Researching Customary International Law, State Practice and the Pronouncements of States regarding International Law

By Silke Sahl

Silke Sahl is the International, Comparative and Foreign Law Librarian at the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library at Columbia University in New York City. Before coming to Columbia in 2000, Ms. Sahl was a Reference Librarian for Foreign, Comparative and International Law at Harvard Law School Library for five years. She has been a member of Board of Directors of the International Association of Law Libraries since 2001. She has a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and an M.S.L.S. from Catholic University.

Published June/July 2007

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Introduction

This research guide is intended to be an introduction to the concept of international custom and its place as a source of international law. The primary focus is on researching state practice and the pronouncements of states regarding international law as evidence of custom. While treaties, state law and the actions of international organizations can also contribute to customary international law, this guide does not assist with researching these areas. References to some of the excellent research guides already written on these areas are included.

The guide introduces the researcher to titles that provide texts of the pronouncements of states regarding international law, both U.S. and international. There are also recommendations for secondary sources and finding aids helpful in describing state practice and in tracking down additional resources. Lastly, a list of additional research guides on customary international law is also provided. These alternate research guides were used extensively in preparation for writing this guide, and are highly recommended as additional resources on the subject.

What is Customary International Law?

“Customary international law results from a general and consistent practice of states followed by them from a sense of legal obligation.”[1]

This definition was published in §102 (2) of the Restatement of the Law, Third, Foreign Relations Law of the United States, published by the American Law Institute in 1987. The Restatement’s reporters’ notes for this section state that “No definition of customary law has received universal agreement, but the essence of Subsection (2) has wide acceptance” and goes on to explain various difficulties in defining custom.”[2]

When is state practice considered to be customary international law? The Restatement calls for two-pronged approach to determining custom requiring both a general and consistent practice and a sense of legal obligation (opinion juris sive necessitates). J.L. Brierly describes it as follows: “Custom in its legal sense means something more than mere habit or usage; it is a usage felt by those who follow it to be an obligatory one. There must be present a feeling that, if the usage is departed from, some form of sanction probably, or at any rate ought to, fall on the transgressor.”[3] Obviously, terms such as “a feeling that”, “will probably” and “ought” are difficult to prove. As Mark Janis puts it in his book, An Introduction to International Law, “The determination of customary international law is more an art than a scientific method.”[4] This is a complex and fascinating area of law that is addressed by the many excellent books and articles on customary international law. This guide focuses on finding the resources that provide evidence of international custom.

For additional information on the legal issues relating to customary international law, see the following sources:

  • American Law Institute. Restatement of the Law, Third, the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. St. Paul, Minn.: American Law Institute Publishers, 1987.
    The comments of §102, particularly ‘b’ through ‘e’, are an excellent resource for more information about the concept of custom.
  • Byers, Michael. Custom, Power and the Power of Rules: International Relations and Customary International Law. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
    Part 3 on “The process of customary international law” is particularly useful. (2nd JX2000 B995C96 1999—checked)
  • D’Amato, Anthony A. The Concept of Custom in International Law. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1971.
    Written during the cold war, this is an excellent description of the theory of custom.
  • Kontou, Nancy. The Termination and Revision of Treaties in the Light of New Customary International Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
    A description of what happens when custom and treaties collide.
  • Rosenne, Shabtai. Practice and Methods of International Law. London; New York: Oceana Publications, 1984.
    Chapter 3 of this text, “Customary International Law” provides an excellent review of the theory of custom as well as a description of resources that constitute the evidence of custom.
  • Thirlway, H. W. A. International Customary Law and Codification; An Examination of the Continuing Role of Custom in the Present Period of Codification of International Law. Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff, 1972.
    An interesting, if dated, text on custom and the codification of international law.
  • Wallace, Rebecca and Anne Holiday. International Law in a Nutshell. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2006.
    Chapter 3 gives a brief, clear overview of the sources of international law.
  • Wolfke, Karol. Custom in Present International Law, 2nd. Dordrecht, Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993.
    Although somewhat dated (it was not significantly altered since the 1964 edition), this volume provides a good overview of customary international law, with extensive footnotes. The bibliography is more current and includes helpful reference to both U.S. and non-U.S. works on custom.

Custom as a Source of Law

Customary law is listed as a source of international law in the Restatement in §102(1)(a), along with international agreements and general principles:

§ 102 Sources of International Law
 (1) A rule of international law is one that has been accepted as such by the international community of states 

(a) in the form of customary law;
(b) by international agreement; or
(c) by derivation from general principles common to the major legal systems of the world.[5]

The Restatement’s description of the sources of international law is derived in part from the Statute of the International Court of Justice[6], described in the Restatement as an “authoritative statement of the ‘sources’ of international law.”[7] Article 38 of the Statute describes what the court should consider in making decisions in accordance with international law:

Article 38

1. The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:

a. international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states;

b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;

c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;

d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.[8]

The concept of customary international law is more fully explained in the International Court of Justice publication, The International Court of Justice, A guide to the history, composition, jurisdiction, procedure and decisions of the Court in the section on international law.[9]

Evidence of Customary International Law

The Restatement describes the evidence of international law in §103. Of particular interest to the researcher of custom is §103(2)(d) which describes the evidence of pronouncements of states:

§ 103 Evidence of International Law
(1) Whether a rule has become international law is determined by evidence appropriate to the particular source from which that rule is alleged to derive (§ 102).
(2) In determining whether a rule has become international law, substantial weight is accorded to 

(a) judgments and opinions of international judicial and arbitral tribunals;
(b) judgments and opinions of national judicial tribunals;
(c) the writings of scholars;
(d) pronouncements by states that undertake to state a rule of international law, when such pronouncements are not seriously challenged by other states.[10]

The Restatement comments state “Thus, for customary law the “best evidence” is the proof of state practice, ordinarily by reference to official documents and other indications of governmental action.”[11] In Principles of Public International Law, Ian Brownlie lists the following sources as evidence of custom: “The material sources of custom are very numerous and include the following: diplomatic correspondence, policy statements, press releases, the opinions of official legal advisers, official manuals on legal questions, e.g. manuals of military law, executive decisions and practices, orders to naval forces etc., comments by governments on drafts produced by the International Law Commission, state legislation, international and national judicial decisions, recitals in treaties and other international instruments, a pattern of treaties in the same form, the practice of international organs, and resolutions relating to legal questions in the United Nations General Assembly.”[12]

State Practice

The practice of states must be both general and consistent and followed by a state’s sense of legal obligation. The International Court of Justice’s website states that “The Court’s decisions show that a State which relies on an alleged international custom practiced by States must, generally speaking, demonstrate to the Court’s satisfaction that this custom has become so established as to be legally binding on the other party.”[13]

Pronouncements of States

Official pronouncements by states that undertake to state a rule of international law are one of the best places to find evidence of international custom as they often describe both prongs of the definition of custom, the general and consistent practice of the state and an explicit description of the state’s sense of legal obligation. The majority of this guide is dedicated to finding these resources.

Treaties

According to the Restatement, “International agreements constitute practice of states and as such can contribute to the growth of customary law under Subsection (2).”[14] There are many excellent guides to treaty research available. See for example the Globalex guide An Introduction to Sources for Treaty Research[15]or the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library Guide to Treaty Research.[16]

State Law

A country’s law (legislation, court decisions, regulations, etc.) are sources of state practice to the extent that they might seek to describe the country’s practice and obligations under international law. The many excellent research guides available in the foreign law section of Globalex and elsewhere serve as resources for those researching domestic laws of all countries. Also, see the guide A Selective List of Guides to Foreign Legal Research[17] for additional research guides.

