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Identifying Jus Cogens Norms: The Interaction of Scholars and International Judges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2014

Matthew SAUL
Matthew SAUL*
Affiliation:
University of Oslo, [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper I address the justifications and methods adopted by scholars and international judges for the identification of jus cogens norms. More specifically, I examine how the approaches taken by these two subsidiary sources of international law relate. In so doing, I seek to highlight and develop a clearer understanding of why, in spite of considerable scholarly and judicial attention, more progress on the doctrine of jus cogens identification has not been made. The analysis covers assessment of the practice of interaction, but also its underpinnings, which include the implications of jus cogens identification for the legitimacy of international courts. I argue that scholars have focused on justificatory theory at the expense of methodological considerations and that this has limited the scope for the development of a useful discourse with international judicial bodies on matters of jus cogens identification.

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Articles
Information
Asian Journal of International Law , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 26 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Asian Journal of International Law 2014 

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Footnotes

*

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Oslo. This paper was prepared under the auspices of MultiRights, an ERC Advanced Grant on the Legitimacy of Multi-Level Human Rights Judiciary; and PluriCourts, a Research Council of Norway Centre of Excellence on the Legitimacy of International Courts. It has benefited from the very useful comments of two anonymous reviewers, and Geir Ulfstein, Ragnar Nordeide, Nino Tsereteli, and Andreas Føllesdal. It has also benefited from comments received following presentation in staff seminars at Oslo University, Norway (June 2012) and Durham University, UK (November 2012).

References

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4. BENVENISTI, Eyal and DOWNS, George W., “National Courts, Domestic Democracy and the Evolution of International Law” (2009) 20 European Journal of International Law 59 at 68Google Scholar; also CASSESE, A., “For an Enhanced Role of Jus Cogens” in Antonio CASSESE, ed., Realizing Utopia: The Future of International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 158 at 170CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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9. When put to the vote at the Vienna Conference in 1969, the provision (then art. 50) was passed 87–8–12, Hannikainen, supra note 6 at 166.

10. Ibid., at 170–1.

11. Ibid., at 171.

12. Second Report on the Law of Treaties (1963) 2 International Law Commission Yearbook, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/156 at 53.

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17. Kosovo Advisory Opinion, Written Statement of the Netherlands, 17 April 2009, 3.2.

18. Ibid.

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21. See Yearbook of the International Law Commission (1963) at 63, 66–7; see also VERDROSS, Alfred, “Jus Dispositivum and Jus Cogens in International Law” (1966) 60 American Journal of International Law 55CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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23. See O'CONNELL, Mary Ellen, “Jus Cogens: International Law's Higher Ethical Norms” in Donald Earl CHILDRESS, ed., The Role of Ethics in International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012) at 94Google Scholar.

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26. See ibid. at 388 (who argues that the closest is the ICJ); see also FORD, Christopher A., “Adjudicating Jus Cogens” (1994–95) 13 Wisconsin International Law Journal 145Google Scholar.

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32. Belgium v. Senegal case, Separate Opinion of Cançado Trindade, supra note 2 at 158.

33. Ibid., at 182.

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35. See the Opinions of Judge Abraham (notes that the comments were obiter dictum); Ad hoc Judge Sur (points to the inclusion of jus cogens as superfluous).

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44. Indeed, Kammerhofer, supra note 43, notes that “[a]s far as the present author is aware, there are as yet no studies on the influence that international legal scholarship wields over the making of international law”.

45. See e.g. VOETEN, Erik, “Borrowing and Nonborrowing among International Courts” (2010) 39 Journal of Legal Studies 547−576CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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48. Ibid., at 349 (although the authors note that communication might sometimes be to the disadvantage of the coherence of international law, at 363); and see also Yuval SHANY, “One Law to Rule Them All: Should International Courts Be Viewed as Guardians of Procedural Order and Legal Uniformity?” in Fauchald and Nollkaemper, supra note 47, 15 at 34: “in their current configuration most international courts have only a limited appetite for coordination and harmonisation across legal regimes, other—non-judicial—methods for institutional coordination and normative harmonisation ought to be explored.”

49. Although the vast increase in scholarly output relative to earlier times has also informed concerns about fragmentation, TRIGGS, Gillian, “The Public International Lawyer and the Practice of International Law” (2005) 24 Australian Year Book of International Law 201–218CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 203.

