Ricerc@Sapienza

Drawing inspiration from a recent case, this paper aims at determining
how international law produced by general principles of law common to national legal
systems develops over time. In particular, the question arises as to whether the development
of national laws entails, per se, a corresponding development of general principles in the
international legal system, or whether these principles, once incorporated in that legal
system, break the link with their original legal turf. A key role in this analysis is played by
the legal nature of the referral contained in article 38, par. 1, (c), of the Statute of the
International Court of Justice to the “principles of law recognized by civilized nations”. The
analysis is concluded by a few remarks on some of the theoretical implications of this
particular process of international law-making.