Suarez resurgitur : adapting the early modern jus gentium in contemporary international jurisprudence

Abstract

Taking its cues from Francisco Suarez's treatise De legibus (1612) and from a recent case before the International Court of Justice, this article examines the parallels between the Spanish philosopher's view of the jus gentium, as a law concerning both the relations between states and humanity as a whole, and contemporary trends in international jurisprudence, which reject the exclusively inter-state conception of international law that shaped its underlying philosophy and 'practice for over three centuries after the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). In the context of the gradual recognition of individuals as true subjects of international law, resulting from the rise of humanitarian and human rights law and accelerated by globalisation, Suarez's vision of a strong complementary connection between individuals and states as holders of rights and bearers of obligations may offer some useful insights and perspectives for the philosophical underpinning of future developments in international law.