A reinterpretation of sources of Public International Law from a human rights approach

Abstract

Treaties and customary law are the classic sources of Public International Law, both of which are created by the State. This simple explanation tell us nothing about how sources of international rules are recognised, invoked and applied.Our paper starts from Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice aiming to assess its content and what we believe it is more important, some 'contemporary' sources which have been omitted. Some of the latter did not exist as such at the time the Article was written. Others evolved with the paradigm of human rights along the XX Century. We believe this situation needs to be addressed at present when human rights limits actions and decisions of States. In brief, our aim is twofold: (i) to re-interpret traditional sources of public international law which are rooted in the consent of states in the new context provided by the theory of human rights; and (ii) to analyse other events that may be considered as sources or international law which we label as 'contemporary'.