The Making of International Law: The Non-governmental Contribution

Introduction

According to Article 38 of the ICJ Statute, the cardinal role in international law-making belongs to governments, which have a virtual monopoly of treaty-making and which are central players in the development of custom. But non-governmental actors – the ILC, NGOs, courts and tribunals and scholars – also have a role, which is treated as subsidiary or is not even mentioned in Article 38, but which in practice is more than subsidiary. Based on 30 years of experience with law commissions, courts and academic scholarship, Judge James Crawford asked whether the influence of these subsidiary sources has increased, is increasing and ought to be diminished.

About the Speaker

Judge James Richard Crawford is a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He has been a member of the Court since 6 February 2015. Before being appointed to the Court, Judge Crawford was Whewell Professor of International Law at the University of Cambridge. He had an extensive practice in international law and international arbitration, appearing before the ICJ and ITLOS, as well as investor-state arbitral tribunals composed under the ICSID Convention or ad hoc under the UNCITRAL rules. Judge Crawford was a Senior Fellow (and former Centre Director) of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. As a member of the International Law Commission, Professor Crawford was responsible for two major initiatives – the Articles on State Responsibility and the draft Statute of the International Criminal Court.