On the Sources of International Criminal Law

Abstract

In their efforts to establish a quite original system of procedural and material rules of international criminal law, by means of the so-called ''judge-made law'', the two ad hoc Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda hold a peculiar approach to the sources of that law. The most controversial of all is their concept of ''customary law''. This paper is an attempt to clarify the meaning and scope of these sources mainly from some aspects of the respective rules adopted in the 1998 Rome Statute. It is also a continuance in this author's research on the sources of public international law.

Transnational organized crime as a new phenomenon on the international criminal law scene

“…First, admitting the criminalization of certain conducts exclusively under customary international law -absent any explicit prohibition under international treaty law -raises questions of compatibility with the principle of nullum crimen sine lege. 109 Such problems do not affect core international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The latter, indeed, are explicitly prohibited by the statutes of international criminal courts and tribunals that clarify the scope of individual criminal responsibility for said offences.…”

The Nature of Iranian Petroleum Contracts in Upstream Section

“…If the same governments conclude an agreement and govern it by domestic laws instead of international laws, it will not be considered as a treaty. Although all parties of an agreement should international persons so that the document can be considered as treaty, it does not mean that all agreements to which the parties are international persons can be considered as treaty and covered by international laws (even though this is a strong statistic) (Degan, 1997). Such agreements among governments that are out of international law circle are called as international private contracts or international contracts under domestic laws.…”

An international waste convention: measures for achieving sustainable development

“…Treaties, customary law, principles of law and judicial decisions are generally referred to as the sources of international law (Article 38 section 1 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice). The Statute of the International Court of Justice is a part of the UN Charter and at present binds almost all sovereign states in the world with very few exceptions (Degan 1997). Article 39 of that statute is often referenced to define the primary source of international legal obligations (Degan 1997).…”

“…The Statute of the International Court of Justice is a part of the UN Charter and at present binds almost all sovereign states in the world with very few exceptions (Degan 1997). Article 39 of that statute is often referenced to define the primary source of international legal obligations (Degan 1997).…”