50. For an account that is focused only on judicial interaction, see WEBBS, Philippa, “Immunities and Human Rights: Dissecting the Dialogue in National and International Courts” in Fauchald and Nollkaemper, supra note 47, 245–265Google Scholar.

51. Al-Adsani v. The United Kingdom, 35763/97, European Court of Human Rights, 21 November 2001.

52. See e.g. BIANCHI, Andrea, “Immunity Versus Human Rights: The Pinochet Case” (1999) 10 European Journal of International Law 237CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53. See Al-Adsani case, supra note 51, Joint Dissenting Opinions, Judges Rozakis, Caflisch, Wildhaber, Costa, Cabral Barreto, and Vajic, 29–31; Redress (L. McGregor), “Immunity v. Accountability: Considering the Relationship between State Immunity and Accountability for Torture and other Serious International Crimes” (2005) at 38–9, online: 〈www.redress.org/downloads/publications/Immunity_v_Accountability.pdf〉.

54. See e.g. CAPLAN, Lee M., “State Immunity, Human Rights, and Jus Cogens: A Critique of the Normative Hierarchy Theory” (2003) 97 American Journal of International Law 741CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ORAKHELASHVILI, A., “State Immunity and International Public Order” (2002) 45 German Yearbook of International Law 227Google Scholar.

55. See e.g. Jones v. Saudi Arabia (2006) UKHL at para. 22; Ferrini v. Federal Republic of Germany, Italian Court of Cassation (2004).

56. See e.g. AKANDE, Dapo and SHAH, Sangeeta, “Immunities of State Officials, International Crimes, and Foreign Domestic Courts” (2011) 21 European Journal of International Law 815 at 828Google Scholar.

57. See also Andrea BIANCHI, “On Certainty” Blog of the European Journal of International Law (16 February 2012), online: EJIL Talk 〈http://www.ejiltalk.org/on-certainty/#more-4504〉 (suggesting other factors that might help to explain why the approach of the ICJ in this case was predictable, such as the concern the ICJ has traditionally shown for the systemic effects of its rulings, and a concern not to offend its broader audience of states).

58. See TALMON, Stefan A.G., “Jus Cogens after Germany v. Italy: Substantive and Procedural Rules Distinguished” (2012) 25 Leiden Journal of International Law 979–1002CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59. See PAVONI, Riccardo, “An American Anomaly? On the ICJ's Selective Reading of United States Practice in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State” (2011) 21 Italian Yearbook of International Law 143–159CrossRefGoogle Scholar; KRAJEWSKI, Markus and SINGER, Christopher, “Should Judges be Front-Runners? The ICJ, State Immunity and the Protection of Fundamental Human Rights” (2012) 16 Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 1–34Google Scholar.

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61. Kammerhofer, , supra note 43Google Scholar.

62. The main interest is in the plenary judgment of a court, as this is most likely to attract the attention of scholars. However, reference is also made to separate opinions of judges, as these are often more open on sources consulted and thereby offer a useful means of gaining insight into the thinking and resources that have underpinned the main judgment.

63. See e.g. Verdross, , supra note 34Google Scholar.

64. See, though, CIAMPI, Annalisa, “Invalidity and Termination of Treaties and Rules of Procedure” in Enzo CANNIZZARO, ed., The Law of Treaties Beyond the Vienna Convention (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 360 at 374–376Google Scholar; SIVAKUMARAN, Sandesh, “Impact on the Structure of International Obligations” in Menno T. KAMMINGA and Martin SCHEININ, eds., The Impact of Human Rights Law on General International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 133 at 147Google Scholar.

65. See also Hannikainen, , supra note 6 at 176Google Scholar.

66. See e.g. Boumediene and Others v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2008), ECtHR, para. 60; Judgment on Preliminary Objections (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of the Congo), Judgment of 24 May 2007, [2007] I.C.J. Rep at 28, in Ahmadou Sadio Diallo.

