CYIL Vol. 5, 2014

ANA POLAK PETRIČ CYIL 5 ȍ2014Ȏ preparation, such as the ILC set of draft articles, ascertainable State practice and, lastly, on doctrinal writings of eminent legal experts and legal institutions. 47 The right to humanitarian assistance is to be considered in the first place a necessary consequence of and based and justified on the universally recognized principles of humanity and human dignity. Various fundamental principles play a major role in practice and law of international humanitarian assistance, some providing its foundation, while others placing constraints on it. With the aim to ensure humanitarian objectivity, activities and operations of all actors providing disaster assistance and relief must take place in accordance with the fundamental humanitarian principles, which lie at the heart of all humanitarian assistance efforts, namely the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality, as well as, closely linked to the former, the principle of non- discrimination. 48 In addition, other relevant fundamental principles of international law are highly pertinent to the provision of disaster relief, particularly the principles of solidarity and cooperation as a conditio sine qua non to successful relief operations and the principle of sovereignty as an essential foundation of international relations. The general principles of international law inspire not only the interpretation and the application of the legal norms but also the law-making process. As asserted by Trindade, they may pave the way for the construction of a new corpus juris in a new domain of international law that requires regulation. 49 This modus should be used in the case of disaster response law, especially because of the absence of a clear- cut recognition of the right to humanitarian assistance in a universally binding legal document. Today it is impossible to imagine the further development and evolution of international law on any other foundation than that of the human conscience and basic values, such as humanity and the respect for human dignity, which are shared by the entire international community and humankind as a whole. In its contemporary sense, humanity and the respect for human dignity represent the cornerstone of the protection of persons in international law and are therefore to be used as a standard and necessary inspiration in the creation, interpretation or development of laws and rules in the humanitarian space, as is the case with the right to humanitarian assistance in the event of disasters. The principle of humanity is the basic principle of international law, particularly in the fields of humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law. By virtue of this principle, every human person should be respected by the simple fact of belonging 47 It is a fact that, while identifying possibilities for the progressive development of new rules of international law, it is necessary that this work be based on existing law. Progressive development cannot be initiated from the ‘point zero’ but should rather be understood as the further development of the existing rules. 48 The importance of humanitarian principles is recognized in provisionally adopted draft article 6 of the ILC on the ‘Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters’. ILC, Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, Texts and titles of draft articles 6, 7, 8 and 9 provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee, UN Doc A/CN.4/L.776. 49 Trindade, C., International Law for Humankind: Towards a New Jus Gentium , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2010, p. 65.