International Organizations and International Courts

As described in the Restatement, “The practice of states that builds customary law takes many forms and includes what states do in or through international organizations.”[18] In particular, the Restatement refers to resolutions and other documents of the United Nations. The decisions of international courts likewise are a good source of information. Research guides to the United Nations and other international organizations describe the documents of these organizations. See for example, the Globalex guide Researching the United Nations: Finding the Organization’s Internal Resource Trails[19] and the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library Research Guide: The United Nations.[20]

Pronouncements of States—Resources

When looking for pronouncements of states describing international law, one can research the publications of the state itself. Alternatively, using the many excellent digests and secondary sources available will provide the researcher with explanatory notes regarding the pronouncements as well as good citations to these documents and sometimes reprints of the texts themselves. The following sections describe both of these types of resources.

Pronouncements of States—The United States of America

In the United States, the State Department publications include pronouncements that undertake to state the rules of international law and as such are excellent resources for the evidence of custom. Examples of these documents include memorandums, letters from legal advisors, U.S. briefs, position papers and remarks. Today, the State Department and the Office of the Legal Advisor provide many of these resources on their websites. For more information on researching foreign relations of the United States, see the United States Foreign Policy research guide from the University of Michigan Library Documents Center.

While the resources in this section can be excellent resources, it is sometimes more practical to use resources that have already compiled and analyzed domestic documents that relate to international law, such as the digests and secondary sources described in the subsequent sections.

Following is a list of resources for U.S. diplomatic papers in more or less reverse chronological order:

  • Website of the Department of State
    The website of the State Department of the United States currently includes the types of documents previously published in the paper sources listed below, including speeches, briefings, testimony and treaty actions. Currently, speeches go back to 2001. Treaty actions go back to 1997.
  • U.S. Department of State Dispatch. Bureau of Public Affairs: Washington, D.C.; Office of Public Communication, 1990-1999.
    Weekly, 1990-1996; Monthly, 1997-1999. Updates on foreign relations in the U.S. Although the publication has ceased, the type of information provided in Dispatch is now published on the website of the Department of State.
  • Department of State Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs, 1939-1989.
    For years, this publication was the official record of foreign policy in the U.S.
  • Foreign Relations of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office, 1861-.
    The formal, historical record of the State Department’s work. The most recent volumes cover up to the early seventies. An excellent guide to this publication over the years is available at the website of the Department of State. The website also includes summaries of volumes and the full-text of some volumes.
  • America State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Washington, D.C. Gales and Seaton, 1832-1861. Covers 1789-1832. Published by the U.S. Congress. The American State Papers are available online at the Library of Congress website, which describes the publications as follows: “The American State Papers, comprising a total of thirty-eight physical volumes, contain the legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838.” The website is both browseable and searchable.

Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law

Over the years, an official digest of U.S. practice in international law has been published in various forms, with different authors, sometimes annually. These digests include editorial descriptions of international law in various areas as well as selections of official U.S. documents that are the evidence of customary international law. Published by the Department of State, authorship has changed over the years, and recent issues are published with the International Law Institute under the auspices of the Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.

The Digest is one of the best sources for determining the official State Department’s view of international law. On its website, the State Department describes this publication as follows: “The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a ready source of current information on the views and practice of the Government of the United States in the arena of public and private international law.” Many documents cited in editions of the Digest since 1989 are available on the website of the Department of State.