67. VANNESTE, Frédéric, General International Law Before Human Rights Courts: Assessing the Specialty Claims of Human Rights Law (Cambridge: Intersentia, 2010) at 431−432Google Scholar; see also NEUMAN, Gerald L., “Import, Export, and Regional Consent in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights” (2008) 19 European Journal of International Law 101 at 118Google Scholar (and at 117 identifying the role of jus cogens identification in relevant cases); Antonio Augusto CANÇADO TRINDADE, “Jus Cogens: The Determination and the Gradual Expansion of its Material Content in Contemporary International Case-Law”, XXXV Course of International Law, organized by the OAS Inter-American Juridical Committee, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2008, 3–29, online: 〈http://www.oas.org/publications_digital_catalogue_course2008.htm〉; SHELTON, Dinah, “International Law and Relative Normativity” in Malcolm D. EVANS, ed., International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 141 at 149–154Google Scholar.

68. See Shelton, , supra note 67 at 150Google Scholar.

69. Case Concerning Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy), Judgment of 3 February 2012, [2012] I.C.J Rep. at para. 95 (although, in Germany v. Italy, the ICJ assumed only for the purposes of analysis of the relationship between jus cogens norms and state immunity “that the rules of the law of armed conflict which prohibit the murder of civilians in occupied territory, the deportation of civilian inhabitants to slave labour and the deportation of prisoners of war to slave labour are rules of jus cogens”, para. 93, it did dismiss the scope for “a rule requiring the payment of full compensation to each and every individual victim” to be seen as jus cogens on the basis of extensive contrary practice, para. 94); see also Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002) (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda), Judgment of 3 February 2006, [2006] I.C.J Rep at para. 64; Prohibition on Torture (Belgium v. Senegal), Judgment of 20 July 2012, [2012] I.C.J. Rep, at para. 99; also note PELLET, A., “Comments in Response to Christine Chinkin and in Defense of Jus Cogens as the Best Bastion against the Excesses of Fragmentation” (2006) XVII Finnish Yearbook of International Law 83 at 88Google Scholar.

70. E.g. ORAKHELASHVILI, Alexander, Peremptory Norms in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) at 54Google Scholar; Sivakumaran, , supra note 64 at 145Google Scholar.

71. Often no reference to another judicial body is provided; see e.g. Maritza Urrutia case, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Series C, No. 103 (2003), at para. 92; Congo v. Rwanda, Judgment of 3 February 2006, para. 64.

72. See e.g. Al-Adsani case (citing International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and UK House of Lords); the ICTY Furundžija case (10 December 1998) para. 153 note 170 (citing the UN Human Rights Committee and United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit).

73. E.g. Case Of Hirsi Jamaa And Others v. Italy (Application no. 27765/09), February 2012, ECtHR, Concurring Opinion of Judge Pinto De Albuquerque, at 65; Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia, Judgment of 31 January 2006, IACtHR, Separate Opinion of Judge Cançado Trindade, at para. 64.

74. Although the approach set out by the IACtHR in Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrant Workers, Advisory Opinion OC-18/30, 17 September 2003, at paras. 97–101, has been the subject of a number of critiques, this has not generally been in the context of scholars working on the method for jus cogens identification; see e.g. Neuman, , supra note 67 at 118−122Google Scholar (in the context of an assessment of the Court's general working practices); BIANCHI, Andrea, “Human Rights and the Magic of Jus Cogens” (2008) 19 European Journal of International Law 491–508 at 506Google Scholar (in the context of a general assessment of the role and condition of the jus cogens concept in international law).

75. PETERSEN, Niels, “Lawmaking by the International Court of Justice—Factors of Success” (2011) 12 German Law Journal 1295−1316CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 1316; see also TAMS, Christian J. and TZANAKOPOULOS, Antonios, “Barcelona Traction at 40: The ICJ as an Agent of Legal Development” (2010) 23 Leiden Journal of International Law 781 at 796Google Scholar.

76. SANDHOLTZ, Wayne, “Dynamics of International Norm Change: Rules against Wartime Plunder” (2008) 14 European Journal of International Relations 101CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

77. CONKLIN, William E., “The Peremptory Norms of the International Community” (2012) 23 European Journal of International Law 837–861CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 840.

78. See, for instance, Sivakumaran, , supra note 64 at 143Google Scholar; there are also potentially more problematic consequences, see Bianchi, , supra note 74 at 507Google Scholar (noting that positing encourages the perception that jus cogens status is simply a rhetorical label, employed purely on the basis of opinion to emphasize the importance of a particular norm).

79. Indeed, it arguably encourages judicial bodies to adopt a similar approach to jus cogens identification; see Conklin, , supra note 77 at 843Google Scholar.

