Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

general principle of law

1. A principle widely recognized by peoples whose legal order has attained a certain level of sophistication. 2. Int'l law. A principle that gives rise to international legal obligations."[T]he adjective general' does not refer to several or many orders [i.e., legal systems] as do the general principles of national law, but indicates principles which are applied generally in all cases of the same kind which arise in international law