Procedural rules of international courts and tribunals: Between change and stability

Introduction to Zoom-out n. 61 on "Procedural Law of International Courts and Tribunals: Between Change and Stability". International procedural law has drawn increasing attention in the last years. This Zoom-out is dedicated to an aspect of international pro- cedural law that nonetheless is generally overlooked, that is, the very characteristics of international procedural rules when conceived of as sources of international law. Basically, two main sets of questions have been submitted to the authors: 1. Can international procedural rules be regarded as ‘ordinary’ in- ternational rules? Are they adopted by the same actors and by having recourse to the same processes as any other international rule? Are they applied, interpreted and enforced in the very same way? 2. Assuming that international procedural rules have special fea- tures, to what extent do they differ from ‘ordinary’ rules? Is there a gen- eral distinction to be made between procedural and substantive rules? Which are the reasons that might explain differences (or points of con- tact) in the procedural regime from one jurisdiction to the other?