Customary International Law and Its Interpretation by International Courts: Volume 3: Theories, Methods and Interactions(The Rules of Interpretation of Customary International Law)

It is notorious that international courts and tribunals have greatly contributed to the development of customary international law (CIL) by, for instance, articulating the constituent elements of custom and clarifying the conditions required for its modification. This volume demonstrates that they have also been actively engaged in the interpretation of CIL. In elucidating CIL interpretation before and by international courts and tribunals, the volume chooses three focal points: theory, method and normative interactions. Viewing CIL and its interpretation from these vantage points leads to a more complete picture of the role and function of CIL interpretation in international courts. The volume encourages readers to question orthodox theories on CIL and its interpretation, to look anew at what has long been labelled mere identification of custom, and to take a systemic approach to CIL, which, even in the process of interpretation, remains unwaveringly connected to treaties and general principles of law.

Table of Contents:
Part I. Theoretical Approaches to CIL and its Interpretation: 1. The illusion of Gold-Digging: interpretation of State practice Pauline Westerman; 2. Addressing the chronological Paradox: Constitutive rules and the constructive interpretation of CIL Henrique Marcos; 3. Interpreting the plural sources of CIL Harlan Grant Cohen; 4. Interpretation dynamics in CIL: an entropic approach Eleni Micha; Part II. Methods of CIL Interpretation in International Courts; Tools of the Trade: 5. The application of logic and reason in CIL interpretation William Worster; 6. The interpretation of 'direction and control' in the investor State Arbitration: the case of State-owned enterprises Paula Baldini Miranda Da Cruz; 7. The court of justice of the EU and CIL interpretation: close encounters of a third kind? Tamás Molnár; 8. Judicial effectiveness or judicial Ambiguity: is CIL an instrument for judicial activism in excess? Leoni Ayoub; 9. Judicial dialogue between International Courts in the interpretation of customary International Human Rights Law Silviana Cocan; Part III. CIL and its Interpretation in the Normative Universe: drifting towards Coherence?: 10. 'General principles of law' and the interpretation of CIL Craig Eggett; 11. The role of treaties and general principles of law in the interpretation of customary rules Marina Fortuna; 12. Reconciling conflicting norms of CIL – towards a mode of practical concordance at the ICJ Raphael Oidtmann; 13. Indicators of coherence and interpretation of CIL Charalampos Giannakopoulos; Bibliography, Index.