International Law is usually considered, at least initially, to be a unitary legal order that is not subject to different national approaches. Ex definition it should be an order that transcends the national, and one that merges national perspectives into a higher understanding of law. It gains broad recognition precisely because it gives expression to a common consensus transcending national positions. The reality, however, is quite different. Individual countries' approaches to International Law, and the meanings attached to different concepts, often diverge considerably. The result is a lack of comprehension that can ultimately lead to outright conflicts. In this book, several renowned international lawyers engage in an enquiry directed at sorting out how different European nations have contributed to the development of International Law, and how various national approaches to International Law differ. In doing so, their goal is to promote a better understanding of theory and practice in International Law. Chapter "What Are and to What Avail Do We Study European International Law Traditions?" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This timely Research Handbook provides a critical conceptualization and definition of the growing field of global health law. The Research Handbook forms the first comprehensive study on the treatment of health issues in international legal regimes and explores the role of international law in addressing the most prominent global health challenges. The editors have consciously adopted a holistic approach by including 'soft' norms and informal law-making processes in the Research Handbook's scope to give a realistic account of the normative framework that shapes contemporary global health. Despite following a predominantly legal perspective, the Research Handbook also adopts an interdisciplinary approach by looking at health from a governance perspective and using insights from international relations scholarship in forecasting possible future developments surrounding health law. The Research Handbook features contributions from a team of leading international legal scholars who have experience of approaching the issue of global health from multiple angles. International law scholars who are seeking information on the growing role of health in governance trends will find this Research Handbook to be of great interest. Public health scholars who are researching international legal perspectives on health practice and policy will also find it to be a valuable resource. Contributors include: F. Abbott, A. Bellal, C. Brassart Olsen, G.L. Burci, G. Call, A. Garde, C. Giorgetti, S. Gruskin, M. Hartley, J. Liberman, M.M. Mbengue, B. McGrady, S. Moon, T. Murphy, S. Negri, K. O'Cathaoir, X. Seuba, D. Tarantola, J. Tobin, B. Toebes, S. Waltman, S. Zhou

Austerity and Law in Europe presents an interdisciplinary collection of essays that challenge traditional narratives of austerity. The contributions recast austerity as a historically contingent political rationality that operates through law and technocracy. * A collection of essays that tackles the relationship between austerity and law within and outside the European Union * Draws on a set of interdisciplinary contributions, incorporating insights from European law, economic history, legal theory, and economics * Reveals how austerity measures in Europe were not implemented as an outcome of legal or economic necessity, but were a political choice * Presents austerity as a historically contingent political rationality which gained a legal endorsement in the EU law and policy without foreclosing the possibilities for contestation either through law or politics

This book tracks the development of the emerging international legal principle of a responsibility to protect over the past two decades. It contrasts the influential version of the principle introduced by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2001 with subsequent interpretations of the responsibility to protect advocated by the United Nations through its human protection agenda, and reviews the dangers and inconsistencies inherent in both perspectives. The author demonstrates that the evolving responsibility to protect principle can be recruited to support a wide range of irreconcilable projects, from those of cosmopolitan constitutionalism to those of hegemonic international law. However, despite the dangers posed by this susceptibility to conceptual hijacking, Oman argues that the responsibility to protect, like human rights, is an essential a modern emancipatory formation. To remedy this dangerous malleability, the author advocates a third, distinctive interpretation of the responsibility to protect designed to limit its cooptation by liberal anti-pluralist and hegemonic international law agendas. Oman outlines the key features of such a minimalist conception, and explores its fit with the "RtoP" version of the responsibility to protect promoted in recent years by the UN. The author argues that two crucial features missing from the UN reading of the principle should be developed in future: an acknowledgement of the role of non-state actors as bearers of the responsibility to protect, and a recognition of the principle's legal character. Both of these aspects of the principle offer means to democratize the international law-making enterprise.

