Customary International Law explained Acquiescence of states Sources of International Law

Acquiescence, Protest, and Change in Customary Law

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acquiescence is a factor in creating customary international law, whereby consent to a rule takes the form of silence, or absence of Protest, instead of a positive response.

As the absence of Protest means agreement, a state that does not object to another state's action, gives legitimacy to such Behavior, as acquiescence amounts to a silent consent to a customary rule.

As a result, Failure to react over a period of time to a state practice, can serve as evidence of opinio juris, provided that States could respond, and the events called for some reaction.

On the other hand, Protest is a formal communication from one state, to object to the act performed by another.
However, It is unrealistic to demand every state to react to each single act of all other states.

Where many states maintain a new rule that contradicts a prior practice, the protests of a few states would not affect it, and the abstention from the reaction by other countries would only reinforce it.

Therefore, Behavior contrary to a custom contains within itself the seeds of a new rule, and if other nations support it, the previous law will disappear and be replaced, or there could be a period of time during which the two customs co-exist, until one of them is generally accepted, as was the position with the territorial sea limits.

As a result, customary rules bind all states, except those who have rejected the existence of a custom from its inception.

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