Under customary law, international law cannot be legally binding unless these two elements are

met. The customary requires that practice is not enough but the concept of opinio juris must be
demonstrated by concerned states without actual practice. The elements of customary law are
followed closely because the state must be verified that despite effective practice of the rules,
their parliaments and courts must abide to the requirements. Customary law requires both what
the state says and what the state does. On the other hand, practice requires strict supervision to
ensure the practice adheres to the what is actually said by law.
One of the major difficulty involved in the application of customary international law is proving
the binding law as to whether it is within treaty, national legislation, international court, opinion
from national legal advisors, practice of international organizations and diplomatic
correspondence.