General/particular international law and primary/secondary rules: Unitary terminology of a fragmented system

Abstract

This article takes issue with certain fundamental aspects of the fragmentation analysis by addressing the normative underpinnings of the proposition that international law is structured as a legal system. To this end, focus is had on the unitary character of the general/particular international law and primary/secondary rules terminology, as normative differentiations to the international legal system (the 'whole'), by virtue of the residual (default) applicability of the sets of norms they denote. Ergo, on the one hand, the doubts expressed by the ILC Study Group on Fragmentation concerning the allegedly obscure meaning and scope of the term 'general international law' are dispelled by demonstrating that the term indeed signifies the set of international legal norms binding erga omnes; on the other, the article elaborates on the crucial role of the distinction between primary and secondary norms for the proper operation of lex specialis, focal to the fragmentation analysis. Overall, the pertinence of the general/particular international law and primary/secondary norms termini technici in international adjudication supports the view that the international legal system is indeed equipped with the proper normative tools to cope with the challenges set by fragmentation. © EJIL 2011; all rights reserved.