Following is a list of these digests:

  • 1877
    Cadwalader, John L. United States Department of State. Digest of the Published Opinions of the Attorneys-General, and of the Leading Decisions of the Federal Courts: With Reference to International Law, Treaties, and Kindred Subjects. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1877. 1 volume.
  • 1886
    Wharton, Francis, Ed. A Digest of the International Law of the United States, taken from Documents Issued by Presidents and Secretaries of State, and from Decisions of Federal Courts and Opinions of Attorneys-General. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1887. 3 volumes.
  • 1906
    Moore, John Bassett. A Digest of International Law As Embodied In Diplomatic Discussions, Treaties and Other International Agreements, International Awards, The Decisions Of Municipal Courts, And The Writings Of Jurists. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1906. 8 volumes.
  • Covering 1906-1940
    Hackworth, Green Haywood. Digest Of International Law. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1940-44. 8 volumes.
  • Covering 1940-1960 (volumes published later in the series covered up to 1970)
    Whiteman, Marjorie M. Digest of International Law. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1963-73. 15 volumes.
  • Covering 1973-1980
    Digest Of United States Practice in International Law. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State, 1974-1986. Annual. Prepared by: Arthur W. Rovine, 1973-1974; Eleanor C. McDowell, 1975-1976; John A. Boyd, 1977; Marian L. Nash, 1978-1980.
  • Covering 1981-1988
    Cumulative Digest of United States Practice in International Law. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Legal Adviser, Dept. of State, 1993-1995. 3 volumes. Editor: Marian Nash (Leich).
  • Covering 1989-
    Digest of United States Practice in International Law. Washington, D.C.: International Law Institute, 2001-.

    The volumes were not published in sequence, but began publication in 2001 with the volume for 2000. Earlier volumes were published retrospectively to fill in the gap between 2000 and the Cumulative Digest (covering 1981-1988). Many documents cited in editions since 1989 are available on the website of the Department of State. The introduction notes, “The Digest of the United States Practice in International Law is published by the International Law Institute under agreement with the United States Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser. The contents of the Digest, including selection of documents and preparation of editorial commentary, are entirely under the auspices of the Office of the Legal Advisor.”

  • Covering 1989-1990, Mary S. Pickering, Sally J. Cummins, and David P. Stewart, editors, published in 2003. 1 volume.
  • Covering 1991-1999, Sally J. Cummins and David P. Stewart, editors, published in 2005. 2 volumes.
  • Covering 2000, Sally J. Cummins and David P. Stewart, editors, published in 2001. 1 volume.
  • Covering 2001, Sally J. Cummins and David P. Stewart, editors, published in 2002. 1 volume.
  • Covering 2002, Sally J. Cummins and David P. Stewart, editors, published in 2003. 1 volume.
  • Covering 2003, Sally J. Cummins and David P. Stewart, editors, published in 2004. 1 volume.
  • Covering 2004.

Secondary Sources—United States

Secondary sources are sometimes the best way to find descriptions of a state’s practice in international law. Also, they usually provide excellent citations to the documents themselves and sometimes excerpts or texts of the documents.

Following is a list of secondary sources on the practice of the U.S. in international law:

  • American Journal of International Law, “Contemporary Practice of the United States relating to International Law.” Quarterly, beginning in volume 53, 1959.
    From the Editor’s note of the first issue of this feature, “Criteria for the selection of materials may vary with experience, but the guiding purpose will be to select materials which reveal contemporary practice by the United States in invoking and applying principles, rules and procedures of international law or policies relating thereto.”[21]
  • Murphy, Sean D. United States Practice in International Law. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002, 2006.
    Volume 1 covers 1999-2001 and volume 2 covers 2002-2004.
    This is a very useful analysis of the United States in the arena of international law. It includes extracts of some documents and extensive citations to others, both domestic and international. It includes helpful tables of U.S. cases, U.S. statutes and U.S. treaties.
  • American Law Institute. Restatement of the Law, Third, the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. St. Paul, Minn.: American Law Institute Publishers, 1987.
    An excellent and widely-respected statement on international law. Note—the foreword explicitly states that it is “in no sense an official document of the United States.”[22]
  • Paust, Jordan J. International Law as Law of the United States, 2nd ed. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2003.
    The first chapter of this book, “Customary International Law and Forms of Incorporation” is an excellent and recent overview of custom from a U.S. perspective. It includes a rich ‘notes’ section—50 pages of citations to cases, statutes, secondary sources and more.
  • Hyde, Charles Cheney. International Law: Chiefly as Interpreted and Applied by the United States, 2nd rev. ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1945.
    and
  • Hyde, Charles Cheney. International Law: Chiefly as Interpreted and Applied by the United States. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1922.
    In two volumes in 1922 and three volumes in 1945, these are excellent sources for historical research. Both include extensive footnotes.

