The Nature of the General Principles of Law and Their Functions in International Law

The international law is a legal system tasked with securing the rule of law on the international scene and attainment of common values such as humanity, justice, and security. This system consists of interlinked values and norms which represent social, political and moral purposes of law, therefore the international law is more based on normative foundations than rules. There are different ways to display the norms, the most important one is the main sources of international law. Despite the significance of the general principles as foundations of legal structure, they remain unknown. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of general principles and to evaluate their different functions. Given that, international law is a system with constant renewal and dynamism, the functions of general principles play an important role in preventing the stagnation of international law. They help for growth and responding to new challenges of international law.