ABSTRACT
This chapter determines what material and symbolic evidences of legitimacy may be lacking in custom and recommends their inclusion as a means of attending to custom's legitimacy deficit. It considers approaches to the measurement of legitimacy and the function of international tribunals in enhancing custom's legitimacy as a law creating mechanism. The jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) shows that it has three types of jurisdiction, namely, contentious, incidental, and advisory. Textual determinacy, which appears to be the most self-evident among the factors that can influence a rule's legitimacy, is most often achieved by textual clarity. Symbolic validation refers to the cultural and anthropological dimension of legitimacy. In short, symbolic validation is a legitimating strategy of all compliance-inducing rule systems. Organs that coherently and consistently apply the same standards in all cases generally maintain their principles of applicability and their legitimacy.
