Crises of the international legal system and their role in developing principles and norms of international law: Retrospective analysis

Abstract

The article examines the influence of international legal system crises on the establishment and advancement of generally recognized principles and norms of international law. It is shown that the causes of crisis phenomena in international law can include inconsistency of the norms of international treaties and customs with the proclaimed principles of international law, poor regulation of the critical issues of the world community’s life and its institutions; non-implementation of the enshrined principles because of the lack of political will or imperfection of international legal mechanisms. On the example of the principles of conscientious fulfillment of international obligations, the sovereign equality of states and respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty, non-intervention in the internal affairs of states enshrined in the 1945 United Nations Charter, it is shown how the principles undergo changes in different eras, resulting in shifts in emphasis and enabling the evolution of international legal regulation. The terminological discussions, which have spanned centuries, leading to a wide range of interpretations regarding the fundamental principles and norms of international law, including the concept of general recognition, are considered. It has been concluded that numerous principles of international law were established to address crisis situations in international legal affairs. However, sometimes, these principles can inadvertently exacerbate conflicts, as evidenced by the Europe-America tensions in the 19th century. The primary areas of development for the international law principles are revealed: the alignment of specific principles in different international law branches with generally recognized principles and norms, the interplay between principles across different international law branches, which is crucial for regulating a substantial portion of international legal relations and the consolidation of judicial practice from international justice bodies.