Pronouncements of States—Other Jurisdictions

When researching state practice from the perspective of countries other than the United States, the same principles apply as in U.S. research. The best resources will usually be publications of a government’s State Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Ministry of External Affairs. Many foreign ministries are putting a significant amount of information on their websites. Alternatively, you can use the name of the ministry as the author in a catalog search or to limit an internet search.

There are several good directories of foreign affairs offices. Google provides a good directory, see the Google Directory—Foreign Ministries. Also, the Best of the Web page on Foreign Ministries is also useful. Note that some of the links to foreign ministries are to the English version of the country’s website. Switching to the website in the vernacular if possible is helpful, as sometimes there is additional information available in the country’s website in the vernacular.

A selective list of foreign ministries and their websites is included below:

International Yearbooks

An excellent way to find information about state practice in other jurisdictions is using yearbooks on international law. Many states publish such a yearbook. They are unofficial, often published by a national law society, and include articles about international law and state practice. They also include citations to official documents, and sometimes include indexes and full-text documents. They often have bibliographies of books and articles published in that country on international law. Many are published (or translated into), at least in part, in English and are therefore a great resource for those who cannot read the vernacular.

International law yearbooks can be found in a library catalog by searching for both “yearbook” and “year book” (as one word or two), and the term “international law”. Occasionally, publications including the classic content of an international law yearbook may be called by another name (annual, etc.). While subject headings in catalogs and indexes often include the term “yearbook” or “year book”, in case they do not it is also useful to search catalogs for the term in the vernacular: “annuaire”, “anuario”, “jahrbuch”, etc.

A selective list of yearbooks is included below:

