11 Concluding Remarks: The Splendid Textuality of Customary International Law

Abstract

This chapter reviews the discourse on customary international law that is splendid thanks to the myriad of discursive performances that are achieved each time a claim is made about customary international law. It analyzes the anatomic account of the discourse on customary international law that contributed to an image of customary international law as a sophisticated doctrine whereby its users perform all kinds of discursive feats. It also demonstrates that textuality does not have the monopoly on discursive splendour in international law. The chapter argues that textuality is everywhere in customary international law notwithstanding as it is commonly understood as a source of unwritten law. It emphasizes that the discursive splendour of customary international law is neither a-textual nor pre-textual but rooted in the very textual materializations of customary international law.