International Law: New Actors, New Concepts - Continuing Dilemmas


Book Description

The Liber Amicorum is published on the occasion of the retirement of Professor Božidar Bakotić from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, after an impressive career that started in 1961. His colleagues and former students have contributed to this collection of essays dealing with a variety of topics in the fields of international law which Professor Bakotić himself has been most active in. Therefore, the majority of essays deal with the subjects of international law, the various international régimes of spaces, the international protection of human rights and humanitarian law, the settlement of international disputes and the law of armed conflicts. Notwithstanding the specific international developments over the last twenty years in the geographic area where Professor Bakotić has served (Southeastern Europe), all the authors of the contributions to this Liber Amicorum have dealt with their topics at the level of general international law. The book comprises 32 essays from scholars who had close relations with Professor Bakotić in the course of his career at the Zagreb Faculty of Law, in various other law schools and international organisations, in the International Law Association, in the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Diplomatic Academy. The majority of essays are in English and six are in French.







International Law


Book Description




Non-State Actors in International Law


Book Description

The role and position of non-state actors in international law is the subject of a long-standing and intensive scholarly debate. This book explores the participation of this new category of actors in an international legal system that has historically been dominated by states. It explores the most important issues, actors and theoretical approaches with respect to these new participants in international law. It provides the reader with a comprehensive and state-of-the-art overview of the most important legal and political developments and perspectives. Relevant non-state actors discussed in this volume include, in particular, international governmental organisations, international non-governmental organisations, multinational companies, investors and armed opposition groups. Their legal position is considered in relation to specific issue-areas, such as humanitarian law, human rights, the use of force and international responsibility. The main legal theories on non-state actors' position in international law – neo-positivism, the policy-oriented approach and transnational law – are covered at the beginning of the book, and the essential political science perspectives – on non-state actors' role in international politics and globalisation, as well as their soft power – are presented at the end.




Rethinking International Law and Justice


Book Description

General principles of law have made, and are likely further to make, a significant contribution to our understanding of the constituent elements of global justice. Dealing extensively with global headline issues of peace, security and justice, this book explores justice arising in specific areas of international law, as well as underlying theories of justice from political science and international relations. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners, the book adopts an interdisciplinary approach. Covering issues such as international humanitarian law, and examining the significance of non-state actors for the development of international law, the collection concludes with the complex question of how best to rethink aspects of international justice. The lessons derived from this research will have wide implications for both developed and emerging nation-states in rethinking sensitive issues of international law and justice. As such, this book will be of interest to academics and practitioners interested in international law, environmental law, human rights, ethics, international relations and political theory.




Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law


Book Description

Conventionally, international legal scholarship concerned with norm conflicts focuses on identifying how international law can or should resolve them. This book adopts a different approach. It focuses on identifying those norm conflicts that law cannot and should not resolve. The book offers an unprecedented, controversial, yet sophisticated, argument in favour of construing such irresolvable conflicts as legal dilemmas. Legal dilemmas exist when a legal actor confronts a conflict between at least two legal norms that cannot be avoided or resolved. Addressing both academics and practitioners, the book aims to identify the character and consequences of legal dilemmas, to distil their legal function within the sphere of international law, and to encourage serious theoretical and practical investigation into the conditions that lead to a legal dilemma. The first part proposes a definition of legal dilemmas and distinguishes the term from numerous related concepts. Based on this definition, the second part scrutinises international law's contemporary norm conflict resolution and accommodation devices in order to identify their limited ability to resolve certain kinds of norm conflicts. Against the background of the limits identified in the second part, the third part outlines and evaluates the book's proposed method of dealing with legal dilemmas. In contrast to conventional approaches that recommend dealing with irresolvable norm conflicts by means of non liquet declarations, judicial law-making, or a balancing test, the book's proposal envisions that irresolvable norm conflicts are dealt with by judicial and sovereign actors in a complementary fashion. Judicial actors should openly acknowledge irresolvable conflicts and sovereign actors should decide with which norm they will comply. The book concludes with the argument that analysing various aspects of international law through the concept of a legal dilemma enhances its conceptual accuracy, facilitates more legitimate decision-making, and maintains its dynamic responsiveness.




The Concept of Treaty in International Law


Book Description

Whether or not a certain norm is legally binding upon international actors may often depend on whether or not the instrument which contains the norm is to be regarded as a treaty. In this study, the author argues that instruments which contain commitments are, "ex" "hypothesi," treaties. In doing so, he challenges popular notions proclaiming the existence of morally and politically binding agreements and so-called soft law'. Such notions, Klabbers argues, are internally inconsistent and founded upon untenable presumptions. Moreover, they find little support in the pertinent decisions of municipal and international courts and tribunals. The book addresses issues of importance not only for academics working in international law, constitutional law and political science, but also for practitioners involved in the making, implementation and enforcement of international agreements.




Contemporary Issues in the Law of Treaties


Book Description

This book is a collection of essays dealing with issues of contemporary significance in the law of treaties. It neither purports nor aspires to provide a general overview of all aspects of the law of treaties, and it is by no means intended to be a comprehensive textbook. The discussion of the subjects selected in this book will shed some light on a number of areas of the contemporary law of treaties, and, consequently, on some important features of the international legal system at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The relevance of the rules governing the law of treaties for other central fields of international law continue to be the subject of frequent doctrinal discussion. In addition, some rapidly developing newer areas of public international law, which are regulated for the most part by treaties, have renewed the importance of some older problems, for example, the question of conflicts between treaties regulating the same subject-matter and the matter of treaty interpretation. One other important issue is the relevance of the emergence of new actors and factors, other than states, in the international legal order in general, and in the law of treaties in particular.




Progress in International Law


Book Description

"Progress in International Law" is a comprehensive accounting of international law for our times. Forty leading international law theorists analyze the most significant current issues in international law and their critical assessments draw diverse conclusions about the current state and future prospects of international law. The material is grouped under the headings: The History and Theory of International Law; The Sources of International Law and Their Application in the United States; International Actors; International Jurisdiction and International Jurisprudence; The Use of Force and the World's Peace; and The Challenge of Protecting the Environment and Human Rights. The book draws its inspiration from a similar survey undertaken in 1932 by Harvard Law Professor and PCIJ Judge Manley O. Hudson. In his book "Progress in International Organization," Hudson sought to demonstrate that what he perceived as an emerging international infrastructure, and as moves toward the rule of law in international affairs, were sure signs of human progress towards peace and cooperation. "Progress in International Law" critically engages with that claim as a normative matter and, at the same time, presents the evidence by which a judgment about our own progress towards peace and cooperation might be judged.




Global Justice, Human Rights and the Modernization of International Law


Book Description

This book is based on the observation that international law is undergoing a process of change and modernization, driven by many factors, among which the affirmation and consolidation of the role of the individual and of the theory of human rights stand out. In the contemporary world, international law has demonstrated an ability to evolve rapidly. But it is still unclear whether its modernization process is also producing structural changes, which affect the subjects, the sources and even the very purpose of this law. Is it truly possible to speak of a paradigmatic and ideological change in the international legal system, one that also involves a transition from a state-centred international order to a human-centred one, and from inter-state justice to global justice?The book addresses three fundamental aspects of the modernization process of international law: the possible widening of the concept of international community and of the classic assumptions of statehood; the possible diversification of the sources of general international law; and the ability of international law to adapt to new challenges and to achieve the main goals for humanity set by the United Nations.The overall objective of the book is to provide the tools for a deeper understanding of the transition phase of contemporary international law, by examining the major problems that characterize this phase. The book will also stimulate critical reflection on the future prospects of international law.