¡Descarga Additional Sources of Public International Law y más Apuntes en PDF de Derecho Internacional Público solo en Docsity! Lecture 2: Sources of Public international law (doc 3) I. The role of the General Assembly (GA) of the UN of PIL The General Assembly of the UN increased its role in developing PIL. (1) At the beginning only a few of the more than 2000 resolutions of the GA were law making. However these resolutions had a binding character by various international organizations, even we cannot consider them equivalent to treaties. (2) But we accept “the making of international law by international law by international organizations” becoming a new source of the law of nations. These organizations made declarations, differents from treaties, without contractual obligations among them. (a) the resolutions of the General Assembly are recommendations contributing to the progressive development of the PIL, its consolidation and codification. (b) some resolutions are law-enhancing ⇨ creating new principles of law, providing evidence of an international custom or determining the content of a rule. (c) other resolutions are law-developing ⇨crystallizing or generating new law that can be used in future international treaties. II. The International Court of Justice and the role of Assembly resolutions. The international Court of Justice consolidates the theoretical basis for enhancing the role of the General Assembly in the process of crystallizing new rules of PIL. How? With the “Declaration of PrincipIes of International Law concerning the Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations" pointing out: (1) it may be understood as an acceptance of the validity of the rule declared by the resolution by themselves. (2) Also the legal opinions of international organizations (= opinio juris) are considered as treaties, separated from existing provisions. Exception: the forced intervention only in case of armed attack. III. The shift in the importance of various sources of International Law. Rules relating to the creation of PIL have changed many times: appreciating an increase in sources of PIL, which reflects the growing acceptance by the community of nations of a new laws. (1) at first started taking into account the pronouncements by governments and distilled from them some principles, references of contemporaneous diplomatic documents,... (2) During the nineteenth century, many international arbitrations were held, domestic courts rendered judgments on international topics, and the production of compilations of the interstate correspondence and of treaties, especially those dealing with international trade, greatly increased. (3) But the boom was appreciated after 2nd WW because the United Nations established a commission of experts, Commission of International Law, to revive the codification of PIL (preparing a number of treaties such as the law of treaties and the privileges and immunities of diplomats and consuls). (4) General Assembly itself started to approve international conventions on human rights and a variety of other subjects.
