Developments in International Law – serie

Although modern international law is now recognized as universally applicable to all the states as soon as they emerge as independent entities (whether members of the United Nations or not, they are accepted as members of the ever-expanding international society, and are bound by its rules and seek its protection), this is only a recent phenomenon not older than the United Nations itself. Before the Second World War, modern international law was supposed to be merely a law of and for the civilized Western European Christian states, or states of European origin, and applicable only between them. Not only Asian and African states which had come to be colonized, but also the position of independent states, such as Persia, Siam, China, Abyssinia, and the like, was said to be anomalous. Since they belonged to different civilizations, questions were raised as to how far relations with their governments could be based on the rules of international law. If that is the case, when did European international law become universally binding? Can states, which did not, and could not, participate in its origin and development question some of its rules, which are inimical to their interests? How can and does this law change, or be modified, in the absence of any supra-national legislature or other authority? What has been the attitude and practice of these newly independent Asian and African states towards international law, which was largely developed by and for the benefit of the rich and industrialized states of Western Europe and the United States, and even more importantly, their role in its development? The author, an Asian scholar and well-known Professor of International Law, trained and educated in the West, has sought to deal with these and other questions in the nine papers contained in this book.

This book is a comprehensive overview of multiple nationality in international law, and contains a survey of current State practice covering over 75 countries. It examines the topic in light of the historical treatment of multiple nationality by States, international bodies and commentators, setting out the general trends in international law and relations that have influenced nationality. While the book's purpose is not to debate the merits of multiple nationality, but to present actual state practice, it does survey arguments for and against multiple nationality, and considers States' motivations in adopting a particular attitude toward the topic. As a reference work, the volume includes a detailed examination of the nature of nationality under international law and the concepts of nationality and citizenship under municipal law. The survey of State practice also constitutes a valuable resource for practitioners.

This work deals with the question of unlawful territorial situations, i.e. territorial regimes that are established and maintained in defiance of international law. It represents a very timely contribution to the debate concerning the nature, the aims and purpose of foreign interventions in the affairs of sovereign countries. International lawyers have focussed on the important questions of the legal regime applicable to the conduct of the occupant and the authoritative decision-making processes by international institutions, but often neglected the broader and decisive question of the legality of the ‘foreign’ or ‘international’ presence as such. The author shows the relevance and, sometimes irrelevance, of international law to the determination of legality or illegality of the occupation, and how legal norms incorporate and interact with the concepts of effectiveness and legitimacy.The book represents a welcome contribution to an issue of the outmost importance in international affairs at present times. It brings together elaborate theoretical discussion and thorough empirical research. Students of international law, practitioners, and anyone interested in deepening the understanding of the role and relevance of international law to territorial occupation will greatly benefit from this study.

This book examines theoretical and practical issues concerning the relationship between international law, time and history. Problems relating to time and history are ever-present in the work of international lawyers, whether understood in terms of the role of historic practice in the doctrine of sources, the application of the principle of inter-temporal law in dispute settlement, or in gaining a coherent insight into the role that was played by international law in past events. But very little has been written about the various different ways in which international lawyers approach or understand the past, and it is with a view to exploring the dynamics of that engagement that this book has been compiled. In its broadest sense, it is possible to identify at least three different ways in which the relationship between international law and (its) history may be conceived. The first is that of a history of international law written in narrative form, and mapped out in terms of a teleology of origins, development, progress or renewal. The second is that of history in international law and of the role history plays in arguments about law itself (for example in the construction of customary international law). The third way of understanding that relationship is in terms of international law in history: of understanding how international law has been engaged in the creation of a history that in some senses stands outside the history of international law itself. The essays in this collection make clear that each type of engagement with history and international law interweaves various different types of historical narrative, pointing to the typically multi-layered nature of international lawyers’ engagement with the past and its importance in shaping the present and future of international law. Originally published in hardcover

The Alien Tort Statute (also referred to as the Alien Tort Claims Act) is a US statute that provides a cause of action for violations of international law. While originally used against former dictators and military officials who fled to the U.S. after the respective governments in their home countries have been removed, human rights activists are now targeting transnational corporations or multinational enterprises for human rights violations in connection with their investments made outside the United States. This book examines and analyzes corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute.

Customary international law is the most important source of international criminal law. Fifty years after the Nuremberg trials, many convictions imposed by the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda are still based on customary international law alone. The International Criminal Court, by contrast, has not yet had much opportunity to give more guidance on this matter. Hence, it is worthwhile to provide an overview of the current status of custom by analysing the ad hoc tribunal’s case law on this point. Including a comprehensive synopsis of current literature and a contrast of the ad hoc tribunal’s case law with the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, this book offers an inclusive insight into the source’s past and future.

The absence of effective government, one of the most important issues in current international law, became prominent with the“failed state” concept at the beginning of the 1990s. Public international law, however, lacked sufficient legal means to deal with the phenomenon. Neither attempts at state reconstruction in countries such as Afghanistan and Somalia on the legal basis of Chapter VII of the UN Charter nor economic liberalisation have addressed fundamental social and economic problems. This work investigates the weaknesses of the “failed state” paradigm as a long-term solution for international peace and security, arguing that the solution to the absence of effective government can be found only in an economic and social approach and a true universalisation of international law.

This book is the first legal study of state failure in international law. Building on a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon, Dr. Giorgetti provides a definition of state failure that informs her study of how international actors may operate in situations of emergencies occurring in failed and failing states. The book specifically focuses on actions taken in health, environmental and human rights emergencies to provide generally applicable conclusions. Indeed, the Principles for Action distilled in the final chapter will provide concrete instruments to the international community to act in emergency situations and will prove to be an important contribution to the development of international law.

