An Inquiry into the Historical Roots and Scientific Foundations of the Supremacy Principles of Law

Document Type : Original Article

Author
iman mokhtari
tehran un
10.22047/hsd.2025.521469.1078
Abstract
The present article aims to explain the historical roots and ‎scientific foundations of the supranational principles of law, ‎and critically analyzes their position in the modern legal ‎order. The main issue is the nature and conceptual limits of ‎supranational principles in contrast or interaction with ‎general principles, supranational rules, and legal narrativism. ‎The central hypothesis of the research is that supranational ‎principles not only arise from the rationalist tradition of ‎natural law and analytical law, but also have the ability to be ‎retrieved in the context of historical narratives and modern ‎interpretive structures. The research method in this article is ‎a descriptive-analytical approach with an interdisciplinary ‎approach that uses the resources of legal philosophy, ‎comparative constitutional law, and narrative theory. The ‎innovative aspect of the research topic lies in presenting a ‎combined reading of supranational principles as concepts ‎that are not merely abstract, but have a practical function in ‎narrative-oriented and justice-oriented legal systems. The ‎findings show that these principles, especially in the form of ‎justice, human dignity, and formal rationality, have a supra-‎applicable function and play a structural role in the process ‎of judicial adjudication and constitutional interpretations. ‎The final conclusion is that, despite their abstract ‎appearance, supra-applicable principles are in practice ‎recognizable as "semantic guides" in the legal order.‎
Keywords
Legal principles, rule, interpretation, positivism, natural law&lrm
ج) منابع انگلیسی
1)      Aleksander, Peczenik, 2008, On Law and reason, vol.8, first published, Netherlands, springer.
2)      Alexy, Robert (2002), A Theory of Constitutional Rights. Translated by Julian Rivers. Oxford: Oxford University.
3)      Ackerman, Bruce (1991). We the People, Harvard University Press.
4)      Agarwal. Himanshu (2021), International Law Sources: Primary & Secondary, International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Vol.4 No.2, pp.1770-1796.
5)      Avila, Humberto, 2001, Theory of legal Principles, vol.8, first published, Netherlands, springer.
6)      Aquinas, T. (1947). Summa Theologica. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province.
7)      Aristotle. (1995). Politics. Translated by Carnes Lord. University of Chicago Press.
8)      Aust. Anthony (2013), Modern Treaty Law and Practice, 3rd ed., Cambridge University Press.
9)      Bassiouni, M. Cherif (1990), A Functional Approach to “General Principles of International Law”, Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp 768–779.
10)   Barrington. Holly (2013), Legal Approaches to Public International Law and the Nature of International Affairs.
11)   Bos, Maarten (1997), The Recognized Manifestations of International Law, German Yearbook of International Law, vol. 20.
12)   Bruno Simma and Philip Alston (1989), The Sources of Human Rights Law: Custom, Jus Cogens, and General Principles,  vol. 12, p. 82.
13)   Brownlie, Ian (2008). Principles of Public International Law. Oxford University Press.
14)   Norberto Bobbio (1991), Theory of Law and Democracy, University of Chicago Press.
15)   Cárdenas Castañeda. Fabián Augusto (2013), A call for rethinking the sources of international law: soft law and the other side of the coin, Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional, Vol.13 No.5, pp. 355-403.
16)   Cassese, Antonio (2005). International Law. Oxford University Press.
17)   Colangelo, Anthony J (2022), Constitutional Law, Jus Cogens and International Criminal Procedure, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 60, No. 2, 2022, pp. 221–279.
18)   Cover, Robert M (1983), Nomos and Narrative.” Harvard Law Review 97, no. 1, p4-68.
19)   Cicero, M.T. (1991). De Legibus. Translated by Clinton W. Keyes. Loeb Classical Library.
20)   Daci, Jordan (2010), “Legal Principles, Legal Values and Legal Norms: Are They the Same of Different?”, International Scientific Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2.
21)   Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the Gulf of Maine Area (Canada/United States of America), Judgment of 12 October 1984, ICJ Reports 1984, para.79.
22)   Dworkin, R (1978), Taking Rights Seriously, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University press.
23)   Dworkin, R. (1986). Law's Empire. Harvard University Press.
24)   International Court of Justice (ICJ) (1969), North Sea Continental Shelf Cases (Federal Republic of Germany v. Denmark; Federal Republic of Germany v. Netherlands).
