Discovery of Legal Rule through Analogy by the International Court of Justice

Analogy in international legal system, is one of the complex and multifaceted concepts that have always been discussed among international law scholars, and have been widely used in the International Court of Justice proceedings for various occasions. Although the Court, in most cases, has been silent about resorting to analogy in its methodology; but analysis of ICJ judgments and opinions regarding this concept in particular helps us to understand the nature of the concept and assess its scope in a better way. The Court, have made effective inferences by using the capacities of analogy and its effective role in the interpretation process, clarifying the content of the rules, blowing the spirit of innovation and the element of advancement into the international law as a whole, and filling gaps, eliminating the ambiguity and brevity in the international provisions, that make it possible to understand the content, functions and its legal criteria. This paper, while considering the philosophical- legal aspects of the concept of analogy and proper understanding of its capacities for the development, dynamism and integration of international law, is focused on analyzing the role of analogy in the judicial procedure of the ICJ.