Chapter 2 SourcesEvidences of International Law.docx

Chapter 2 SourcesEvidences of International Law.docx

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Chapter2SourcesEvidencesofInternationalLaw

ChapterTwoSourcesandEvidencesofInternationalLaw

A.Topics:

1.Whatdoesitmeanbysources（渊源）?

2.Whatarethesourcesofinternationallaw?

3.Howtodistinguishlaw-makingtreaties（造法性条约）andtreaty-contracts（契约性条约）?

4.Howiscustomaryinternationallawcreatedandascertained?

5.Whataretheevidencesofinternationallaw?

6.Whataresoftlaws（软法）?

7.Whatarethenon-consensualsourcesofInternationallaw?

8.Whataregeneralprinciplesoflaw（一般法律原则）?

9.Whatarejuscogens（强行法）?

10.Howsignificantarejudicialdecisionsandtheteachingsofpublicists?

B.ReadingMaterials:

MalcolmN.Shaw,InternationalLaw（5thEd.,CambridgeUniv.Press,2003,pp.65-67,88-92）

3.Sources

Ascertainment（确定）ofthelawonanygivenpointindomesticlegalordersisnotusuallytoodifficultaprocess.IntheEnglishlegalsystem,forexample,onelookstoseewhetherthematteriscoveredbyanActofParliament（国会法案）and,ifitis,thelawreports（法律报告）areconsultedastohowithasbeeninterpretedbythecourts.Iftheparticularpointisnotspecificallyreferredtoinastatute（制定法）,courtcaseswillbeexaminedtoelicit（得出）therequiredinformation.Inotherwords,thereisadefinitemethodofdiscoveringwhatthelawis.Inadditiontoverifyingthecontentsoftherules,thismethodalsodemonstrateshowthelawiscreated,namely,byparliamentarylegislation（议会立法）orjudicialcase-law（司法判例法）.Thisgivesadegreeofcertaintytothelegalprocessbecauseoneisabletotellwhenaproposition（主张）hasbecomelawandthenecessarymechanism（机制）toresolveanydisputesaboutthelawisevident.***

Thecontrastisverystrikingwhenoneconsidersthesituationininternationallaw.***Thereisnosinglebodyabletocreatelawsinternationallybindinguponeveryone,norapropersystemofcourtswithcomprehensiveandcompulsoryjurisdictiontointerpret（解释）andextend（扩大范围）thelaw.Oneisthereforefacedwiththeproblemofdiscoveringwherethelawistobefoundandhowonecantellwhetheraparticularpropositionamountstoalegalrule.Thisperplexity（困境）isreinforcedbecauseoftheanarchic（无政府的）natureofworldaffairsandtheclashofcompetingsovereignties（主权者）.Nevertheless,internationallawdoesexistandisascertainable.Thereare'sources'availablefromwhichtherulesmaybeextractedandanalysed.

By'sources'onemeansthoseprovisionsoperatingwithinthelegalsystemonatechnicallevel,andsuchultimatesourcesasreason（理性）ormoralityareexcluded,asaremorefunctionalsourcessuchaslibrariesandjournals.Whatisintendedisasurveyoftheprocesswherebyrulesofinternationallawemerge.

Article38

（1）oftheStatuteoftheInternationalCourtofJustice（国际法院规约）iswidelyrecognisedasthemostauthoritativestatementastothesourcesofinternationallaw.Itprovidesthat:

theCourt,whosefunctionistodecideinaccordancewithinternationallawsuchdisputesasaresubmittedtoit,shallapply:

（a）internationalconventions（国际条约）,whethergeneralorparticular,establishingrulesexpresslyrecognisedbythecontestingstates（诉讼当事国）;（b）internationalcustom（国际习惯）,asevidenceofageneralpracticeacceptedaslaw;（c）thegeneralprinciplesoflaw（一般法律原则）recognisedbycivilisednations;（d）subjecttotheprovisionsofArticle59,judicialdecisions（司法判例）andtheteachings（学说）ofthemosthighlyqualifiedpublicists（国际法学家）ofthevariousnations,assubsidiary（辅助）meansforthedeterminationofrulesoflaw.

AlthoughthisformulationistechnicallylimitedtothesourcesofinternationallawwhichtheInternationalCourtmustapply,infactsincethefunctionoftheCourtistodecidedisputessubmittedtoit'inaccordancewithinternationallaw'andsinceallmemberstatesoftheUnitedNationsareipsofacto（事实上）partiestotheStatutebyvirtueof（依照）article93oftheUnitedNationsCharter（联合国宪章）（statesthatarenon-membersoftheUNcanspecificallybecomepartiestotheStatuteoftheCourt:

SwitzerlandwasthemostobviousexampleofthisuntilitjoinedtheUNin2002）,thereisnoseriouscontentionthattheprovisionexpressestheuniversalperceptionastotheenumeration（列举）ofsourcesofinternationallaw.

Somewritershavesoughttocategorizethedistinctionsinthisprovision,sothatinternationalconventions,customandthegeneralprinciplesoflawaredescribedasthethreeexclusivelaw-creatingprocesseswhilejudicialdecisionsandacademicwritingsareregardedaslaw-determiningagencies（手段）,dealingwiththeverificationofallegedrules.Butinrealityitisnotalwayspossibletomakehardandfast（严格的）divisions.Thedifferentfunctionsoverlaptoagreatextentsothatinmanycasestreaties（orconventions）merelyreiterateacceptedrulesofcustomarylaw,andjudgmentsoftheInternationalCourtofJusticemayactuallycreatelawinthesamewaythatmunicipaljudgesformulatenewlawintheprocessofinterpretingexistinglaw.

