General principles of law and international due process : principles and norms applicable in transnational disputes

305 Pages·2017·2.858 MB·English

by  Charles T. Kotuby Jr., Luke A. Sobota

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General Principles
of Law and
International Due
Process
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CILE Studies
Series Editor: Ronald A. Brand
CILE Studies is a series of monographs and edited volumes dedicated to the
discussion of important issues and developments in public and private international law.
Each volume is selected on the basis of its contribution to the literature with the objective to
provide lasting commentary and innovative analysis.
Potential authors may contact:
Center for International Legal Education
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Barco Law Building
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email: [email protected]
Volumes 1 and 2 are available directly from the Center for International Legal Education
at the above address. Volume 3 and later volumes can be ordered from
Oxford University Press by visiting their website at: www.oup.com.
The Series
Volume 1
The Draft UNCITRAL Digest and Beyond: Cases, Analysis and
Unresolved Issues in the U.N. Sales Convention,
(Franco Ferrari, Harry M. Flechtner, and Ronald A. Brand, editors)
Volume 2
Private Law, Private International Law, and Judicial Cooperation
in the EU- US Relationship,
(Ronald A. Brand, editor)
Volume 3
Forum Non Conveniens— History, Global Practice, and Future Under the Hague Convention on
Choice of Court Agreements,
(Ronald A. Brand and Scott R. Jablonski)
Volume 4
Drafting Contracts Under the CISG,
(Harry M. Flechtner, Ronald A. Brand, Mark S. Walter, editors)
Volume 5
Conflicts in a Conflict: A Conflict of Laws Case Study on Israel
and the Palestinian Territories,
(Michael Karayanni)
Volume 6
General Principles of Law and International Due Process: Principles and Norms
Applicable in Transnational Disputes,
(Charles T. Kotuby Jr. and Luke A. Sobota)
iii

General Principles
of Law and
International Due
Process
Principles and Norms Applicable
in Transnational Disputes
Charles T. Kotuby Jr. and Luke A. Sobota
1
General Principles of Law and International Due Process. Charles T. Kotuby Jr. and
Luke A. Sobota. © Oxford University Press 2017. Published 2017 by Oxford University Press.
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Kotuby, Charles T., Jr, author. | Sobota, Luke A., author.
Title: General principles of law and international due process : principles and norms applicable
in transnational disputes / Charles T. Kotuby Jr. and Luke A. Sobota.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2017. | Series: CILE studies; v. 6 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016015294 | ISBN 9780190642709 ((hardback) : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Rule of law. | Due process of law. | International law.
Classification: LCC K3171 .K67 2017 | DDC 340/ .11— dc23 LC record available at
https://l ccn.loc.gov/2 016015294
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For Rebecca, Elizabeth, Thatcher, and Olivia Kotuby
and Anna, Jack, Elsa, and Jane Sobota.
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Contents
Foreword by Stephen M. Schwebel ................. ix

Preface  ............................................ xi

Acknowledgments  .................................xv
Glossary of Latin Terms  .........................xvii

Chapter 1: An Introduction to the General
Principles of Law and International Due
Process  ..........................................1

A. The Origin and Evolution of the General Principles of Law .....3
1. Identifying General Principles  ...........................17
a) Principles That Are General  ..............................19
b) Principles That Are Universal  ............................21
c) Principles That Are International  .........................27
2. Typical Usage of General Principles  .......................29
3. Invocations of General Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
a) Arbitral Tribunals  ......................................36
b) National Courts  ........................................49

B. The Origin and Evolution of International Due Process  ......54
1. A Process Grounded in General Principles  ................55
2. The Concept of International Due Process  .................69
3. Specific Invocations of International Due Process  ..........74
a) Arbitral Tribunals  ......................................74
b) National Courts  ........................................79

Chapter 2: Modern Applications of the General
Principles of Law  ...............................87

A. Good Faith in Contractual Relations  ......................88
1. Pacta Sunt Servanda: Agreements Must Be Honored  .......89
2. Good Faith in Excusing Contractual Performance  . . . . . . . . .101
3. Good Faith as a Factor in Remedying Nonperformance  ....105

B. Abuse of Rights and the Principle of Proportionality  . . . . . . .107
1. The General Prohibition on the Abuse of Rights  ...........108
2. The Principle of Proportionality  .........................114
viii
Contents

C. Estoppel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

D. The Prohibition on Advantageous Wrongs and Unjust
Enrichment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

E. Corporate Separateness and Limited Liability  . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

F. The Principles of Causation and Reparation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

G. The Principles of Responsibility and Fault  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Chapter 3: Modern Applications of the
Principles of International Due Process  . . . . . . 157

A. Notice and Jurisdiction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158

B. Judicial Impartiality and Judicial Independence  . . . . . . . . . . .165

C. Procedural Equality and the Right to Be Heard  . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

D. Condemnation of Fraud and Corruption  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

E. Evidence and Burdens of Proof  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

F. The Principle of Res Judicata  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

Epilogue  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
Annex of Cases  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Name Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
viii General Principles of Law and International Due Process
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Foreword
Hersch Lauterpacht’s extraordinary career in international law was launched in
1927 with the publication of Private Law Sources and Analogies of International
Law. The Author’s Preface noted “the fact that general principles of law, rec-
ognized by civilised States and adopted by customary and conventional inter-
national law as a source of decision in international disputes, are for the most
part identical with generally recognized principles of private law.” Lauterpacht
continued:
The adoption, in Article 38(3) of the Statute of the Permanent Court of
International Justice, of “general principles of law recognized by civilised
States” as a binding— although, it seems, only supplementary— source of
decision in the judicial settlement of international disputes signifies that
that practice, hitherto unsupported by universal and authoritative inter-
national enactment, and regarded by many as derogating from the strictly
judicial character of international arbitration, has now received formal
approval on the part of practically the whole international community.
There lies the outstanding and, to a certain, extent, revolutionary contri-
bution made by the Statute to international law as a whole. This book is,
in a sense, a commentary on Article 38(3) of the Statute and a respect-
ful acknowledgment of the great service rendered to the cause of interna-
tional law by the Committee of Jurists assembled in 1920 at The Hague. As
a result of earnest and prolonged discussions, they arrived at a compro-
mise which honours equally the representatives of both Continental and
British- American jurisprudence, and places the judicial function of the
Court upon a solid foundation.*
* At pages viii– ix. Much of Lauterpacht’s scholarship, not only in that book but in others, was an elabo-

ration of this theme. When he so prematurely died in 1960 at the age of 63, he had edited four editions
of Oppenheim’s classic treatise on International Law. His distinguished son, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht,
recounts, in the first of five volumes of his father’s Collected Papers, that his father prepared 364 type-
written pages that were to be the introductory section of the ninth edition of Oppenheim, meant to be
later incorporated in a textbook of his own. In a section on “The basis of the validity of general prin-
ciples of law,” Judge Sir Hersch Lauterpacht expands upon the place of general principles in terms of
exceptional interest. 1 Hersch Lauterpacht, International Law, Collected Papers, General
Works 75– 77 (E. Lauterpacht ed., 1970).
General Principles of Law and International Due Process ix