Iran's Approach in the Formation of Customary International Law in the Light of the Study of International Law Commission

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 عضو هیأت علمی پژوهشکده تحقیق و توسعه علوم انسانی (سازمان سمت)

2 Assistant Professor, Payame Noor University, Tehran. Iran

Abstract

International customary law have always had a special place in the system of international law sources. The initial form of international law was based on custom; due to the practice of States, treaty rules have become customary rules and make treaty obligations binding for non-member states; they adapt to the developments of the day and finally, that they continue to exist during the life of the treaties and even after the end of the life of the treaties. Therefore, the customary rule in international law may be called, on the one hand, the "golden rule" of international law, and on the other hand, "an immortal element of the sources of international law." Paying attention to the criteria for the formation of this important source was not a priority of the International Law Commission for conducting a relevant study plan for many years. This was done in 2012, and as a result of the publication of the reports of the special rapporteur of the study, several States, including Iran, also expressed their positions in the sixth committee of the General Assembly regarding the various dimensions of the reports and the final product of this study plan. The study of Iran's approach to the reports of the ILC, which is the main topic of this article, shows Iran's precautionary approach in facing various aspects of the customary rule of international law, including the effect of inaction on the formation of State practice and opinion juris, and the conditions governing the persistent objector.

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