International, Foreign, and Comparative Law: Int'l Starting Points

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Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (the principal judicial organ of the United Nations) is generally considered the most authoritative enumeration of the sources of international law:

“The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:

a. international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states;

b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;

c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;

d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.”

The complete Statute as well as general information about the Court; judgments, orders, and advisory opinions; pleadings and oral arguments; docket; rules of court and other information can be found at the Court’s website.

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