Structure and methodology of the text are transparent and cross-jurisdictional, not tied to the perceptions and approaches of one particular jurisdiction (e.g. common law or civil law), therefore making it applicable to every student of international law. Comprehensive coverage without being as dense and lengthy as other competing texts, therefore accessible to all students, regardless of prior knowledge or background. Good use of signposting in text through subheadings and logical chapter structures, accessible pedagogy for upper level undergraduates (especially in comparison to some of the competing texts). Provides a framework for students rather than just a prescriptive narrative, arming the student with the analytical and methodological tools to pursue the discipline in greater depth. Further updated since previous edition to include new case studies and court decisions, as well as sections on women's rights, cyber-attacks and Islamic ideologies. Includes a companion website to help students and instructors by offering suggestions for further reading and discussion questions, as well as updates to the law between editions to keep students' knowledge as up to date as possible.

Structure and methodology of the text are transparent and cross-jurisdictional, not tied to the perceptions and approaches of one particular jurisdiction (e.g. common law or civil law), therefore making it applicable to every student of international law. Comprehensive coverage without being as dense and lengthy as other competing texts, therefore accessible to all students, regardless of prior knowledge or background. Good use of signposting in text through subheadings and logical chapter structures, accessible pedagogy for upper level undergraduates (especially in comparison to some of the competing texts). Provides a framework for students rather than just a prescriptive narrative, arming the student with the analytical and methodological tools to pursue the discipline in greater depth. Further updated since previous edition to include new case studies and court decisions, as well as sections on women's rights, cyber-attacks and Islamic ideologies. Includes a companion website to help students and instructors by offering suggestions for further reading and discussion questions, as well as updates to the law between editions to keep students' knowledge as up to date as possible.

This monograph analyses the questions raised by the legal effects of peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens). A comprehensive study of this problem has been lacking so far in international legal doctrine. Peremptory norms, although often criticised and even more often approached with sceptical nihilism, nevertheless attract growing doctrinal and practical attention and have increasing importance in determining the permissible limits on the action of State and non-State actors in different areas. In view of this overriding impact on what might otherwise be instances of the law-making process, peremptory norms concern a constitutional aspect of international law. Peremptory norms are non-derogable norms, and the concept of derogation is among the key concepts analysed here. Derogation from peremptory norms can be attempted in a wide variety of situations, but if peremptory norms are to operate as norms and not merely as aspirations they must generate consequences that are also peremptory. This effects-oriented character of peremptory norms is examined in a variety of fields. Despite the growing relevance of peremptory norms in practice, doctrine has failed to treat the issue comprehensively and has often been limited to examining specific aspects of the problem, such as the impact of peremptory norms in the law of treaties. This fresh effort to examine and explain the phenomenon of peremptory norms in key areas fills an important doctrinal gap through presenting in a systematic way the effects of peremptory norms and reappraising the significance of such effects, bearing in mind their overall nature. It also demonstrates that the hierarchical superiority of peremptory norms is not limited to the sphere of primary legal relations but becomes most crucially relevant after a specific peremptory norm is breached. A norm's peremptory character is relevant not only for its substance but also for its consequences; peremptoriness consists primarily in the capacity to impact through its effects upon conflicting acts, situations and agreements.

There are frequent claims that the international legal regulation of international law is uncertain, vague, ambiguous, or indeterminate, which does not support the stability, transparency, or predictability of international legal relations. This monograph examines the framework of interpretation in international law based on the premise of the effectiveness and determinacy of international legal regulation, which is a necessary pre-requisite for international law to be viewed as law.
This study examines this problem for the first time since these questions were addressed, and taken as the basic premises of the international legal analysis, in the works of JL Brierly and Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. Addressing the different aspects of the effectiveness of legal regulation, this monograph explores the structural limits on, and threshold of, legal regulation, and the relationship between the established legal regulation and non-law. Once the limits of legal regulation are ascertained, the analysis proceeds to study the legal framework of interpretation that serves the maintenance and preservation of the object and intendment of the existing legal regulation.
The final indispensable stage of analysis is the interpretation of those treaty provisions that embody the indeterminate conditions of non-law. Given that the generalist element of international legal doctrine has been virtually silent on the problem and implications of the effectiveness and determinacy of international legal regulation, this study examines the material accumulated in doctrine and practice for the past several decades, including the relevant jurisprudence of all major international tribunals.

This monograph analyses the questions raised by the legal effects of peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens). A comprehensive study of this problem has been lacking so far in international legal doctrine. Peremptory norms, although often criticised and even more often approached with sceptical nihilism, nevertheless attract growing doctrinal and practical attention and have increasing importance in determining the permissible limits on the action of State and non-State actors in different areas. In view of this overriding impact on what might otherwise be instances of the law-making process, peremptory norms concern a constitutional aspect of international law. Peremptory norms are non-derogable norms, and the concept of derogation is among the key concepts analysed here. Derogation from peremptory norms can be attempted in a wide variety of situations, but if peremptory norms are to operate as norms and not merely as aspirations they must generate consequences that are also peremptory. This effects-oriented character of peremptory norms is examined in a variety of fields. Despite the growing relevance of peremptory norms in practice, doctrine has failed to treat the issue comprehensively and has often been limited to examining specific aspects of the problem, such as the impact of peremptory norms in the law of treaties. This fresh effort to examine and explain the phenomenon of peremptory norms in key areas fills an important doctrinal gap through presenting in a systematic way the effects of peremptory norms and reappraising the significance of such effects, bearing in mind their overall nature. It also demonstrates that the hierarchical superiority of peremptory norms is not limited to the sphere of primary legal relations but becomes most crucially relevant after a specific peremptory norm is breached. A norm's peremptory character is relevant not only for its substance but also for its consequences; peremptoriness consists primarily in the capacity to impact through its effects upon conflicting acts, situations and agreements.