80. See e.g. Orakhelashvili, , supra note 70Google Scholar; WET, Erika DE, “The Prohibition of Torture as an International Norm of Jus Cogens and Its Implications for National and Customary Law” (2004) 15 European Journal of International Law 97CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Vidmar, , supra note 29Google Scholar; Ulf LINDERFALK, “Normative Conflict and the Fuzziness of the International Ius Cogens Regime” (2009) 69 ZaöRV 961.

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82. E.g. Byers, , supra note 24Google Scholar; Dubois, , supra note 8Google Scholar; ZEMANEK, Karl, “How to Identify Peremptory Norms of International Law” in Pierre M. DUPUY et al., eds., Völkerrecht als Wertordnung/Common Values in International Law: Essays in Honour of Ch. Tomuschat (Kehl: Engel, 2006), 1103Google Scholar.

83. E.g. Criddle and Fox-Decent, , supra note 1Google Scholar; de Londras, supra note 22.

84. In this respect, it should be noted that work that includes a specific focus on the method for identification often goes little beyond a collection of broad directives, for instance, ALEXIDZE, Levan, “The Nature of Jus Cogens” 172 Recueil des Cours (1981-III) 227−270Google Scholar at 261; but it should also be noted that certain specific issues related to method have been explored in depth, for example Linderfalk's study on the potential for difficulty to arise in the specification of the content of the target norm: LINDERFALK, Ulf, “The Effect of Jus Cogens Norms: Whoever Opened Pandora's Box, Did You Ever Think About the Consequences?” (2007) 18 European Journal of International Law 853CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

85. RETTER, Mark, “Jus Cogens: Towards an International Common Good” (2011) 2 Transnational Legal Theory 537–571CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 564; (drawing on Alasdair MACINTYRE, After Virtue (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007) 187–225).

86. Conklin, , supra note 77 at 860Google Scholar (drawing on Hegel's theory of international law—see CONKLIN, William E., Hegel's Laws: The Legitimacy of a Modern Legal Order (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008) at 270–298Google Scholar).

87. Retter, , supra note 85, at 569–570Google Scholar.

88. See e.g. Criddle and Fox-Decent, , supra note 1 at 367Google Scholar.

89. O'Connell, , supra note 23 at 94Google Scholar.

90. Ibid., at 95; for an alternative natural law based approach, see Dubois, , supra note 8 at 166Google Scholar.

91. Christian TOMUSCHAT, “Obligations Arising for States Without or Against Their Will” (1993-IV) 241 Recueil des Cours 209 at 307.

92. Simma and Alston, , supra note 30 at 107Google Scholar.

93. Ibid., at 102; see also Ronald St. MACDONALD, John, “Fundamental Norms in Contemporary International Law” (1987) 25 Canadian Yearbook of International Law 115 at 130–131Google Scholar.

94. Giorgio GAJA, “Jus Cogens Beyond the Vienna Convention” (1981-III) 172 Recueil des Cours 279 at 287.

95. Examples of just posit from other international judicial bodies that have identified jus cogens include: the ICTY, Delalić et al. case ((I.T-96-21) (November 1998), para. 454; the ICJ in the Congo v. Rwanda case (although see Separate Opinion of Judge Ad Hoc Dugard, para. 10); the ECtHR in Case of Jorgic v. Germany, (Application no. 74613/01), Judgment, 12 July 2007, para 68; Human Rights Committee, General Comment 24 (U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.6 (1994), at para. 10; Committee Against Torture, General Comment 2, CAT/C/GC/2 24 January 2008, at para. 1; Maritza Urrutia case, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Series C, No. 103 (2003), at para. 92.

96. Case T-315/01 Yassin Abdullah Kadi v. Council of the European Union & Commission of the European Communities, Judgment of 21 September 2005, [2005c] ECR II-3649; see also WET, Erika DE, “Jus Cogens and Obligations Erga Omnes” in Dinah SHELTON, Oxford Handbook on Human Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)Google Scholar 541 at 547 (categorizing it as a natural law approach).

97. IACtHR, Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrant Workers, supra note 704 at para. 101 (see also paras. 97–101); see also the Separate Opinion appended by the Court's President, Judge A.A. Cançado Trinidade, esp. at para. 87.