25)   International Court of Justice (ICJ)‎ (1996), Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.
26)   Kelsen, H. (1967). Pure Theory of Law. University of California Press.
27)   Kumm, Mattias (2020). “The Cosmopolitan Turn in Constitutionalism: On the Relationship between Constitutionalism in and beyond the State.” In The Twilight of Constitutionalism?, Oxford University Press.
28)   Locke, J. (1689). Two Treatises of Government.
29)   Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem – Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024.
30)   Malcolm N. Shaw (2021), International Law. 9th ed., Cambridge University Press.
31)   Finnis, J. (1980). Natural Law and Natural Rights. Oxford University Press.
32)   Finnis, John. (2011). Natural Law and Natural Rights. Oxford University Press.‎
33)   Qtto Kahn-Freud, Claudin Levy & Bernard Rudden (1973), A Source - Book on French Law, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
34)   Plato. (1992). Republic. Translated by G.M.A. Grube. Hackett Publishing.
35)   Prost. Mario (2017), HIERARCHY AND THE SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW: A CRITIQUE, Houston Journal of International Law, Vol.39 No.2, pp.70-100.
36)   Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press.
37)   Raz, Joseph. (2019). The Authority of Law: Essays on Law and Morality. Oxford University Press.
38)   Rousseau, J.-J. (1762). The Social Contract.
39)   H. Lauterpacht (1927), Private Law Sources and Analogies of International Law at 38 ff.
40)   Hall, S. (2022). The Cambridge Handbook of Natural Law and Human Rights, Cambridge University Press.
41)   Hart, H.L.A. (1961). The Concept of Law. Oxford University Press.
42)   Saunders, Imogen (2022), General Principles as a Source of International Law: Art 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, Bloomsbury Publishing, Oxford University Press.‎
43)   Sarfatti, Ester (2021), The Semiotics of Justice: Abstraction and Normative Ambiguity in Judicial Reasoning, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2021, pp. 317–335.
44)   See Bin Cheng (1953), General Principles of Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals;
45)   Statute of the International Court of Justice, 1945
46)   Schauer, F. (1991). Playing by the Rules: A Philosophical Examination of Rule-Based Decision-Making in Law and in Life. Harvard University Press.
47)   S. Kwiatkowska (),
48)   Shaw, Malcolm N (2017). International Law. Cambridge University Press.
49)   Hersch Lauterpacht (1927), Private Law Sources and Analogies of International Law.
50)   Report of the International Law Commission on the Work Its Sixty-Ninth Session (ILC Report) (2017): UN Secretariat, Topical Summary of the Discussion Held in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly during Its Seventy-Second Session, UN Doc. A/CN.4/713, 26 February 2018, para. 83.
51) The General Civil Code of Austria, Article 7, translated by Paul L. Baeck.
52) Tanaka. Yoshifumi (2023), The International Law of the Sea, Cambridge University Press.
53) Watson, A. (1995). The Spirit of Roman Law. University of Georgia Press.
54) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
55) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966
د) منابع فرانسوی
1)    René CHAPUS. Droit administratif général. Tome 1. 15e édition. Montchrestien. Paris. 2001, p.95.
2)    André DE LAUBADERE & Yves GAUDEMET. Id. , p. 564 ; Pierre TIFINE. Droit administratif français. Éditions juridiques franco. allemandes.2012, p. 131.
3)    Bazex, J. (2005). Droit Constitutionnel. Paris: Dalloz.
4)    De Laubadère, R. (1996). Les Principes Généraux du Droit. Paris: Sirey.
5)    Duverger, M. (1980). Les Principes Généraux du Droit. Paris: Dalloz.
6)    Jean Carbonnier (1991), Flexible droit, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
7)    Lenel, O. (1910). Grundfragen des Verfassungsrechts. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
8)    Mazzamuto, R. (2003). Principes et règles en droit privé. Paris: LGDJ.
9)    Souriau, J. (2012). Le Conseil d'État et les Principes Généraux du Droit. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
10) Troper, M. (2001). La Philosophie du droit. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Development of humanities
Volume 6, Issue 12 - Serial Number 12
Humanities
Volume 6, Autumn and Winter 2025-2026, No. 12
March 2026
Pages 145-168