Individual Opinions as an Agent of International Legal Development?

Abstract

Abstract This article analyses the role of individual opinions as an agent of international legal development, which has been little explored in academic literature. This article selects influential individual opinions primarily by looking at endorsements by subsequent judicial cases. The analysis concludes that individual opinions are likely to be influential under two circumstances: (i) where individual opinions address legal issues on which judges’ opinions are sharply divided, thereby proactively reconciling or bridging gaps between existing divided opinions and (ii) where individual opinions deal with legal norms that are either at an early stage of operation or have rarely been entertained before any international adjudicatory body, leaving judges with considerable discretion in clarifying and developing rules. This article also provides an efficient filter for selecting and compiling a living database of influential individual opinions for more comprehensive surveys on their jurisprudential role, especially in view of the ever-growing body of international jurisprudence.