98. Tugboat case, supra note 5 at para. 79.

99. See also Bianchi, , supra note 74 at 506Google Scholar, describing the IACtHR's approach as based on the“somewhat axiomatic reasoning of the Court, linked with fairly vague notions of natural law”.

100. See e.g. Orakhelashvili, , supra note 70 at 48Google Scholar.

101. The Commission has been more specific that it favours a customary law approach in other cases, see Domingues, infra note 129, and Roach and Pinkerton, infra note 130.

102. See also VENTURA, Manuel and AKANDE, Dapo, “Mothers of Srebrenica: The Obligation to Prevent Genocide and Jus Cogens—Implications for Humanitarian Intervention” Blog of the European Journal of International Law (6 September 2013)Google Scholar, online: European Journal of International Law Talk 〈http://www.ejiltalk.org/ignoring-the-elephant-in-the-room-in-mothers-of-srebrenica-is-the-obligation-to-prevent-genocide-jus-cogens/〉.

103. See ALTER, Karen J. and HELFER, Laurence R., “Nature or Nurture? Judicial Lawmaking in the European Court of Justice and the Andean Tribunal of Justice” (2010) 64 International Organisation 563–592CrossRefGoogle Scholar; for other significant variations that can affect how a court approaches its work, see Nollkaemper, Fauchald and, supra note 47 at 348Google Scholar.

104. Alter and Helfer, , supra note 103Google Scholar; see also the concern expressed by certain judges in the Al-Adsani case that it was not the role of the ECtHR to be a leader in the progressive development of the law, Al-Adsani case, Concurring Opinion of Judge Pellonpää, Joined by Judge Sir Nicolas Bratza.

105. Martti KOSKENNIEMI, “The Pull of the Mainstream” (1990) 88 Michigan Law Review 1946 (at 1948, Koskenniemi paraphrases Meron as seeking to “ ‘utilize irreproachable legal methods’ to enhance ‘the credibility of the norms’ for which he argues (at 81, 246)”; MERON, T., Human Rights and Humanitarian Norms as Customary Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989)Google Scholar.

106. Ibid., at 1952–3.

107. Ibid., at 1948.

108. See FØLLESDAL, Andreas, “The Legitimacy Deficits of the Human Rights Judiciary: Elements and Implications of a Normative Theory” (2013) 14 Theoretical Inquiries in Law 339–360CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

109. BODANSKY, Daniel, “The Concept of Legitimacy in International Law” in Rüdiger WOLFRUM and Volker RÖBEN, eds., Legitimacy in International Law (New York: Springer, 2008), 309 at 314CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

110. On the legitimacy of the jus cogens concept, see Robert P. BARNIDGE Jnr, , “Questioning the Legitimacy of ‘Jus Cogens’ in the Global Legal Order” (2008) 38 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 199–225Google Scholar.

111. See, though, Basak ÇALI et al., “The Legitimacy of the European Court of Human Rights: The View from the Ground” The Project Report (2011), online: 〈http://ecthrproject.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/ecthrlegitimacyreport.pdf〉.

112. See Çalı et al., supra note 111 at 32–4; Sandholtz, supra note 76 at 106; DOTHAN, Shai, “How International Courts Enhance Their Legitimacy” (2013) 14 Theoretical Inquiries in Law 455–478CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 477; STONE-SWEET, Alec, Governing with Judges: Constitutional Politics in Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) at 50CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

113. See R. WOLFRUM, “Legitimacy in International Law from a Legal Perspective: Some Introductory Considerations” in Wolfrum and Röben, supra note 109 at 6–7.

114. Ibid., at 6

115. See BOGANDY, Armin VON and VENZKE, Ingo, “In Whose Name? An Investigation of International Courts’ Public Authority and Its Democratic Justification” (2012) 23 European Journal of International Law 7 at 8Google Scholar; ULFSTEIN, Geir and KELLER, Helen, “Introduction” in Helen KELLER and Geir ULFSTEIN, eds., UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies. Law and Legitimacy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), at 7Google Scholar.

116. See D'ASPREMONT, Jean, Formalism and the Sources of International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) at 170CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Koskenniemi, , supra note 105 at 1947Google Scholar.

