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A Theory Of Constructive Interpretation For Customary International Law Identification, Nadia Banteka

Michigan Journal of International Law

Scholars and judicial practice have long debated the nature of customary international law (“CIL”) as a source of international law, including its normative identification. Existing approaches to CIL identification largely follow the methods of induction and deduction. However, these methods are only two ends of a spectrum, and international law has yet to engage systematically with other methodological approaches that lay within this spectrum. This Article introduces a mid-spectrum approach by applying the theory of constructive interpretation to CIL identification. The Article introduces the guiding principles of constructive interpretation, examines the process of constructive interpretation in the abstract, and applies …