Section Three: Subsidiary Sources and Other Sources
of Public International Law
This section addresses subsidiary sources (I) and other sources of public international
law (II).I. Subsidiary Sources
Paragraph (d) of Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice states:
"Judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of
international law in various nations. This or that is considered a subsidiary source of
law, subject to the provisions of Article 59."A. Judicial Decisions
International jurisprudence does not create new legal rules; its role is to apply existing
legal rules to the disputes presented before it. The body of international court
decisions is not considered a primary source of international law; however, it can be
used as a reference to understand existing and applied international legal rules or to
interpret ambiguities.