Ernst Hirsch Ballin discusses the significance of citizens’ rights against the backdrop of ongoing migration and urbanization in the beginning of the 21st century. The traditional view that each state has the sovereign power to give or withhold citizenship, puts the full enjoyment of human rights at risk whenever exclusion is based on differences in nationality. Citizens’ rights are the essential connecting link between human rights and life in a democratic society. Citizens have an individual right, as a citizen, to take part in the democratic process and in the structures of solidarity of the state where they are effectively at home. By recognizing everyone’s right to the citizenship of the state in which they can make these rights a reality, citizens’ rights can bridge the gap between the universality of human rights and the changing political and social settings of people’s lives. Limits on dual citizenship are counterproductive, European citizenship paves the way for transnational citizenship. "Hirsch Ballin's book is very important for academics and practitioners in the field of citizenship. It embraces the complexity of citizenship with all its academic, practical and emotional meanings. Hopefully, Hirsch Ballin's work can serve as a compass for new directions in immigration and naturalisation debates." Katja Swider in: Journal of European Integration, Vol 38. nr. 4, 2016

Hybridization has become a defining feature of regulatory frameworks. The combined forces of globalization and privatization together with increased reliance on self-regulation have resulted in the emergence of a multitude of regulatory arrangements which combine elements from several legal orders. This book offers a conceptual framework as well as numerous empirical explorations capable of increasing our understanding of regulatory hybridization. A number of central dichotomies are deconstructed: national vs. transnational law; international vs. transnational law; convergence vs. divergence; soft law vs. hard law; territorial vs. non-territorial, ‘top-down’ vs. ‘bottom-up’ globalization and national vs. global just as the implications of regulatory hybridization for the question of choice of court and conflict of laws are analyzed.Contributors include: Poul Fritz Kjaer, Ino Augsberg, Jan Klabbers, Peer Zumbansen, Paulius Jurčys, Faye Fangfei Wang, Hideaki Shiroyama, Mark D. Fenwick, Nina Boerger, Joseph Corkin, Harm Schepel, Andreas Maurer, Adeline Chong, Ren Yatsunami, and Maebh Harding.

Expanding upon the normative position of co-progressiveness elaborated in Towards an International Law of Co-progressiveness (Martinus Nijhoff, 2004), this volume explores membership, leadership, and responsibility in the international system and how these matters reflect and inform international law. Issues discussed include: (1) the recognition and role of States, civilizations, and regions in the international system and how these entities are influenced by factors such as declarations of independence, intrinsic and instrumental values, diversity, and public opinion; (2) the distribution of power among States, its legitimacy, and the consequent influence this distribution has on the international system and world politics; and (3) member responsibility for acts of international organizations as well as the possibility of establishing and enforcing universal jurisdiction as a tool for implementing responsibility across the world.

Interference in sovereign affairs is seemingly everywhere but nowhere at the same time. Whether it is pressure on or corruption of public officials, conditionality in development assistance, criticism of one’s human rights record, psychological or propaganda operations, instrumentalization of diasporas, international organization supervision or meddling diplomats, the phenomenon is as amorphous as it is diffuse. But what if it was the lens that we use to capture interference that was the problem? How do the tools we use in international law blind us to the reality of certain phenomena? The urgency of understanding interference on its terms has never been greater, and it requires nothing less than a reimagining of the sort of discursive investments on which international law rests.

Global risks present formidable challenges to international law. Although they have long been identified in many other scientific disciplines, they are currently only considered on a sectoral basis in international law in the absence of a legal definition. The aim of this book is threefold: to identify the main elements that characterise global risks in a legal perspective, to determine the characteristics that make them a new category of risk, and to analyse the changes they bring about in the main mechanisms of international law. Drawing on the relationship between international law and other legal systems, and in particular national law, this book highlights possible responses to the challenges posed by global risks. The study is based on extensive practice related to the examples of climate change and pandemics, but opens up perspectives on conclusions that could be common to other global risks, such as financial risks or cyber risks. Interview with the author.

This collection challenges the prevailing conflict of laws approach to the interaction of state and indigenous legal systems. It introduces adaptive legal pluralism as an alternative framework that emphasises dialogue and engagement between these legal systems. By exploring a dialogic approach to legal pluralism, the authors shed light on how it can effectively address the challenges stemming from the colonial imposition of industrial legal systems on Africa’s agrarian political economies.

Internal self-determination (ISD) empowers communities to shape their destiny within a state, transforming tension into opportunity. By actively engaging citizens in decision-making, governments can tailor policies to meet unique cultural and economic needs, quelling discontent and building trust. This dynamic process channels energy into reform and inclusion, ensuring every voice is heard and valued. As grievances are addressed, loyalty to the state strengthens and the appeal of secession fades. Ultimately, internal self-determination fosters unity, invigorates national pride, and creates a resilient, inclusive society that prevents fragmentation and secures lasting peace. Recognizing that self-determination extends beyond its traditional external form to include internal practices offers a viable solution for preserving its contemporary legal relevance and advancing human rights.

What if we rethought international law through the lens of the commons? This book challenges us to examine global goods, resources, and spaces – from water to culture, from the Moon to the internet – not as objects to exploitation, but as productive systems shared by active communities and governed by international law: as vibrant universal commons. Drawing on an extensive survey of practice, legal instruments, and jurisprudence, it demonstrates how individuals, peoples, states, and international organisations may act as commoners in relation to resources that are often overlooked – whether too small or too vast – yet essential to life. Moving beyond profit-driven models, the book advances a regenerative framework in which international law secures rights to commoning. It demonstrates how fragmented rules can be integrated into a comprehensive branch of international law through a paradigm shift.