SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND HIERARCHY OF SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

The Chief Justice of Atlanta has been chosen to sit on the bench of the International Court of Justice as an ad hoc judge in a case now before the Court. He has not studied international law and is experiencing some difficulty in dealing with the mass of diverse materials submitted as part of the written pleadings. These materials include:

(a)a UN General Assembly resolution adopted unanimously on an issue of international law;

(b)a resolution of the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter;

(c)a previous decision of the International Court of Justice;

(d)a document evidencing the fact that domestic courts in a number of countries have uniformly decided upon an issue of international law;

(e)the commentary of the International Law Commission on a particular provision of a convention drafted by it;

(f)an equitable principle applied in most of the national legal systems;

(g)a treaty between the two parties to the dispute;

(h)an article in the American Journal of International Law by an eminent professor;

1. Explain to the Chief Justice how these materials can be treated as sources of international law under which clause of Article 38(1) of the Statute of the ICJ and
2. What will the hierarchy among these materials be as sources of international law.