117. Wolfrum, , supra note 113 at 6Google Scholar.

118. Stone-Sweet, , supra note 112 at 15Google Scholar.

119. Ibid.

120. See Von Bogandy and Venzke, , supra note 115 at 18Google Scholar; also WHEATLEY, Steven, “On the Legitimate Authority of International Human Rights Bodies” in Geir ULFSTEIN et al., eds., The Legitimacy of International Human Rights Regimes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013) 84–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 84.

121. Wolfrum, , supra note 113 at 7Google Scholar.

122. See also Fauchald and Nollkaemper, , supra note 47 at 351Google Scholar.

123. See also Byers, , supra note 24 at 222Google Scholar.

124. See also Stone-Sweet, supra note 112 at 15 (suggesting that a dispute resolver can help to preserve legitimacy by anticipating the disputants and the community's reaction to the decision, through attempting to adapt the process and content of a decision to be in line with what would be acceptable to both).

125. Debated effects of jus cogens status beyond the VCLT include those directly within a human rights regime (such as non-derogability, no reservation, and precedence over conflicting norms (human rights or otherwise)), as well as beyond (such as limits on the authority of the UN Security Council, direct limits on national legislative authority, and an obligation on all states to “cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means any serious breach” (ILC Articles on State Responsibility)); see Cassese, , supra note 4 at 160–163Google Scholar; Orakhelashvili, , supra note 70Google Scholar; Vidmar, , supra note 29 at 24Google Scholar.

126. See also Von Bogandy and Venzke, , supra note 115 at 15–16Google Scholar.

127. See also Stone-Sweet, , supra note 115 at 74Google Scholar.

128. Stone-Sweet, , supra note 112 at 17CrossRefGoogle Scholar: see also Dothan, , supra note 112 at 14Google Scholar.

129. Michael Domingues/United States, Report No. 62/02, Merits, Case 12.285, 22 October 2002; at para. 50, the Commission (citing scholarly work) explained that: “while based on the same evidentiary sources as a norm of customary international law, the standard for determining a principle of jus cogens is more rigorous, requiring evidence of recognition of the indelibility of the norm by the international community as a whole. This can occur where there is acceptance and recognition by a large majority of states, even if over dissent by a small number of states.”

130. See also Roach and Pinkerton 1987 Resolution N° 3/87, Case 9647, United States, 22 September 1987, para. 55.

131. See US response, Domingues, paras. 93–107. Para. 101: “The State claimed in this regard that the only argument presented in favor of this finding in the Commission's report is the assertion that the execution of Mr. Domingues would ‘shock the conscience of humankind.’ The State considered this assertion to be ‘specious at best,’ and argued to the contrary that the ‘acts of Mr. Domingues should shock the consciousness of humankind, not the punishment those acts have earned him.’ ”

132. See also De Wet, supra note 96 at 7.

133. See also Fauchald and Nollkaemper, , supra note 47 at 351Google Scholar.

134. Relevant factors could include the extent to which a court counts individuals amongst its main audience (so even if legitimacy is reduced from the perspective of states, it might still remain legitimate for individuals and thereby continue to be utilized); the nature of the audience of states (broader audience, more careful, as harder to predict reception); length of operation of the court (longer existence, able to build up more legitimacy); the powers of the court (e.g. just recommendatory, might see more value in including jus cogens in the decision to help strengthen the compliance pull); the level of entrenchment of the court (e.g. easily closed down, might lead court to be more cautious).

135. To be clear, the suggestion here is not that it will be possible to find a satisfactory method, but that it might be possible. The suggestion is also not that method is detachable from the underlying theory, but rather that having a theory does not entail a self-evident, workable method; see also d'Aspremont, supra note 116 at 14 and 24.

136. Special Tribunal for Lebanon, In the Matter of El Sayed, Case No. CH/PRES/2010/01, Order of the President Assigning Matter to Pre-Trial Judge, 15 April 2012, paras. 28−9; see also Cassese, , supra note 4 at 165–166Google Scholar; FABRI, H. RUIZ, “Enhancing the Rhetoric of Jus Cogens” (2012) 23 European Journal of International Law 1049CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

137. As Cassese notes, supra note 4 at para. 35: “Whether or not it is held that the international general norm on the right to justice has been elevated to the rank of jus cogens (with the consequence that States may not derogate from it either through treaties or national legislation), it is axiomatic that an international court such as the STL may not derogate from or fail to comply with such a general norm.”