"Peculiar" is more adequate here, I think, because the circumstances are understood to be special, abnormal, not common, while "specific" would rather mean they are "typical, according to certain rules.

Look at the two versions of the same judgment below: one in English, one in French, and compare paragraph 16 of the "Grounds"/"Motifs de l'Arrêt".

PS That is a very good way of finding (especially) French<>English translations of terms in international law: find a treaty or court judgment or whatever that already exists in two official versions and compare them.

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Note added at 19 hrs (2007-06-01 14:10:14 GMT) Post-grading
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Matthew. You are quite at liberty to make whatever decision you choose, and in particular to make wrong decisions, but for the record I would point out that you have done just that. "Special circumstances" are not the same as "specific circumstances". In any case, you were not presented with any references for "special circumstances" (we all know it is used in legal language, but there is no evidence of its being used with the specific sense of "specific circumstances" or "circonstances spécifiques"). It seems that you had already made up your mind not to use the obvious (and in fact correct) translation, and ignored the evidence and arguments.

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Note added at 19 hrs (2007-06-01 14:22:09 GMT) Post-grading
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Yes, OK, I used the wrong name.... Making such a big deal of it amounts to an admission that you have no substantive argument. I am not sure whether you or Matthew should get the apology for the confusion, but as you seem in such harmonious agreement, I don't think it matters.

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Note added at 22 hrs (2007-06-01 16:52:04 GMT) Post-grading
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...and of course you've checked it against the French version of the decision? No one ever denied the term "special circumstances" is used, just the absurd attempt to equate it with "circonstances spécifiques".

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Note added at 22 hrs (2007-06-01 17:07:19 GMT) Post-grading
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Here is the URL of the ICJ judgment: <http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/87/7026.pdf>. The passage in question is at the end of para. 176 (p. 114 for the French, 115 for the English). The French words translated as "special circumstances" are, quelle surprise ! "circonstances spéciales". Still, it would be a shame to let the facts get in the way of a good prejudice, wouldn't it?

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Note added at 1 day17 hrs (2007-06-02 11:57:55 GMT) Post-grading
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Yes you are right: "specific instance" is an excellent translation...of "instance spécifique".

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Note added at 1 day17 hrs (2007-06-02 12:38:52 GMT) Post-grading
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Sorry, I thought you said you were doing a legal translation. The word "instance" in legal English, as in French, generally means a court or tribunal. I would call the OECD translation careless, but then it was not intended as a model for legal translation. If you want reference material for legal translation in FR<>EN and in international law particularly, there is plenty around. The various international tribunals almost invariably publish their decisions in English and French. And then there are international treaties, also almost always drafted in the same two languages.

So far, the only official judicial translation that has been the obvious, and there is no prima facie reason not to use it.