Collection of Essays by Legal Advisers of States, Legal Advisers of International Organizations and Practitioners in the Field of International Law


Book Description

The world has changed radically since 1989, when the General Assembly declared the period from 1990 to 1999 as the United Nations Decade of International Law. During that time, the international community claimed some major achievements as reflected by the adoption of conventions and treaties. This publication presents a collection of essays from legal advisers of States and international organizations, all of whom are among those committed to promoting respect for international law. Their contribution provides a practical perspective on international law, viewed from the standpoint of those involved in its formation, application and administration.




Nobody's Perfect


Book Description

Public confidence in the justice system depends on the belief that decisions made in the judicial processes are reasonably correct and accurate. This book focuses on the systems of appellate control of court judgments. The editors explore the relationship between the different approaches to appeals in national civil justice systems and their impact on the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the legal protection of individual rights.




Rule of Law, Human Rights and Judicial Control of Power


Book Description

Judicial control of public power ensures a guarantee of the rule of law. This book addresses the scope and limits of judicial control at the national level, i.e. the control of public authorities, and at the supranational level, i.e. the control of States. It explores the risk of judicial review leading to judicial activism that can threaten the principle of the separation of powers or the legitimate exercise of state powers. It analyzes how national and supranational legal systems have embodied certain mechanisms, such as the principles of reasonableness, proportionality, deference and margin of appreciation, as well as the horizontal effects of human rights that help to determine how far a judge can go. Taking a theoretical and comparative view, the book first examines the conceptual bases of the various control systems and then studies the models, structural elements, and functions of the control instruments in selected countries and regions. It uses country and regional reports as the basis for the comparison of the convergences and divergences of the implementation of control in certain countries of Europe, Latin America, and Africa. The book’s theoretical reflections and comparative investigations provide answers to important questions, such as whether or not there are nascent universal principles concerning the control of public power, how strong the impact of particular legal traditions is, and to what extent international law concepts have had harmonizing and strengthening effects on internal public-power control.




Justice as Prevention


Book Description

Countries emerging from armed conflict or authoritarian rule face difficult questions about what to do with public employees who perpetrated past human rights abuses and the institutional structures that allowed such abuses to happen. Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies examines the transitional reform known as "vetting"-the process by which abusive or corrupt employees are excluded from public office. More than a means of punishing individuals, vetting represents an important transitional justice measure aimed at reforming institutions and preventing the recurrence of abuses. The book is the culmination of a multiyear project headed by the International Center for Transitional Justice that included human rights lawyers, experts on police and judicial reform, and scholars of transitional justice and reconciliation. It features case studies of Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, the former German Democratic Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and South Africa, as well as chapters on due process, information management, and intersections between other institutional reforms.




Religious Courts in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights


Book Description

In the 60 years of its existence, the European Court of Human Rights has handled only twelve cases in which a religious court was involved at stage of domestic proceedings. These cases originated from a number of European States and the Court came to various conclusions, which are presented in this book.




The European Court of Human Rights


Book Description

This insightful book considers how the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is faced with numerous challenges which emanate from authoritarian and populist tendencies arising across its member states. It argues that it is now time to reassess how the ECHR responds to such challenges to the protection of human rights in the light of its historical origins.




Venezuela's Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective


Book Description

This book examines the populist movement of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and argues that populism is primarily a response to widespread corruption. It defends a definition of populism as a set of ideas and measures populism across Venezuela and other countries. It also explores the influence of populist ideas on political organization and policy.




Excess of Powers in International Commercial Arbitration


Book Description

Although the idea of arbitral tribunal's mandate is in everyday use in the international arbitration scholarship, it remains an elusive concept lacking any legal definition. Often associated with other notions such as the tribunal's mission, powers, authority or even jurisdiction, the meaning of arbitral tribunal's mandate remains a moving target and escapes easy classification. Yet, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, a non-compliance with the arbitral tribunal's mandate provides a basis for a challenge of the arbitral award at the post-award stage (either during setting aside proceedings or at the enforcement stage). Since the concept of the tribunal's mandate is vague, it attracts, in turn, a broad interpretation of the ground leading to a frustration of the fundamental value of arbitration - the finality of the arbitral award. It is therefore essential to determine how the national courts review arbitral awards on the basis of 'excess of mandate' and consequently in what instances they accept the argument that the tribunal acted in violation of its mandate. This study aims at recognizing the similarities and differences of the 'excess of mandate' type of challenges in selected legal systems (namely the UNCITRAL Model Law, France, England, the U.S. and the New York Convention). Looking through the eyes of what the selected legal systems consider to be an 'excess of mandate' allows us to identify common features and contributes to a better understanding of the concept of the arbitral tribunal's mandate by arbitrators, judges and legal practitioners alike. Accordingly, this research adds a building block to the definition of the tribunal's mandate.




The FIDIC Forms of Contract


Book Description

In September 1999, FIDIC introduced its new Suite of Contracts, which included a “new” Red, Yellow, Silver and Green forms of contract. The “new” Red Book was intended to replace the 1992 fourth edition of the Red Book, with the ambition that its use would cease with time. This ambition has not materialised and is unlikely to do so in the future. Despite the importance of the 1999 Forms, there has been very little published on the new concepts adopted in them and how they interact with the previous forms. This important work considers these aspects together with the many developments affecting the fourth edition of the Red Book that have taken place since 1997, when the second edition of this book was published, and relates them to key contracting issues. It is written by a chartered engineer, conciliator and international arbitrator with wide experience in the use of the FIDIC Forms and in the various dispute resolution mechanisms specified in them. Important features of this book include: · background and concepts of the various forms of contract; · a detailed comparison of the wording of the1999 three main forms, which although similar in nature; it nevertheless significantly differs in certain areas where the three forms diverge due to their intended purpose; · analysis of the rights and obligations of the parties involved in the contract and the allocation of risks concerned; · a range of ‘decision tree’ charts, analysing the main features of the 1992 Red Book, including risks, indemnities and insurances, claims and counterclaims, variations, procedure for claims, programme and delay, suspension, payments and certificates, dispute resolution mechanisms, and dispute boards; · a much enlarged discussion of the meaning of “claim” and “dispute” and the types of claim with a discussion of the Notice provision in the 1999 forms of contract for the submittal of claims by a contractor and by an employer; · the FIDIC scheme of indemnities and insurance requirements; and the methods of dispute resolution provided by the various forms of contract; and · five new chapters in this third edition, the first four chapters deal with each of the 1999 forms and the fifth chapter is confined to the topic of Dispute Boards.