The Enduring Legacy of the Martens Clause in International Law; ‎Analysis of Intellectual thought regarding the Nature and its Legal ‎Functions

Piri, Heidar; Dehghani, Parisa

doi:10.22059/jplsq.2024.365678.3398

Articles in Press

Document Type : Article

Authors

Heidar Piri ¹
Parisa Dehghani ²

¹ Assistant Professor of Public International Law, Law Department, Faculty of Humanities and ‎Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandanj, Iran‎

² Martens Clause, Source of ‎Law,‎ Ethics,‎ Interpretation,‎ Non-liquet,‎ Customary Rules,‎ Modern Armed Conflicts.‎

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2024.365678.3398

Abstract

The real meaning of the Martens Clause has preoccupied international legal scholars for years.The precise legal significance of the Martens Clause remains a difficult task, due to its constituent elements.Therefore, there are conflicting views regarding the status and its legal impacts,each of which with sufficient supports in judicial practice,treaties and doctrines.This article after a brief overview of its initial interpretations in foundations of international law,explores the analytical framework to develop a comprehensive understanding of the Clause as a source of international law.It seems that different interpretations of the clause affect understandings of how IHL applies to armed conflicts generally and the formation of new rules regulating modern armed conflicts specifically.Therefore,a deep understanding of the legal innovation by the Martens Clause can provide a new era for the development of international law and the application of clause in other less developed areas of international law.The authors argue that the Martens Clause can serve different legal functions depending on the circumstances and courts in which it is invoked.Of course,the greatest achievement of the Clause in IHL, in addition an aid to judicial interpretation and filling gaps in positive law,has been to present a positivist basis for the incorporation of natural law concepts.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Public International Law

References

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The Enduring Legacy of the Martens Clause in International Law; ‎Analysis of Intellectual thought regarding the Nature and its Legal ‎Functions

References

References

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript Available Online from 22 December 2025

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 22 December 2025