Published
2017-12-31
Keywords
- coherence of the legal order,
- completeness of the legal order,
- general principles of law,
- international legal reasoning,
- sources of international law,
- systemic integration of international law
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Abstract
There are different meanings and functions of what is called a “general principle of law.” This article seeks to address their importance as the basis for the systemic integration of the international legal order. When international law is considered as a legal system, its normative unity and completeness seems essential. This article argues that general principles of law are a necessary, although less visible, element of international legal practice and reasoning, which secure the systemic integration and long-lasting underpinnings of international law. In this sense they may be seen as the gentle guardians of international law as a legal system.
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