Document Type : Article
Authors
1 Ph.D. Student in International Law, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Karaj, Iran
2 Assistant Prof. Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
Even though the Statute of the International Court of Justice stipulates general principles of law as the main source, this source is inherently a secondary source; subsidiary, in the sense that if there doesn’t exist an applicable conventional or customary rule, this shall prevail. ICTY has often used Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice and the main sources of international law, namely international treaties, custom, and general principles of law, to identify the applicable law in its cases. This article uses a descriptive-analytical method, and it has studied the Judicial Procedure of ICTY, with the purpose to explain the application of general principles of law in international criminal law. The findings of this article show that the branches of ICTY have resorted to general principles of law to fill legal gaps, interpret ambiguous legal rules, and strengthen legal reasoning in their decisions. The Court's frequent referral to general principles of law to fill legal gaps may be due to the fact that international criminal law is a relatively new field and therefore not significantly developed. Thus, general principles of law have played a significant role in filling the gaps in international criminal law.
Keywords
Main Subjects
English
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