This book provides an important survey of the causes and current state of corruption across a range of nations and regions. Delving into the diverse ways in which corruption is being combatted, the book explores and describes efforts to inculcate principles of ethical conduct in citizens, private sector actors and public sector personnel and institutions. Corruption is a global condition that effects every type of government, at every level, and has bewitched scholars of governance from ancient times to the present day. The book brings together chapters on a range of state and regional corruption experiences, framing them in terms of efforts to enhance ethical conduct and achieve integrity in government practices and operations. In addition, the book addresses and analyses the theoretical and practical bases of ethics that form the background and historical precepts of efforts to create integrity in government practices, and finally assesses recent international efforts to address corruption on an international scale. This book will be perfect for researchers and upper level students of public administration, comparative government, international development, criminal justice, and corruption.

Most of the competition laws currently enforced by states aim to protect consumer welfare and promote fair competition by regulating against anticompetitive behavior. Yet despite the shared objectives the global community does not have a common global competition law. In exploring the reasons for this, this book takes a unique interdisciplinary approach by using international relations theories to illustrate the relationship between the enforcement of competition laws and international relations through an analysis of competition cases relating to cartels, extraterritoriality, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. Through an examination of this relationship, this book will consider why the views held by state leaders on the condition of international relations may at times lead them to either arbitrarily over-enforce or disregard their competition laws to the detriment of fair competition and consumer welfare. This book also provides suggestions for global business investors who face competition law issues on how they may accommodate such views.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the functioning of extra-legal references (general clauses) in the context of the relation between the legislative policy of opening the legal system and judicial discretion in the field of law interpretation. This publication is based on the analysis of normative acts (in Poland and other selected European countries) and judicial decisions (mainly Polish). The result of the study is an attempt to settle the scope of judicial discretion in determining the content of reference criteria, the basis for their application, and their role in various stages of the process of judicial interpretation of the law. The book concludes with an attempt to construct a comparative and an optimization model of the functioning of general clauses in the legal order.

This book highlights that an independent judiciary is indispensable for the very existence of any society based on democratic values, such as the observance of the rule of law and respect for the human rights of individuals. In order to ensure that the judiciary's interpretation of the law is not bound by the will of the executive and that it is able to call the executive to account by protecting the life as well as liberty of the governed, it is imperative to guarantee, among other things, a transparent method of appointment and the security of tenure of the judges. Taking into account the importance of an independent judiciary in a democratic society, the framers of the Constitution of Bangladesh, 1972, following in the footsteps of the framers of the Constitutions of India and Pakistan, incorporated in the Constitution the ideal of safeguarding the independence of the judiciary as one of its basic features. This book, however, makes it manifestly evident that the key elements for realising such an ideal have not adequately been guaranteed by the Constitution. Consequently, this book sheds light on how succeeding generations of executives have sought to undermine the independence of the judiciary. Accordingly, this book puts forward recommendations for the insertion of detailed norms in the Constitution of Bangladesh for establishing the best means for excluding patronage appointments to the bench and for guaranteeing the security of tenure of the judges. This book asserts that the incorporation of such norms, safeguards the independence of the superior judiciary to decide cases without fear or favour. This book, therefore, seeks to address the gap that exists between the theory and practice concerning the independence of the judiciary in Bangladesh. Since no book is currently available in the market that critically examines these issues in a systematic and structured manner, this research enhances knowledge by not only identifying the flaws, deficiencies and lacunae of the constitutional provisions concerning the method of appointment of the judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh but also the measures undertaken by the current Bangladeshi regime to dispense with the transparent method of removal of the judges involving a body of judicial character.

Autonomy in the Law considers one of the most important benefits of the rule of law. Juxtaposing European and American conceptions of autonomy in the law of families, capital punishment and, criminal trials reveals the common values that justify all legal systems. Law protects the autonomy of individuals and associations by defending the boundaries of their own self-rule. This book illuminates the fundamental purpose of law by examining how European and American lawyers, judges and citizens do and should apply legal autonomy to the practical circumstances of litigation, legislation and the law.