State Yearbooks

  • Annuaire Français de Droit International. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1955-.
    Articles, reviews of jurisprudence, treaties and state practice. Includes an extensive bibliography.
  • The Australian Year Book of International Law. Canberra, Australia: Centre for International and Public Law, Faculty of Law, The Australian National University. Sydney: Butterworths, 1966-.
    Includes articles and reviews of books, cases, legislation, state practice and treaties. Also includes a survey of recent developments in Australian private international law.
  • The British Year Book of International Law. London: H. Frowde, Hodder and Stoughton, 1921-.
    Includes articles, book reviews and a review of British decisions and United Kingdom materials on international law.
  • The Canadian Yearbook of International Law. Annuaire Canadien de Droit International. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1963-.
    Includes articles, book reviews and an index of cases. Articles in both French and English, with a summary in the other language.
  • Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs. Baltimore, Md.: Occasional Papers/Reprints Series in Contemporary Asian Studies, Inc. for the Chinese Society of International Law, and the Chinese (Taiwan) Branch of International Law Association, 1982-.
    Includes articles, recent developments, book reviews, a list of treaties, information on diplomatic missions, a bibliography, and treaty and case indexes in English. Includes some documents in full text.
  • The Finnish Yearbook of International Law. Helsinki: Ius Gentium Association, 1990-.
    Includes articles, book reviews, dissertations and recent developments and state practice. In English.
  • German Yearbook of International Law. Jahrbuch für Internationales Recht. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1976-.
    Includes articles, reports and book reviews in German and English.
  • The Italian Yearbook of International Law. The Hague; New York: Kluwer Law International, 1975-.
    Includes articles, notes and comments, and a review of Italian practice relating to international law, including judicial decisions, treaties and legislation.
  • The Japanese Annual of International Law. Tokyo: Japan Branch of the International Law Association, 1957-.
    Includes articles, a Japanese digest of international law, book reviews, judicial decisions, treaties and legislation, some in full-text. In English.
  • Netherlands Yearbook of International Law. The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press, 1970-.
    Published jointly with the Netherlands International Law Review and under the auspices of the Stichting T.M.C. Asser Instituut, Institute for Private and Public International Law, International Commercial Arbitration and European Law, The Hague. Includes articles and reviews of state practice, treaties, municipal legislation, judicial decisions and literature relating to international law.
  • New Zealand Yearbook of International Law. Christchurch, N.Z.: International Law Group, School of Law, University of Canterbury, 2004-.
    Articles and commentary on New Zealand and international law. Also covers the South Pacific and Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
  • The Palestine Yearbook of International Law. Nicosia, Cyprus: Al-Shaybani Society of International Law, 1984-.
    Published in cooperation with the Bizreit University Institute of Law, under whose auspices it is edited. Includes articles and reports on judicial decisions and legislation in Israel. Includes the full-text of some documents and book reviews. In English.
  • The Philippine Yearbook of International Law. Manila: The Philippine Society of International Law, 1969-1989.
    Includes articles and the full text of some documents.
  • Polish Yearbook of International Law. Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy Im. Ossolinskich. 1967-.
    Articles, book reviews and a bibliography. Includes contributions in English, French and Polish.
  • Rossiiskii Ezhegodnik Mezhdunarodnogo Prava. Russian Year-book of International Law. St. Petersberg: Sotsialno-kommercheskaia Firma “Rossiia-Neva”, 1994-.
    Published by the Russian Association of International Law. Includes articles and reports. Table of contents also available in English.
  • Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Internationales Recht. Annuaire Suisse de Droit International. Zürich: Polygraphischer Verlag, 1944-1990.
    Reviews of public and private international law. Includes articles in French, German and English. Ceased upon publication of Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Internationales und Europäisches Recht. Revue Suisse de Droit International et de Droit Européen. Zürich: Schulthess Polygraphischer Verlag, 1991-.
  • The Singapore Year Book of International Law. Singapore: Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore: Gaunt Law Book Pub., 2004-.
    Includes speeches, articles, notes and features.
  • South African Yearbook of International Law. Suid-Afrikaanse Jaarboek vir Volkereg. Pretoria: VerLoren Van Themaat Centre for International Law, University of South Africa. 1975-.
    Includes articles, notes and comments, and articles on foreign judicial decisions, South African judicial decisions, foreign policy, international events, treaties and literature.
  • Spanish Yearbook of International Law. Dordrecht; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1994-.
    Edited by the Asociación Española de Profesores de Derecho Internacional y Relaciones Internacionales and translated into English. Includes articles and reviews of diplomatic practice, treaties, municipal legislation, judicial decisions and literature relating to international law.

Multi-Jurisdictional Yearbooks

  • African Yearbook of International Law. Annuaire Africain de Droit International. The Hague; Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1993-.
    Published under the auspices of the African Foundation for International Law, it includes articles, notes and comments and book reviews in French and English.
  • Annuaire Européen. European Yearbook. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1955-.
    Published under the auspices of the Council of Europe, it covers various European organizations.
  • Asian Yearbook of International Law. The Hague; Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1993-.
    Includes articles and reviews of state practice in China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan and Thailand. Includes some documents in full-text in English.
  • Baltic Yearbook of International Law. The Hague; New York: Kluwer Law International 2002-.
    Published in English, it includes articles and materials on international law. Covers Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Secondary Sources—Other Jurisdictions

There are many excellent secondary sources on customary international law from other jurisdictions. This section covers sources that include multiple jurisdictions. These sources can be used to find titles and citations for country-specific sources. Alternatively, searches for “international law” combined with terms like “practice”, “applied”, “digest” or “interpreted” and the name of the country in question can be used in catalogs and other resources for finding country-specific titles.[23]

