Su natura e limiti della trasposizione di principi comuni 'in foro domestico' nell’ordinamento internazionale

In light of the ongoing work of the International Law Commission, this paper deals with the topic of general principles of law. To identify principles generally applied in foro domestico, a two-step methodology has been established, whose second part involves a transposition test. According to the latter, « a principle common to the various legal systems of the world may be transposed to the international legal system in so far as it is compatible with that system ». Against this backdrop, this essay aims at shedding light on three main issues: (i) what kind of relationship between international law and municipal legal systems underlies Article 38, paragraph 1 (c), of the Statute of the International Court of Justice; (ii) which norms of international law operate as limits to the transposition of principles however generally applied in foro domestico, what are the reasons for these limits to exist and what role judges play in this process; (iii) whether the transposition test can be understood as a codification of international law rather than as a contribution to its progressive development.