IlIIEUnEl lI ~il l tl. IEGO TO WAlIll'STlH. /</AUr;O I\'EGO r U 5ClurCU H DU U'UU DE ".OCU.' SI,:u.l ... !<I OK KAROl WOlfKE CU5'TOM IN PH ES ENT INTERNATIONAL LA IV WROCUW I9IN • PRACE WROCLAWSKIEGO TOWARZYSTWA NAUKOWEGO TRAVAUX DC LA SOCIETE DES SCIENCES ET DES LETTRES DE WROCLAW SERIA A. NR 101 KAROL WOLFKE CUSTOM IN PRESENT INTERNATIONAL LAW WROCLAW 1964 Redaktor tomu: Franciszek Longchamps Sekretarz redakcji: Anna KosiIiska Praca wydana na zle . olskiej Akademii Nauk ••~!"!'~ .ill'" A 'a \ ~~. \~ ,\.~ ~Mt~:, J ......." ~/ IIII 1111111 1180035289 PAd Zaldad Narodowy im. Ossollilskloh - Wydawniotwo. Wroolaw 1964 r. Wydanie I. Naldad 550+140 egz. ObjEltoS6 ark. wyd. 12,05, ark. druk. 11,63. Papier druk. sat. kl. Ill, 70 g, 61x86 (16). Oddano do sldadania 5 V 1964 r. Podpisano do drukn 17 IX 1964 r. Druk ukonozono we wrzesniu 1964 r. Wroolawska Drukarnia Naukowa. Nr zam. 146/64. Cena zl 36.- CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Object and Scope of the Study 9 Terminology. 11 CHAPTER ONE THE ELEMENTS OF INTERNATIONAL CUSTOM The Genesis of Subparagraph l(b) of Article 38 of the Statute of the Court. 20 Criticism of Subparagraph l(b) of Article 38 of the Statute of the Court. 26 The Elements of International Custom in the Decisions and Opinions of the Court 28 (a) The Elements of International Custom in the Process of Ascertaining Customary Rules . .. 29 (b) The Elements of International Custom in the Practice of Applying Rules Already Ascertained. .. 37 The Elements of International Custom in the Discussions of the United Nations International Law Commission 42 An Attempt at Interpretation of the Elements of International Custom . 50 CHAPTER Two FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL CUSTOM Introductory Note . 59 Mechanism of Formation of International Custom. 62 The Element of Practice in the Formation of International Custom. 65 The Element of Presumed Acceptance in the Formation of International Custom 70 The Role of Courts and Tribunals in the Formation of International Custom 71 The Role of Certain Other Factors in the Formation of International Custom. 76 (a) hlternational Usages. 76 (b) International Agreements 77 (c) Declarations of State Organs 78 (d) Opinions of Publicists. 79 (e) National Law. 80 6 (f) The Role of the Great Powers. .. 81 (g) Practice of International Organizations . .. 82 Value of the Records of the Court in the Reconstruction of the Process of Form- ation of International Customs . 84 CHAPTER THREE KINDS OF CUSTOMARY RULES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Universal Customary Rules . 86 Particular Customary Rules. 89 Other Criteria of Division of Customary Rules 92 The Problem of Hierarchy of Customary Rules. 94 CHAPTER FOUR CUSTOMARY RULES AND OTHER RULES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW The Arrangement of Kinds of Rules in Article 38 of the Statute of the Court . 96 Delimitation of Customary and Conventional Rules . 101 The Necessity to Discern Intermediate Rules . 104 Customary Rules and "General Principles of Law Recognized by Civilized Nations" ....................... 109 Customary Rules and Resolutions of International Organizations 113 CHAPTER FIVE ASCERTAINING CUSTOMARY RULES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Introductory Note . 115 Ascertaining Customary Rules in the Light of the Statute of the Court. 116 The Practice of the Court. 118 (a) Free Evaluation of Evidence and Burden of Proof. 118 (b) Ascertaining Elements of Custom . 121 (c) Evidence of Previously Ascertained Customary Rules. 132 Ways and Means of Ascertaining Customary Rules in the Light of the Work of the International Law Commission . 135 The Evidential Value of Certain Means of Ascertaining Customary Rules. 137 (a) Treaties . 137 (b) Judicial Decisions. 140 (c) National Legislation. 145 (d) Diplomatic Correspondence 147 (e) The Practice of International Organizations and Conferences 148 (f) Opinions of Publ cists. 150 The Problem of Hierarchy and Compensation of Evidence. 153 7 CHAPTER SIX THE BL\SIS OF THE BINDING FORCE OF CUSTOMARY RULES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Introductory Note 157 Some Arguments 111 Favour of Presumed Acceptance 158 CntlClsm of Most Frequent ObjectIOns Aga111st Presumed Acceptance 161 CONCLUSIONS 166 APPENDIX 170 BIBLIOGRAPHY 172 ABBREVIATIONS 184 INTRODUCTION OBJECT AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY The problems of custom lU lUternatlOnal law, as lU law lU general, mclude some of the oldest and most dIfficult TheIr dIfficulty lIes lU the llltangIbleness of custom, m the numerous factors commg mto play, m the great number of vanous VIews, spIead over the centunes, and lU the resuJtmg ambIgUlty of the terms lUvolved. Consequent on tIus IS the fact that mte111atlOnal custom and customary law raIse the greatest number of doubts and controvelsIes 1 HUDSON, the