This book examines the subject of constitutional unamendability from comparative, doctrinal, empirical, historical, political and theoretical perspectives. It explores and evaluates the legitimacy of unamendability in the various forms that exist in constitutional democracies. Modern constitutionalism has given rise to a paradox: can a constitutional amendment be unconstitutional? Today it is normatively contested but descriptively undeniable that a constitutional amendment-one that respects the formal procedures of textual alteration laid down in the constitutional text-may be invalidated for violating either a written or unwritten constitutional norm. This phenomenon of an unconstitutional constitutional amendment traces its political foundations to France and the United States, its doctrinal origins to Germany, and it has migrated in some form to all corners of the democratic world. One can trace this paradox to the concept of constitutional unamendability. Constitutional unamendability can be understood as a formally entrenched provision(s) or an informally entrenched norm that prohibits an alteration or violation of that provision or norm. An unamendable constitutional provision is impervious to formal amendment, even with supermajority or even unanimous agreement from the political actors whose consent is required to alter the constitutional text. Whether or not it is enforced, and also by whom, this prohibition raises fundamental questions implicating sovereignty, legitimacy, democracy and the rule of law.

This book examines the security, defence and foreign policy choices and challenges of small states in NATO and its small partner states in the new security environment. The main aim of the book is to analyse how these states are dealing with current and emerging security challenges and how they might better prepare for these challenges. A special focus is on 'new' security threats and solutions, such as drones and hybrid warfare. Simultaneously, the book focusses on how small states are responding to emerging 'old threats', such as Russian aggression in its neighbouring states and increased activity in the North Atlantic. The book makes an attempt to answer questions like: How are the small states of NATO and its small partner states adjusting to the new geo-political and geo-economic environment? Do small states in NATO manage the tension between alliance commitments differently from small states that are not members of NATO? What are the core strategic interests of the NATO and non-NATO partner small states? The book is about the external dimension of inherent size-related difficulties in states and how small states compensate for their inbuilt structural weaknesses compared with their larger neighbouring states. One third of the member states of NATO are small and most NATO partner states are small states too. Small states frequently have a disproportionate effect on global politics and they are more often affected by global shifts of power, yet they have less resources available to address security challenges. The aim of the book is to enhance the understanding of the role of small states in the changing global international security environment. The book presents the theory of shelter (which is derived from the diverse and extensive literature on small states) and uses it to examine how small states respond to new and old security threats. Shelter theory addresses three interrelated issues of common concerns to small states: the reduction of risk before a possible crisis event, assistance in absorbing shocks in times of crises, and help in recovering after such an event. In short, shelter theory claims that small states need external shelter in order to survive and prosper. They are dependent on the economic, political, and societal shelter provided by larger states, as well as regional and international organizations.

This Book attempts to deduce regulatory standards that can close the gaps between the Promises made and the Outcomes secured by the United Nations in relation to its use of force. It explores two broad questions in this regard: why the contemporary legal framework relevant to the regulation of force during Armed Conflict cannot close the gaps between the said Promises and Outcomes and how the 'Unified Use of Force Rule' formulated herein, achieves this. This is the first book to coherently analyse the moral as well as legal aspects relevant to UN use of force. UN peace operations are rapidly changing. Deployed peacekeepers are now required to use force in pursuance of numerous objectives such as self-defence, protecting civilians, and carrying out targeted offensive operations. As a result, questions about when, where, and how to use force have now become central to peacekeeping. While UN peace operations have managed to avoid catastrophes of the magnitude of Rwanda and Srebrenica for over two decades, crucial gaps still exist between what the UN promises on the use of force front, and what it achieves. Current conflict zones such as the Central African Republic, Eastern Congo, and Mali stand testament to this. This book searches for answers to these issues and identifies how an innovative mix of the relevant legal and moral rules can produce regulatory standards that can allow the UN to keep their promises. The discussion covers analytical ground that must be traversed 'behind the scenes' of UN deployment, well before the first troops set foot on a battlefield. The analysis ultimately produces a 'Unified Use of Force Rule', that can either be completely or partially used as a model set of Rules of Engagement by UN forces. This book will be immensely beneficial to law students, researchers, academics and practitioners in the fields of international relations, international law, peacekeeping, and human rights.

Effective policies to prevent global warming and climatic change are urgently required by the world community. However, international negotiations on this issue repeatedly come up against the problems of allocating responsibility for the greenhouse effect, and bearing the costs of remedying the situation.;This volume offers a multidisciplinary response to the challenge. It presents the scientific, economic and political issues and goes on to describe the policy options available. The different ways of determining responsibility for greenhouse gases and calculating obligations to pay for hazards to the environment are analyzed. The contributors examine the implications for various countries, while a concluding chapter explores climatic change negotations - what is at stake, and for whom.

From 1944 to 1946, as the world pivoted from the Second World War to an unsteady peace, Americans in more than two hundred cities and towns mobilized to chase an implausible dream. The newly-created United Nations needed a meeting place, a central place for global diplomacy-a Capital of the World. But what would it look like, and where would it be? Without invitation, civic boosters in every region of the United States leapt at the prospect of transforming their hometowns into the Capital of the World. The idea stirred in big cities-Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, New Orleans, Denver, and more. It fired imaginations in the Black Hills of South Dakota and in small towns from coast to coast. Meanwhile, within the United Nations the search for a headquarters site became a debacle that threatened to undermine the organization in its earliest days. At times it seemed the world's diplomats could agree on only one thing: under no circumstances did they want the United Nations to be based in New York. And for its part, New York worked mightily just to stay in the race it would eventually win. With a sweeping view of the United States' place in the world at the end of World War II, Capital of the World tells the dramatic, surprising, and at times comic story of hometown promoters in pursuit of an extraordinary prize and the diplomats who struggled with the balance of power at a pivotal moment in history.

Analysing international law through the prism of "cynicism" makes it possible to look beyond overt disregard for international law, currently discussed in terms of a backlash or crisis. The concept allows to analyse and criticise structural features and specific uses of international law that seem detrimental to international law in a more subtle way. Unlike its ancient predecessor, cynicism nowadays refers not to a bold critique of power but to uses and abuses of international law that pursue one-sided interests tacitly disregarding the legal structure applied. From this point of view, the contributions critically reflect on the theoretical foundations of international law, in particular its relationship to power, actors such as the International Law Commission and international judges, and specific fields, including international human rights, humanitarian, criminal, tax and investment law.

This book explores the relationship between bureaucrats and elected politicians in Bangladesh and discusses how this impacts governance and development in the country from an empirical perspective. It looks at the interplay of politics and bureaucracy in ancient societies, western democracies and in the developing world while highlighting the uniqueness of the Bangladesh experience and its indigenous contexts of local governance. The author presents a historical overview of the nature of political development, shift of regimes in Bangladesh, and the role of various agents and stakeholders. Through a detailed study, the book provides an analytical and theoretical framework to understanding the linkages between politics and bureaucracy, governance and development in South Asia and Bangladesh, with implications for geopolitics and economic growth. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and students of political economy, development studies, public administration, comparative politics as well as to policymakers, bureaucrats, government bodies, and especially those concerned with Bangladesh.

This book examines the subtle ways in which rhetorics of sacrifice have been re-appropriated into the workings of the global political economy in the 21st century. It presents an in-depth analysis of the ways in which ritual practices are deployed, under a diverse set of political and legal contexts, as legitimation devices in rendering exploitative structures of the prevailing political-economic system to appear inescapable, or even palatable. To this end, this work explores the deeper rhetorical and legal basis of late-capitalist governmentality by critically interrogating its mythical and ritual dimensions. The analysis gives due consideration to the contemporary incarnations of ritual sacrifice in the transnational neoliberal discourse: from those exploitative yet inescapable contractual obligations, to calendrical multi-billion dollar 'offerings' to the insatiable needs of 'too-big-to-fail' corporations. The first part of the book provides a working interpretative framework for understanding the politics of ritual sacrifice - one that not only accommodates multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary knowledge of ritual practices, but that can also be employed in the integrated analysis of sacrificial rituals as political rhetoric under divergent historical and societal contexts. The second conducts a series of case studies that cut across the wide variability of ritual public takings in late-capitalism. The book concludes by highlighting several key common doctrines of public ritual sacrifice which have been broadly observed in its case studies. These common doctrines tend to reflect the rhetorical and legal foundations for public takings under hegemonic market-driven governance. They define 'appropriate and proper' occasions for suspending pre-existing legal protections to regularize otherwise transgressive transfers of rights and possessions for the 'greater good' of the economic order.

This book analyzes human rights and crime prevention challenges from the perspective of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda, in particular its goal 16 on promoting peaceful, inclusive and just societies, the creation and development of which depend on the interplay between various secular and non-secular (f)actors. The book reflects on the implementation of these two legal instruments from a "back to the future" standpoint, that is, drawing on the wisdom of contributors to the 2030 Agenda from the past and present in order to offer a constructive inter-disciplinary and intergenerational approach. The book's intended readership includes academics and educationists, criminal justice practitioners and experts, diplomats, spiritual leaders and non-governmental actors; its goal is to encourage them to pursue a socially and human rights oriented drive for "larger freedom," which is currently jeopardized by adverse political currents.

This book discusses the future role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a world facing survival challenges. It discusses threats such as climate change, environmental degradation and pandemics, and argues that in the future the ICJ will need to carry out judicial, security and protection functions as it is the only organ of the United Nations (UN) that can discharge such functions in view of its independence and expertise. The author proposes that the ICJ can apply a hitherto unused jurisdictional provision in Article 36 of its statute that allows it to deal with "All Matters Specially Provided for in the UN Charter" and presents three examples of issues that would require the urgent attention of the ICJ: vaccine equity in a global pandemic, climate disaster, and mass movements of people across frontiers due to climate change and environmental degradation. Bertrand Ramcharan (Guyana) is a Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln's Inn with a Doctorate in international law from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Diploma in International Law of the Hague Academy of International Law. He was LSE International Law Scholar and has been Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He has also been Director of the Research Centre of the Hague Academy of International Law (The Right to Life), Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, and Chancellor of the University of Guyana. He is a former Chief speech-writer of the UN Secretary-General, and has performed the functions of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His doctoral thesis was on the approach of the International Law Commission to the codification and progressive development of international law.

The book analyses a broad range of relevant aspects as the outer space and cyber space domain do not only present analogies but are also strongly interrelated. This may occur on various levels by technologies but also in regard to juridical approaches, each nevertheless keeping its particularities. Since modern societies rely increasingly on space applications that depend on cyber space, it is important to investigate how cyberspace and outer space are connected by their common challenges. Furthermore, this book discusses not only questions around their jurisdictions, but also whether the private space industry can escape jurisdiction by dematerializing the space resource commercial processes and assets thanks to cyber technology. In addition, space and cyberspace policies are analysed especially in view of cyber threats to space communications. Even the question of an extra-terrestrial citizenship in outer space and cyberspace may raise new views. Finally, the interdependence between space and cyberspace also has an important role to play in the context of increasing militarization and emerging weaponization of outer space. Therefore, this book invites questioning the similarities and interrelations between Outer Space and Cyber Space in the same way as it intends to strengthen them.

