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c) Sources and norms of international law
c) Sources and norms of international law
consensual nature no hierarchy international treaties international custom general principles of law unilateral acts subsidiary sources soft law jus cogens norms dispositive norms
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The consensual nature of the sources of law
The sources of international law maintain a consensual nature. The subjects constitute them. Under the original concept of international law, applying the norms to a subject that has not given its consent is not permitted.
The sources of law
There is no hierarchy between the sources of international law.
There are three sources of international law:
• international treaties; • international custom; and • general principles of law.
In international law, a special place is occupied by the unilateral acts of states, the subsidiary sources of international law – the judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualif ed publicists – and the soft law.
Complex arrangement of international law
In international law, there exists a complex arrangement model between norms (rules and principles). The principal framework for their validity is provided by the concept of jus cogens norms, which envisages that all the rules of international law are either jus cogens or other norms (peremptory and dispositive norms of international law). The peremptory norms of general international law are developed from the sources of international law, and they can be changed in the same way through a new norm with the same legal force. They are a set of rules which are peremptory in nature and from which no derogation is allowed under any circumstances.
