Systematic hierarchical nature of sources of international criminal law: methodological aspects

Abstract

The article considers the sources of international criminal law and notes that the system of sources of this branch is based on the principles of building a system of sources of international law as a whole. Based on the provisions of Article 38 of the Charter of the International Court of Justice, in which the main sources of international law (international conventions, international custom, general principles of law) are enshrined, current trends in the theory of sources of law from a broad approach are taken into account. Emphasis is placed on such features of the sources of law as structure, hierarchy, consistency, interconnection. The imperative nature of the norms of international criminal law, which is inherent in universal sources (principles of law, treaties), is taken into account. Auxiliary sources of law (decisions of international organizations, court decisions, national legislation), which are of a recommendatory nature, are also considered.The author notes that the systematic hierarchical nature inherent in the sources of international criminal law is in the process of formation and results from the state of development of international law. The system of sources consists of general principles of law, principles of international law, principles of international criminal law, treaties (conventions), which are imperative, and ancillary sources that contribute to the formation and development of international criminal law (court precedent, decisions of international organizations, court decisions, national legislation) and are of a recommendatory nature. The main source of international criminal law is a treaty (convention), which has such distinctive features as the consistency of the positions of member states, the existence of a normative form, the imperative nature of the provisions contained therein. International treaties of criminal law content are imperative in terms of implementation mechanism, while the decisions of international organizations are mainly of a recommendatory nature. At the same time, the decisions of international organizations create a conceptual basis for international agreements, determine their common direction, goal-setting. These are primarily the decisions of such international organizations as the General Assembly and the UN Security Council. The task of codification of norms of international criminal law content is urgent.