This book is written in memory of Avril McDonald, who passed away in April 2010. Avril was an inspired and passionate scholar in the fields of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, human rights law and law in the field of arms control and disarmament. What in particular made Avril's work special, was her strong commitment with the human aspects throughout. Fourteen scholars and practitioners have contributed to this liber amicorum, which has led to a rich variety of topics within the disciplines of Avril's expertise. They all have in common that they deal with the human perspectives of the discipline of law at hand. They concentrate on the impact of the developments in international law on humans, whether they are civilians, victims of war or soldiers. This human perspective of law makes this book an appropriate tribute to Avril McDonald and at the same time a unique and valuable contribution to international legal research in the present society. A society that becomes more and more characterized by detailed legal systems, defined by institutions that may frequently lack sufficient contact with the people concerned.

Two major factors brought about the establishment of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law in 1970: demand for the publication of national practice in international law, and the desirability for legal practitioners, state representatives and international lawyers to have access to the growing amount of available data, in the form of articles, notes etc. The documentation section of the NYIL contains an extensive review of Dutch state practice from the parliamentary year prior to publication, an account of developments relating to treaties and other international agreements to which the Netherlands is a party, summaries of Netherlands judicial decisions involving questions of public international law (many of which are not published elsewhere), lists of Dutch publications in the field and extracts from relevant municipal legislation. Although the NYIL has a distinctive national character, it is published in English and the editors do not adhere to any geographical limitations when deciding upon the inclusion of articles.

This book reflects the proceedings of the conference on the Institutional and Constitutional Dimensions of European Integration, asking the question - will the European union meet the challenges of the 21st-century? The conference was held on 6 and 7 November 1997 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Europa Institute of Leiden University. The congress has resulted in a collection of contributions. Together they not only reflect the significance, the positive outcome, the deceptions and the unfulfilled expectations of the Treaty of Amsterdam, but they also constitute a stocktaking of the European Union as a whole. The contributions of the seventeen authors in this volume differ in their approach to the current State of the Union. Some contributions are highly political in nature, as one might expect from a former President of the European Parliament (P. Dankert) or from a former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Lord Howe).