The Principle Jura Novit Curia in International Judicial and Arbitral Proceedings, A Window on International Adjudication

These lectures focus on one of the aspects of adjudicative discretion in international litigation and on the rules and principles that constraint it. Namely, on the boundaries of the freedom of international courts and tribunals within which they may apply the applicable law to the dispute by distancing themselves from the legal arguments advanced by the parties. Jura novit curia is researched in combination with the cognate principles ne ultra petita, ne infra petita and non liquet. The analysis goes to the core of the adjudicative function, whose rationale emerges as threefold, thus, entailing a threefold application of jura novit curia: i.e., within the inter-state, human rights, and criminal law adjudicative contexts. The overarching procedural principle of the right of the parties to be heard appears to legitimise maximum utilization of jura novit curia in all three contexts, thus, suggesting enhancing interactive proactivity from the bench.