Sources of Law Q10 2021 'The sources of international law in Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice are dependent on state consent. So-called "soft law" instruments are not sources of international law and are therefore not dependent on state consent.' Discuss. The interrelation of soft law and sources of law on the international field: It is difficult to consider sources of law as based on principles of consent and soft law requiring no state consent. In practice the divide between soft law and sources of law is not so black and white. It is not clear cut in any form. The principles within soft law are non-binding but when they interact with sources of law, they can have in effect, the force of law. Therefore, if soft law interacts with the sources of law itself and is 'non-consensual' it is difficult to characterise art.38 as wholly based on state consent. Soft law that has normative force and useful in the development of custom. Soft law is a normative principle and can be useful in guiding state practice even if it is not binding. It is easy to see how guiding principles in international law can transform and crystallise into customary norms over time. Soft law being incorporated into treaties so that they do not become outdated and are continually able to have regulations that match international standards without having to update treaties, this means that treaties as a form of codified law do not become outate too quickly and is able to retain some flexibility. The state in consenting to the treaty has also consented to the regulations it will be bound by. Soft law has generally been more helpful to the process of international law-making than it has been objectionable, and that is the key point. It is inconceivable that modern treaty regimes or international organizations could function successfully without resort to soft law. The reliance on soft law instruments when determining judicial decisions. In the Pulp Mills case, for example, Argentina and Uruguay relied, inter alia, on the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, UNEP's 1987 Goals and Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment, and the ILC's 2002 Draft Articles on Prevention of Transboundary Harm. This makes it directly interlinked with a principal source in art.38 and often, in this context, the non-binding force of soft law can be overstated. Where there is general agreement based on soft law instruments, they are going to impose some restraint on the definition of the terms of a treaty. Is Art.38(1) underpinned by state consent? Customary law: Is it underpinned by state consent? The prevalence of western state practice in the creation of CIL. pre-existing customary norms that new states must accede by virtue of emerging as a recognised state which meant that many states were forced to agree to western international norms when becoming independent in the 1960s. Consider the fact that the term civilised nations still feature within art.38 which is a herald to