Conventions and the Hague Conventions (on conduct of
war, treatment of prisoners of war etc) and the entire
provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of
1948.
• General Principles of Law: - Are principles of equity and
rules emanating from justice and considerations of public
policy.

4. 4
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
– Examples of General Principles of Law
a) The principle of good faith (Pacta Sunt Servanda). This is
found expressed in Article 26 of the 1969 Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties (which came into force
on 27 January 1980) and is to the effect that every treaty
in force is binding upon the parts to it and must be
performed by them in good faith. As such a party may not
unilaterally free itself from the engagements of a treaty,
or modify the stipulations thereof, except by the consent
of the contracting parties, through a friendly
understanding.

5. 5
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
b) The principle of abuse of rights: - is to the effect that states must exercise
their rights in a manner compatible with their various obligations arising
either from treaties or from the general law. This principle can be
illustrated in the Corfu channel case (ICJ Report, 1949, p. 22) where the ICJ
concluded that: “No state may utilize its territory contrary to the rights of
other states. The principle has been further restated in principle 21 of the
UN Conference Declaration on the Human Environment, Stockholm,
(Sweden) 1972, and in principle 2 of the Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil) 1992. The latter states: - “states,
have, in accordance with the UNC and the principles of international law,
the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own
environmental and developmental policies and the responsibilities to
ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause
damage to the environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of
national jurisdiction.

6. 6
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
• Judicial Decisions: - of international courts and tribunals such
as the ICJ, ICC, ICTY, ICTR, UN Special Court for Sierra-Leone,
European Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights,
African Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of
Human Rights.
– Examples of Judicial Decisions
The Trial smelter case 11 March 1941 Arbitral judgement
is considered as having laid the foundations for international
environmental law, at least regarding trans-border pollution.
In its conclusion, the Arbitral Tribunal stated that: - “No state
has the right to use or permit the use of its territory in such
manner as to cause injury by fumes in or to the territory of
another…”

7. 7
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
• Writings of Scholars/Jurists/Commentators: - of long
standing research and experience rooted in their fields of
specialization are relied upon for trustworthy evidence of
what the law really is and not what it ought to be.
Non Traditional Sources
Pre-emptory Norms
Resolutions of International
Organizations
Non-Binding Standards
(Soft Law)

8. 8
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
The three non-traditional sources of international law are: -
• Pre-emptory Norms: - are final/absolute/mandatory norms
recognized and accepted by the international community as a
whole from which no derogation is allowed by any treaty or
municipal law, else void.
– Also known as Rules of Jus Cogens.
– E.g., the absolute prohibition of torture and slavery or the general
norm prohibiting the use of force in the internal affairs of a sovereign
state or the promotion and protection of the right to life.
• Resolutions of public international Organisations/ Institutions:
- UN, AU, EU, ECOWAS etc resolutions on given subject
matters constitute a source of international law with respect
to the matters in question.

9. 9
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
• Non-binding standards (Soft law): - Are those rules of conduct,
statements, principles, policies not intended to be legally binding
but are expressions of intent by the international or regional
community in a given topical/critical issue of interest to all.
– Examples of Non-Binding Standards
• The 1972 Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment resulted
from the UN Conference on the Environment designed to deal with
questions surrounding the management and protection of the
environment and its relationship with humans. 130 states participated at
the conference where the recommendation for institutional
arrangement resulted in the UN General Assembly’s establishment of
UNEP.

10. 10
SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Cont’d)
• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development was
adopted in 1992 by the UN Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED). It contains 27 principles to
guide activities in relation to the environment of nations
and individuals. It builds on the Stockholm Declaration of
1972, and it introduces the mandate of sustainable
development as the basis for global, national and local
action.

11. References:
• 1.www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULaw
Rw/1995/8.pdf
• 2. www.abu.edu.ng/publications/2012-11-10-
135329_3901.ppt

12. Thank You