Vorobiev, V.A. Some issues regarding estimate terms in the international humanitarian law

Abstract: The issues regarding application of estimate terms in the Russian legal system were rather broadly discussed in the Russian legal doctrine. Good faith, reasonability, proportionality and other terms were studied both from the general theoretical and institutional standpoints, and more specifically, within the civil law framework. The Russian civil law scholars pointed out the complications regarding application of the legal norms containing these categories, evaluating the role of judicial discretion in resolving relevant issues. At the same time the modern international law literature did not provide comprehensive analysis, moreover, the English language literature lacks the long-standing legal term for the definition of what is referred to as “estimate term” in Russian. The specific features of the method of international law (method of coordination of sovereign expressions of will) do not necessarily stand for the absence of the relevant norms, and the tendencies for the formulation of obligations within the frame international treaties, or international treaties in general, require that this phenomenon is studied at the international law level. The modern international humanitarian law contains a large amount of the so-called “estimate terms”, which were formulated in early or mid-XX century. The article involves a brief overview of the practice and problems of their application with the due regard to the modern reality, which substantiates practical value of this study.

Keywords: