Oxford Monographs in International Law – Serie

Recent years have witnessed exciting developments in international negotiations, litigation, and scholarship about climate change, but doctrinal research in the field remains in its infancy. In particular, little is known about how fast states are required to limit and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.The first part of the book identifies the relevant obligations through an analysis of treaties, custom, and other sources of international law. Beyond express quantified commitments contained for instance in nationally determined contributions, the book sheds light on the existence of general obligations of due diligence. While these general obligations are difficult to interpret, they are often more demanding.The second part explores how these general obligations can be applied objectively, for instance by a court, in concrete cases. Instead of an improbable judicial assessment of a state's requisite level of mitigation action, the book shows the possibility of assessing a state's conduct based on the measures that general mitigation obligations entail. These measures relate to corollary duties of cooperation, vigilance, and consistency.This book presents a first comprehensive doctrinal study of states' obligations on climate change mitigation. It shows that such obligations arise not only from climate treaties, but also from customary international law, unilateral declarations, and, possibly, human rights treaties. It also explores the interactions between these multiple obligations.

Despite their exponential growth in number and activities, there is not an established legal concept of an international organization. This book tackles the topic by examining the nature of the legal systems developed by international organizations. It is the first comprehensive study of the concepts by which international organizations' legal systems are commonly understood: functionalism, constitutionalism, exceptionalism, and informalism. Its purpose is threefold: to trace the historical origins of the different concepts of an international organization, to describe four groups under which these different notions can be aligned, and to propose a theory which defines international organizations as 'dual entities'. The concept of an international organization is defined by looking at the nature of the legal systems they develop. The notion of 'dual legal nature' describes how organizations create particular legal systems that derive from international law. This situation affects the law they produce, which is international and internal at the same time. The effects of the dual legal nature are considered by analysing international responsibility, the law of treaties, and the validity of organizations' acts.

Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal States have sovereign rights to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage the living resources of the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). However, 40 years after the adoption of the Convention, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the nature and extent of these sovereign rights. Coastal State Jurisdiction over Living Resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone examines the ways in which coastal States can exercise authority on the basis of their sovereign rights over living resources in the EEZ. Dr Camille Goodman explores the key concepts of 'fishing' and 'fishing related activities' to establish what vessels and which activities can be regulated by coastal States, canvasses the criteria and conditions that coastal States can apply as part of regulating foreign access to their resources, and considers the regulation of unlicensed foreign fishing vessels in transit through the EEZ. Goodman also examines how such regulations can be enforced within the EEZ and the circumstances under which enforcement can take place beyond the EEZ following hot pursuit. A review and analysis of the practice of 145 States identifies the contemporary extent of coastal State jurisdiction over living resources in the EEZ and offers a unique, fresh perspective on the underlying and enduring nature of that jurisdiction. Underpinned by a rigorous examination of the Convention, jurisprudence, and literature, as well as being supported by carefully documented State practice, Coastal State Jurisdiction over Living Resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone proposes a more predictable framework within which to resolve jurisdictional challenges in the EEZ.

The deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction (known as the Area) comprises almost three-quarters of the entire surface area of the oceans, and is home to an array of prized commodities including valuable metals and rare earth elements. In recent years, there has been a marked growth in deep seabed investment by private corporate actors, and an increasing impetus towards exploitation. This book addresses the unresolved legal challenges which this increasing corporate activity will raise over the coming years, including in relation to matters of common management, benefit-sharing, marine environmental protection, and investment protection. Acting under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the International Seabed Authority is responsible for regulating the Area for the benefit of humanity and granting mining contracts. A product of its history, the UNCLOS deep seabed regime is an unlikely hybrid of capitalist and communist values, embracing the role of private actors while enshrining principles of resource distribution. As technological advances begin to outstrip legal developments, this book assesses the tension between corporate commercial activity in the Area and the achievement of the common heritage.

