Finding the Core of International Law – Jus Cogens in the Work of International Law Commission

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the contemporary debate on the jus cogens norms of international law, especially since the topic is being analyzed by the International Law Commission. Besides providing comments on some of the conclusions of the ILC’s Special Rapporteur concerning various aspects of jus cogens concept, such as the process of identification of these norms or the notion of regional jus cogens, the paper endeavours to shed a new light on the criteria for the creation of these norms by introducing one innovative, so far hidden, requirement that can be deduced from the “Fourth report on peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens) by Special Rapporteur Dire Tladi”. Respectively, a norm cannot gain a jus cogens status until the International Court of Justice qualifies it as such. Once this additional requirement is recognized and accepted by the whole international community, jus cogens concept can be further developed in order to be completely clarified and to start fulfilling its main functions