The International Law Commission: Quo Vadis? (In Celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations)

The article addresses the highly relevant issue concerning the new phase of the International Law Commission’s work which dates back to the turn of the 21st century and marks a pivotal shift in its approach to ‘packaging’ its final outcomes driven by the exhaustion of the Commission’s codification projects, and changes in its composition and decision-making procedures. The article provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the Commission’s working methods. The author argues that today, the criticism of the Commission’s work associated with the adoption of its drafts in forms other than draft articles or draft conventions, with the refusal to subsequently develop international treaties (conventions) on their basis, must be balanced by recognition of the objective influence that such drafts ultimately exert on law enforcement practice, and on the development of international law as a whole. The significance of such drafts as instruments of ‘soft law’ when they are approved by the UN General Assembly in the form of its resolutions, as well as for the identification of customary international law, is highlighted. The article is aimed at developing a balanced doctrinal assessment of the Commission’s role in contemporary international rule-making, taking into account the rational utilization of its updated potential.