Abstract: Various views of the historical phenomenon of custom coexist in the world’s legal historical scholarship. Some scholars hold that customs are the primary feature of a people’s autonomy and selfdetermination in the permanent struggle against the »imperialist« attitudes of major powers. Others try to stay closer to historical sources, where the concept of custom has apparently served as a tool of argumentation that has proven very useful in defending the jurisdictional rights of collective subjects, such as cities, religious communities or ...
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