Essential Texts in International Law draws together the most important documents needed for the study of international law in a uniquely handy, user-friendly format. Unlike most other texts of this nature, the documents are organised according to subject matter for ease of reference: United Nations and International Peace and Security; State Transactions; State Immunity; State Responsibility; Diplomatic Relations; Economic Relations; Land, Sea, Air and Space; Human Rights; the Environment; and International Criminal Law. Each document has been allocated a unique number, which facilitates navigation for use in the classroom, and is complemented by a detailed subject index. Key features: - Concise but authoritative selection of the essential texts makes this focussed and user-friendly - Intuitive organisation of documents by subject - Unique reference number for each document facilitates navigation - Small, handy reference format for carrying to class

As the centenary of the Treaty of Versailles approaches, this book presents the pre-1914 precursors to the interwar naval arms treaties arising from the peace of 1919, providing a fresh perspective on arms control efforts through an interdisciplinary approach. Interweaving historical investigation with legal analysis, Scott Keefer traces the British role in the development of naval arms control, outlining the pragmatic Foreign Office approaches towards international law. By emphasizing what was possible within the existing legal system rather than attempting to create radically powerful international institutions, statesmen crafted treaties to exploit the unique pace of naval construction. Utilizing previously-overlooked archival resources, this book investigates how the great powers exploited treaties as elements of national security strategies. The result is a fuller analysis of the Hague Peace Conferences, Anglo-German discussions, and lesser known regional agreements from the American Great Lakes to South America, and a richer exploration of pre-1914 diplomacy, providing insights into how a past generation perceived questions of war and defence.

This open access book constitutes an ethnographic mosaic which depicts the contextual complexities of the life and work of seafarers who are employed in the international merchant cargo fleet. The collection is based upon the observations and interviews of researchers in multiple disciplines. It is woven together to offer a richly detailed insight into the ways in which a complex global industry operates internationally. The book covers issues to do with career decisions and recruitment, gender, life and work on board multinational vessels, health and safety issues, the regulation of the industry, shipboard roles and role conflict, and the representation of workers. It will be of considerable interest to all students globally who are studying for professional seafaring qualifications, to graduate students studying for masters courses in ship and port management, and to welfare professionals and policy makers. It is of special interest to those connected to the shipping industry who specialize in issues relating to 'the human element' and will serve as a paradigm defining text in this area.

This book critically explores the legal tools, concepts, principles and instruments, as well as cross-cutting issues, that comprise the field of international environmental law. Commencing with foundational elements, progressing on to discrete sub-fields, then exploring regional cooperative approaches, cross-cutting issues and finally emerging challenges for international environmental law, it features chapters by leading experts in the field of international environmental law, drawn from a range of countries in order to put forward a truly global approach to the subject. The book is split into five parts: * The foundations of international environmental law covering the principles of international environmental law, standards and voluntary commitments, sustainable development, issues of public participation and environmental rights and compliance, state responsibility, liability and dispute settlement. * The key instruments and governance arrangements across the most critical areas of international environmental law: biodiversity, wildlife, freshwater, forestry and soils, fisheries, marine pollution, chemicals and waste, air and atmospheric pollution and climate change. * Crucial developments in seven distinct regions of the world: Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, South East Asia, the polar regions and small island states. * Cross-cutting issues and multidisciplinary developments, drawing from multiple other fields of law and beyond to address human rights and Indigenous rights, war and armed conflict, trade, financing, investment, criminology, technology and energy. * Contemporary challenges and the emerging international environmental law regimes which address these: the changing climate, forced migration, marine plastic debris and future directions in international environmental law. Containing chapters on the most critical developments in environmental law in recent years, this comprehensive and authoritative book makes for an essential reference work for students, scholars and practitioners working in the field.

The agenda of the 11th CEE Forum Conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, held on 25-26 April 2019 was focused on the reassessment of the Central and Eastern European position in Europe and in the world, seeking for the specificities of this region, being often perceived as a double periphery - of the West and of the East. Since thirty years have passed since the disintegration of the bipolar world, the time has come for a critical reconsideration of the earlier scholarly findings or commonplaces and the formulation of more nuanced and refined conclusions. The selection of papers offered by the organizers in this volume provides an up-to-date view of the CEE region and issues and problems shared by the CEE countries