Uses and possible misuses of a Comparative International Law approach

Should international lawyers embrace the Comparative International Law project (CIL)? One can readily with the noble aspiration to renew international law and to deal more effectively with the challenges of our times and on the need to engagein a more constructive and effective communication among international lawyers of different origins and backgrounds. Still, the complexity and the breadth of the CIL project as both a legal and a political tool commands a more nuanced response. To this end, this paper is divided in three parts. First, it illustrates the theoretical and factual basis underlying the CIL project. Second, it provides an overview of the function(s) that comparative law currently plays in different branches of public international law and asks in what way a more robust turn to comparative law than is currently in place may enrich international law. Third, it reflects on the relationship between the CIL approach and the existing system of international law as a set of primary and secondary rules.