late emment expert m the problems of the Inte111atlOnal COUlt of JustIce, stated that even the au­ thors of ArtIcle 38 of the Statute of the InternatlOnal Court of JustIce and of Article 24 of the Statute of the Uruted NatIOns InternatIOnal Law CommIssIOn "had no very clear Idea as to what constltuted mte111atlOnal custom "2 In the muruclpallaw of many countnes, as modern legIslatIOn IS belUg developed, customary law IS entIrely loosmg ItS slgruficance It IS otherwIse 111 lUternatIOnal law Notwlthstandmg the rapid development of that law lOne mIght mentlOn here the well known statement by Professor BASDEVANT, WhICh has m no way lost Its vahdlty Les Idees des Jurlstes sur les caracteres de la coutu­ me n'ont attemt m a l'u111te 111 a la c1arte " Jules BASDEVANT, 'Regles generales du drOIt de la paIX " Reeuell des CoU/s de I'Aeaden1le de dlOlt mternatlOnal (further cIted as RCAD!), v 58 (1936-IV), p 508 Plofessor Charles de VrSSCHER wrote m 1955 'En fait, le phe­ nomene coutmmer en droIt mternatlOnal est encore peut explore, ses cnteres dlVIsent les auteurs, ses apphcatlOns, en blen des domames, suscltent des controverses entre gou­ vernements Charles de VrsscHER, 'Coutume et tralte en drOIt mternatlOnal publIc , ReVile genetale de dlou mtell1aflOnal publze, 1955, No 3, P 355 2 Yearbook of the Infell1atlOl1al Law CommIssIOn (further CIted as YILC), 1950, v I, p 6 10 by way of treaties, there are still numerous branches of international life Tegulated by customary law and, still more important, new rules of that law are arising. Premature it seems is the recently expressed opinion that, as a lesult of the accelerated tempo and growing complexity of international life, customary law is rapidly loo sing its importance. 3 Customary law being most elastic and best adaptable to new conditions and needs is evolving with the evolution of all international life. The enormous growth of con­ tacts between States, especially as a result of the multiplication of inter­ national organizations, creates a new demand for customary rules, mainly in those fields, where, for various reasons, the conclusion of treaties is difficult.4 Problems of international customary law are, therefore, still highly topical, deserving analysis, especially in the light of the essential changes which have taken place in the political structure of the world in the last few decades.s The object of the present study is to ascertain what conception of international custom might be recognized as generally accepted in the judicial life of our present international society, taking into account the fact that that society is composed of more than a hundred and ten States many of them differing fundamentally from others as to their social and economic systems, cultural heritage, and conditions of development. As the field of research have been chosen the universally accepted rules of international law (above all the provisions of the United Nations Charter), the most representative practice, to which the jurisprudence 3 See for instance Charles de VISSCHER, 'Tours general de principes de droit inter­ national public", RCAD!, v. 86 (1954-II), p. 475. 4 "Among the virtues of customary law should be included its elasticity. Being the direct outcome of needs, without strict definition, it is very malleable and adapts itself easily to new circumstances". Stanislaw HUBERT, Prawo narod6w, Wroclaw 1949, v. I, p. 208. 5 Rightly, then, Professor TUNKIN stated in 1958: "There may hardly be any doubt that the problem of customary international law is one of the most important and also one of the most difficult of all problems of international law." Grigory I. TUNKIN, "Co-existence and International Law", RCAD!, v. 95 (1958-III), p. 9. See also the pro­ nouncement by Professor BARTOS (Yugoslavia) in the International Law Commission, YILC 1961, v. I, pp. 275-278. 11 of the InternatIOnal Court, old and new, may be reckoned, and the most I epresentatIve opmIOns of contemporary doctnne, pnncIpally as expressed 111 the works of the Dmted NatIOns InternatIOnal Law CommIssIOn On the other hand, we have eschewed here an hIstonc survey of the practice and doctnne Instead the already eXIstmg elaboratIOns may be 111dlcated For mstance, those by KOSTERS, GIANNI, and especIally by MA­ TEESCO, who confronted opImons on mternatIOnal customary law from 1110st dIstant ages From among more recent studIes, the lectures on the hIstory of the sources of the law of natIOns by Professor GUGGENHEIM m the Academy of InternatIOnal Law deserve specIal attentIOn.6 Also ommItted are detaIled descnptIOns of the VIews, already many tImes dIscussed, of representatives of mam currents 111 the doctrme of lllternatIOnallaw Fmally, the almost classIcal declSlons refernng to lllter­ natIOnal custom gIven by mternatIOnal tnbunals and natIOnal courts m the last century have been passed over. ThIs IS the more JustIfied,