The character of international law between scholarly reflection of foreign policy expediencies and recognising prescriptive rules binding on all concerned has long been a particular challenge to those active in the field. Law is not law if there is no procedure to both determine its contents and to show ways to enforce it. It is through its procedures that international law becomes real. Based on an overview of the varied procedures e.g. in both The Hague s and the national courts and those found in international organisations a more consistent picture of international law emerges. This compendium for students and practitioners is accessible yet sophisticated in its approach.

The character of international law between scholarly reflection of foreign policy expediencies and recognising prescriptive rules binding on all concerned has long been a particular challenge to those active in the field. Law is not law if there is no procedure to both determine its contents and to show ways to enforce it. It is through its procedures that international law becomes real. Based on an overview of the varied procedures e.g. in both The Hague's and the national courts and those found in international organisations a more consistent picture of international law emerges. This compendium for students and practitioners is accessible yet sophisticated in its approach.

Timor-Leste has had a troubled history and faces an uncertain future. Having experienced colonization for centuries followed by the Indonesian occupation, with all its abuses of human rights, Timor-Leste emerged as an independent state, based on the rule of law and on respect for human rights. The last few years have shown that no society is simple and that the complex influences of the past continue to shape political, social, and cultural realities. This book examines the contemporary challenges for justice and human rights in the shadow of the past. It approaches the task from a broad interdisciplinary perspective, conscious of the need to integrate insights not only of scholars immersed in human rights, international criminal justice, and customary law, but of others whose backgrounds are in international relations, history, anthropology, demography, sociology, geography, and ecology.