Good Faith in International Law
![handle is hein.journals/ucljljuris2 and id is 50 raw text is: GOOD FAITH IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
Steven Reinhold*
Abstract - As a 'general principle', good faith forms part of the sources of international
law. Still not widely examined in relation to rights and obligations, the aim here is to
demonstrate the specific characteristics of the principle. In general, international law rules
such as pacta sunt servanda, abuse of rights, estoppel and acquiescence and the
negotiation of disputes are grounded, to some extent, in good faith. In treaty law, good
faith has various manifestations from the time prior to signature through to interpretation.
These are outlined here. The article argues that good faith acts to mediate the effects of
States' rights in international law, in order to achieve acceptable results when competing
interests exist. Fundamentally, good faith is a limitation of State sovereignty, albeit one
that is necessary, as it protects other States and their trust and reliance in international
law.
A. INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF THE TOPIC
According to Art. 38 (1) (c) of the ICJ Statute, the Court shall apply the
general principles of law recognised by civilised nations. When treaties or
customary law cannot yield a result, recourse is made to the general
principles of law,' of which good faith is perhaps the most important, as it
underpins many international legal rules.2 The nature of good faith as an
overarching legal principle makes it difficult to define in absolute terms.3
This brings to mind the (in)famous quote of Justice Stewart of the US
Supreme Court, who stated: I shall not today attempt to define [it].. .But I
know it when I see it.4 In this article the aim will not be to attempt an all-
encompassing definition of good faith, ' but rather to describe and
exemplify its place in international law.
This article is in five parts. Firstly, it starts with an assessment of the
Ph.D. candidate and Research Assistant to Professor Stefan Talmon, D.Phil., LL.M.,
M.A., Institute for Public International Law of the University of Bonn.
IHersch Lauterpacht, International Law Vol. 1, (ed Elihu Lauterpacht, CUP 1970) 68;
Malcolm N Shaw, International Law, (6 th edn, CUP 2008) 98; James Crawford,
Brownlie's Principles ofPublic International Law, (8th edn, OUP 2012) 134.
2 Nuclear Tests Case (Australia v France) (Merits) [1974] ICJ Rep 253; Shaw (n 1)
103; Michel Virally, 'Review Essay: Good Faith in Public International Law' (1983) 77
AJIL 130.
3 William Tetley, 'Good Faith in Contract: Particularly in the Contracts of Arbitration
and Chartering' (2004) 35 J Mar L & Com 561, 563.
4 Jacobellis v State of Ohio 378 US 184, 197 (1964) (Supreme Court, per J Stewart),
while actually referring to obscene material.
Georg Schwarzenberger and Edward D Brown, A Manual ofInternational Law, (6th edn,
Professional 1976). 118, 119, and Bin Cheng, General Principles ofLaw as applied by
International Courts and Tribunals (Stevens 1953) 105, have also desisted; cf JF
O'Connor, Good Faith in International Law (Aldershot 1991) 36.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ucljljuris2&div=7&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Good Faith in International Law
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