In 1958, against a background of increasing international disputes regarding rights to and control of waters enclosed by coastal indentations, the world community, under United Nations auspices, adopted Article 7 of the Geneva Convention 'On the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone'. Recognizing the need to balance the interests of coastal states and the international interests of a harmonious world community, the signatories decided in effect that once the water enclosed within a coastal indentation met the requirements of Article 7, it could be presumed irrefutably that the claimant owned these waters as a right against all other states.Well-drafted and unambiguous, Article 7 should have resolved the issue of unreasonably expansive bay claims for ever. In fact, it did not. Disputes have continued to arise, and in the twenty years since its adoption, Article 7 has not received the analysis necessary to help it become a more reliable basis for conflict resolution in cases involving complex coastal configurations. This study, the first major examination of Article 7, interprets both its text and context and, more importantly, offers solutions to some of the problems that continue to make the question of coastal bay-waters a source of national and international conflict.

At the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, the land-locked countries of the world, together with their geographically disadvantaged counterparts, made a determined effort to obtain special recognition in the Law of the Sea Convention. As members of the so-called LLGDS Group, they challenged the position of coastal States in several areas and introduced proposals which are yet to be fully assessed in the literature on the Law of the Sea. Published at a time when many intriguing questions on the Law of the Sea remain the subjects of intense controversy, this book charts the LLGDS effort at the UNCLOS III and critically examines the extent to which the 1982 Convention and the customary law reflects the perspective of the LLGDS Group. It also offers detailed consideration of many key issues in the law and politics of the sea.

The most recent title to appear in the Oxford Monographs in International Law series, Surrender, Occupation, and Private Property in International Law examines the legal situation which arises during periods of occupation in respect of private property which is temporarily used, annexed, or destroyed by occupying forces. It asks what happens to that property after occupation ceases, and addresses the issues of restitution and compensation which may sometimes arise. The author focuses upon the post-war occupation of Japan by American forces as the principal example around which to develop his arguments, and makes extensive use of documents from this period. Relatively little has been written about this crucial period in Japanese history, and the successful linking of the historical and legal aspects in this study will make this book of considerable interest to international lawyers and modern historians.

The question of the consequences of breaches of international law is only now beginning to attract the attention it deserves. This book deals with one aspect of that wider question: it is the first comprehensive study of judicial remedies in international law.

The persistent problems presented by territorial disputes are are among the most important of our time. The `Falklands War' and the war between Iran and Iraq are but recent illustrations of the potential for mischief which attaches to issues concerning boundaries and the validity of title to territory (including maritime rights). The significance of these issues is in inverse proportion to the level of understanding exhibited by the media and by political scientists. For the most part, it has been left to lawyers and geographers, with the occasional historian, to study particular disputes. The proper study of a boundary dispute calls for the careful teasing out of the strands of history, politics, diplomacy and law which go to make up the special universe of each boundary dispute. Dr Kaikobad has brought the necessary qualities of patience and scholarship to his task, and he has used an impressive variety of sources. The result is not only a major work on the background to the Gulf War but a contribution of quality to the literature on territorial disputes, to the development of a typology of disputes, and to diplomatic history.

This highly original and challenging study offers an examination of the tensions which exist between the two most important sources of international law: Treaty and Custom. Through detailed analysis of State Practice and key decisions of International Tribunals Dr Kontou considers the circumstances by which new customary law may abrogate the obligations of a prior Treaty, and argues that there is a special category of situations which supports the right of a state to re-negotiate a Treaty by an appeal to new customary law.

The Human Rights Committee is charged with the task of monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Since its inception it has arguably become the most important independent international human rights body in the world. Through the consideration of State Reports, from over half of the world community, and the examination of communications submitted by individuals (under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant), the Human Rights Committee seeks to establish a universal human rights jurisprudence. This book analyses the institutional characteristics of the Human Rights Committee, how it has developed its practices and procedures under the Covenant and the Optional Protocol, and analyses the jurisprudence of the Committee under selected key articles of the Covenant.

Uncontrolled transboundary transfer of hazardous wastes was recognized as a major environmental problem in the mid-1980s. The international community responded by elaborating pertinent international agreements. Treaties are now in place at the global and regional levels, and additional ones are being negotiated. Despite their common aim of protecting the environment against the ill-effects of hazardous wastes, they often differ in stringency as well as scope and membership.The book analyses the key treaties and other international legal rules on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes. It identifies inconsistencies, gaps, and overlaps, and proposes ways to build a comprehensive global regulatory system for the management of hazardous wastes by harmonizing relevant international legal rules.