  • Gaebler, Ralph and Maria Smolka-Day, eds. Sources of State Practice in International Law. Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 2002-. Loose-leaf.
    An excellent resource for sources of state practice. Chapters cover the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. There is also a chapter on multi-jurisdictional collections by subject.
  • United Nations. Secretariat. Ways and Means of Making the Evidence of Customary International Law More Readily Available: Preparatory Work within the Purview of Article 24 of the Statute of the International Law Commission: Memorandum Submitted by the Secretary-General. Lake Success: United Nations, General Assembly, International Law Commission, 1949. U.N. Document # A/CN.4/6.
    A memorandum from the U.N. Secretariat on the evidence of customary international law. While quite dated, this publication includes a useful list of compilations and digests of state practice, covering over 20 countries. This is useful for historical research.

Additional Research Guides on Customary International Law

Online

In Print

  • Schaffer, Ellen G. and Randall J. Snyder, eds. Contemporary Practice of Public International Law. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, 1997.
    This publication is the result of the fifth of a series of American Association of Law Libraries’ sponsored institutes on foreign, comparative and international law and legal research held in 1996. Several chapters address customary international law. Of particular interest is Ralph Gaebler’s chapter on “Conducting Research in Contemporary International Law.”
  • Gaebler, Ralph and Maria Smolka-Day, eds. Sources of State Practice in International Law. Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 2002-. Loose-leaf.
    An excellent resource for sources of state practice. Chapters cover the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. There is also a chapter on multi-jurisdictional collections by subject.

[1] American Law Institute. Restatement of the Law, Third, the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. St. Paul, Minn.: American Law Institute Publishers, 1987. §102(2).

[2] Id,. §102, Reporters’ Notes, 2.

[3] Brierly, J. L. The Law of Nations: An Introduction to the International Law of Peace, 6th ed. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1963. p. 59.

[4] Janis, Mark W. An Introduction to International Law, 4th ed. New York, Aspen Publishers, 2003. p. 44.

[5] Id. §102(1)(a).

[6] Statute of the International Court of Justice. 3 Bevans 1179; 59 Stat. 1031; T.S. 993; 39 AJIL Supp. 215 (1945)

[7] Restatement, §102, Reporters’ Notes 1.

[8] Statute of the International Court of Justice, Article 38, § 1.

[9] The International Court of Justice, A guide to the history, composition, jurisdiction, procedure and decisions of the Court in the section on international law from the website of the International Court of Justice.

[10] Restatement, §103.

[11] Restatement, §103, comment a.

[12] Brownlie, Ian. Principles of Public International Law, 6th ed. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 6.

[13] The International Court of Justice, A guide to the history, composition, jurisdiction, procedure and decisions of the Court in the section on international law from the website of the International Court of Justice.

[14] Restatement, §102, comment i.

[15] Engsberg, Mark. An Introduction to Sources for Treaty Research. March 2006.

[16] Arthur W. Diamond Law Library. Guide to Treaty Research. Written by Simon Canick. Updated by Beth Williams.

[17] Arthur W. Diamond Law Library. A Selective List of Guides to Foreign Legal Research. Written by Silke Sahl.

[18] Restatement, §102, Reporters’ Notes 2.

[19] Tashbook, Linda. Researching the United Nations: Finding the Organization’s Internal Resource Trails. December 2006.

[20] Arthur W. Diamond Law Library. Research Guide: The United Nations. Written by Silke Sahl.

[21] See 53 Am. J. Int’l. L. (1959) at 896.

[22] Restatement, Forward, p. IX.

[23] For examples, see Kindred, Hugh M. and Phillip M. Saunders, eds. International Law, Chiefly as interpreted and Applied in Canada. 7th ed. Toronto: Emond Montgomery Publications, 2006; and “Völkerrechtliche Praxis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” in Zeitschrift für Ausländisches Öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1929-. Also available online at the website of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law from 1993 forward.