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Treaties

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Treaties（条约）areknownbyavarietyofdifferingnames,rangingfromConventions（公约）,InternationalAgreements（国际协定）,Pacts（条约）,GeneralActs（总文件）,Charters（宪章）,throughtoStatutes（规约）,Declarations（宣言）andCovenants（盟约）.Allthesetermsreferto***thecreationofwrittenagreementswherebythestatesparticipatingbindthemselveslegallytoactinaparticularwayortosetupparticularrelationsbetweenthemselves.Aseriesofconditionsandarrangementsarelaidoutwhichthepartiesobligethemselvestocarryout.

Itispossibletodividetreatiesinto'law-making'treaties（造法性条约）,whichareintendedtohaveuniversalorgeneralrelevance,and'treaty-contracts'（契约性条约）,whichapplyonlyasbetweentwo,orasmallnumberofstates.Suchadistinctionisintendedtoreflectthegeneralorlocalapplicabilityofaparticulartreatyandtherangeofobligationsimposed.Itcannotberegardedashardandfastandtherearemanygrayareasofoverlapanduncertainty.

Treatiesareexpressagreements（明示协议）***.Thenumberoftreatiesenteredintohasexpandedoverthelastcentury,witnessthegrowingnumberofvolumesoftheUnitedNationsTreatySeries（联合国条约集）ortheUnitedKingdomTreatySeries.Theyfulfillavitalroleininternationalrelations.

Asgovernmentalcontrolsincreaseandthetechnologicalandcommunicationsrevolutionsaffectinternationallife,thenumberofissueswhichrequiresomeformofinter-stateregulationmultiplies.

Formanywriters,treatiesconstitutethemostimportantsourcesofinternationallawastheyrequiretheexpressconsentofthecontractingparties.Treatiesarethusseenassuperiortocustom,whichisregardedinanyeventasaformoftacitagreement（默示协议）.AsexamplesofimportanttreatiesonemaymentiontheCharteroftheUnitedNations,theGenevaConventionsonthetreatmentofprisonersandtheprotectionofcivilians（关于囚犯待遇的日内瓦公约和关于战时保护平民的日内瓦公约）andtheViennaConventionsonDiplomaticRelations（维也纳外交关系公约）.Allkindsofagreementsexist,rangingfromtheregulationofouterspace（外空、太空）explorationtothecontrolofdrugsandthecreationofinternationalfinancialanddevelopmentinstitutions.Itwouldbeimpossibletotelephoneabroadorpostaletteroverseasortakeanaeroplanetoothercountrieswithoutthevariousinternationalagreementsthathavelaiddownthenecessary,recognizedconditionsofoperation.

Itfollowsfromtheessenceofaninternationaltreatythat,likeacontract,itsetsdownaseriesofpropositionswhicharethenregardedasbindingupontheparties.Howthenisitpossibletotreatconventionsassourcesofinternationallaw,overandabove（在……之外）theobligationsimposeduponthecontractingparties?

Itisinthiscontextthatonecanunderstandtheterm'law-makingtreaties'.Theyareintendedtohaveaneffectgenerally,notrestrictively,andtheyaretobecontrastedwiththosetreatieswhichmerelyregulatelimitedissuesbetweenafewstates.Law-makingtreatiesarethoseagreementswherebystateselaboratetheirperceptionofinternationallawuponanygiventopicorestablishnewruleswhicharetoguidethemforthefutureintheirinternationalconduct.Suchlaw-makingtreaties,ofnecessity,requiretheparticipationofalargenumberofstatestoemphasizethiseffect,andmayproducerulesthatwillbindall.Theyconstitutenormativetreaties（规范性条约）,agreementsthatprescriberulesofconducttobefollowed.ExamplesofsuchtreatiesmayincludetheAntarcticTreaty（南极条约）andtheGenocideConvention（灭绝种族公约）.Therearealsomanyagreementswhichdeclaretheexistinglaworcodifyexistingcustomaryrules,suchastheViennaConventiononDiplomaticRelationsof1961.

Partiesthatdonotsignandratifytheparticulartreatyinquestionarenotboundbyitsterms.ThisisageneralruleandwasillustratedintheNorthSeaContinentalShelfcases（北海大陆架案,西德与丹麦,西德与荷兰，1967-69）91whereWestGermanyhadnotratifiedtherelevantConventionandwasthereforeundernoobligationtoheed（服从obey）itsterms.However,wheretreatiesreflectcustomarylawthennon-partiesarebound,notbecauseitisatreatyprovisionbutbecauseitreaffirmsaruleorrulesofcustomaryinternationallaw.Similarly,non-partiesmaycometoacceptthatprovisionsinaparticulartreatycangeneratecustomarylaw,dependingalwaysuponthenatureoftheagreement,thenumberofparticipantsandotherrelevantfactors.

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Itisnowestablishedthatevenwhereatreatyrulecomesintobeingcoveringthesamegroundasacustomaryrule,thelatterwillnotbesimplyabsorbedwithintheformerbutwillmaintainitsseparateexistence.TheCourtintheNicaraguacase（“在尼加拉瓜境内及针对尼加拉瓜的军事及准军事行动案”，尼加拉瓜诉美国，1984-1991）96didnotaccepttheargumentoftheUSthatthenorm