GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF LAW
general principle of law. 1. A principle widely recognized by peoples whose legal order has
attained a certain level of sophistication. 2.Int’l law. A principle that gives rise to international
legal obligations.
“[T]he adjective ‘general’ does not refer to several or many orders [i.e., legal systems] as do
the general principles of national law, but indicates principles which are applied generally in all
cases of the same kind which arise in international law (e.g. the principle of nonintervention).”
Hermann Mosler, “General Principles of Law,” in 2 Encyclopedia of Public International Law 512,
512 (1995).
- A principle recognized in all kinds of legal relations, regardless of the legal system to
which it belongs (state law, federal law, international law, etc.). — Also termed general legal
principle. [Blacks Law 8th]