Book launch “The Sources of International Law” by Professor Hugh Thirlway

Professor Thirlway will briefly introduce his book on ‘The Sources of International Law’. As is well known, while the traditional sources named in Article 38 of the ICJ Statute (treaties, customary law and the ‘general principles of law’) are still generally recognized, this is an area of law which has given rise to much argument and controversy, and a number of variant analyses or intellectual constructions. Professor Thirlway’s book endeavours to offer a clear statement of the issues, and of the problems; it does not itself offer any new theory, but comments critically on some of those that have been put forward in recent years. Comment will be by Sir Michael Wood, currently ILC Rapporteur on Identification of customary international law, and Professor James Crawford.

Hugh THIRLWAY, M.A., Ll.B (Cantab., St John’s College); Dr. en droit, Université de Nancy; joined the staff of the Registry of the International Court of Justice, 1968, and became Head of the newly created Legal Department 1987; Professor of International Law, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, 1994-2001; course at The Hague Academy, 2002; resumed post at the ICJ, 2001-2005; sometime Visiting Professor at the Universities of Bristol, Leiden, Munich and Wuhan (China).