Please note: this lecture will not be recorded.
Lecture summary: While there is a broad agreement that certain norms of international law reflect and protect the interests of the international community as a whole, these are rarely framed or assessed as a unitary concept. Instead, communitarian norms are disaggregated into the distinct if related concepts of jus cogens norms, erga omnes obligations, intransgressible principles of humanity, fundamental values and interests of the international community as a whole. I argue that these categories are facets of a single overarching concept, namely, that of communitarian norms of international law understood as multilateral norms of general international law recognised by the international community as reflecting and protecting its common interests. The lack of a priori classification of the community interests under international law and their inherently dynamic character corresponding to that of the international community itself underlie the need for developing a clear methodology for the identification of these norms. In my talk, I will focus on construing a methodology for identifying communitarian norms based first and foremost on State practice, particularly in relation to the formulation of international treaties but also in the context of custom and the general principles of law. I will also explore the key legal characteristics or the communitarian features of the norms by reference to the case law of international courts and tribunals, as well as the work of the International Law Commission. The questions of methodology and characteristics are key for delineating the scope of the concept of communitarian norms, as well as for grounding the normative claim as to which norms can generate communitarian legal effects and on what basis.
Dr Rumiana Yotova is an Assistant Professor in International Law, Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge and a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre. Rumiana lectures on the undergraduate course in International Law and the LL.M courses in International Investment Law, EU External Relations, International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law. She convenes the courses in International Investment Law and International Criminal Law. Rumiana supervises undergraduate students in International Law and European Union Law. Her research interests lie in the areas of general international law, particularly its sources and the responsibility of States, the settlement of international disputes, international investment law, and the nascent field of international biomedical law.
Chaired by: Prof Sandesh Sivakumaran
Sandwich lunch from 12.30 pm in the Old Library.
The Lauterpacht Centre Friday lecture series is kindly supported by Cambridge University Press
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