State Responsibility for Transboundary Air Pollution in International Law systematically analyses the unique nature of problems that transboundary air pollution presents in international law. Although an attempt is made to present transboundary air pollution as a unified field, a distinction is made between pollution from industrial and related sources, and those from nuclear operations, given the very serious nature of risks that nuclear pollution presents. The book extensively considers existing regulatory frameworks as found in treaty regimes and non-binding instruments. The role as well as the shortcomings of traditional international law, especially the application of principles of state responsibility to problems involving multiple actors, and which cannot therefore be easily accommodated within the present bilateral framework of dispute resolution in international law is given extended treatment. The potential role of institutions charged with supervising compliance is also undertaken and the status of emergent principles is critically assessed. The issues examined in this book are of much contemporary relevance and will appeal to those interested in the legal aspects of transboundary air pollution as well as those concerned with the general issues surrounding the application of international law to environmental problems.

Based on an analysis of the diplomatic practice of States, and decisions by national and international courts, this book explores the two central questions of the recognition of governments. These are namely: what are the meanings of the term 'recognition' and its variants in international law; and what is the effect of recognition on the legal status of foreign authorities, and in particular of authorities in exile recognized as governments. The book is comprehensive in its analysis of the issues, and covers material which is of significant historical interest, as well as highly topical material such as recent developments in Angola, Kuwait and Haiti. Thus Talmon's book will hold great appeal for international law scholars and practitioners alike. It may also be of interest to diplomats and civil servants working in organizations such as the United Nations.

This book provides the first comprehensive critical analysis of the regulation of naval weapons during armed conflict. It examines the experience this century with the use of naval mines, submarines and anti-ship missiles, the three main naval weapons. The sources of international law relevant to an assessment of the law, that is the extant conventions, state practice, military manuals, war crimes prosecutions, and the opinions of publicists, are each extensively examined so that a clear picture of the law emerges. The book examines the impact of agreements drawn up in peacetime on wartime conduct and focuses on the growth of law through customary practice. While stating the law as it is today, it also provides suggestions for the practical development of the law.

Despite their formal legal recognition in a number of international instruments since 1945, economic, social and cultural rights have long been marginalized and ignored as a category of human rights. This is particularly apparent with respect to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights alongside its sister covenant `The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights'. This study represents the first detailed examination of the origins and development of the ICESCR, drawing in particular upon the work of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The author addresses in detail particular aspects of the Covenant such as the role of the Committee in the supervision process, the nature of state obligations, the principle of non-discrimination, and the rights to work, to join and form Trade unions, to housing and to food. This original and scholarly work offers a timely examination of an increasingly significant human rights instrument, and will be of value to all those interested in Human Rights and International Law.

Human Rights Standards and the Movement of People Within States is an exposition of the standards of human rights which are applicable to the right of freedom of movement and residence of people within states. Written from the standpoint of international law, the book identifies these standards and examines their application to various categories of people, including nationals, non-nationals, minorities, and indigenous groups. The primary motive for writing this book lies in the fact that the vast majority of people move and reside within states. People's ability to exercise civil and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights within states generally depend in large measure on their ability to move about and to choose a place of residence within states. Freedom of movement is therefore crucial to the protection and enjoyment of other rights. As a consequence, the protection of freedom of movement cannot be left exclusively to domestic legal systems because many legal systems form the basis for denying people the right of free movement. Yet the extent to which freedom of movement within states is protected by human rights under international law has not received the attention that its importance deserves. Particular problems arise from the ordinary regulation of freedom of movement, internal exile, the development of free movement zones for nationals and third country nationals in economic and political unions, the need to protect the movement of minorities and indigenous peoples, the movement and location of refugees within states, as well as the legality of derogation from freedom of movement during states of emergency.

International Law and Infectious Diseases is the first comprehensive analysis of the intersection between international law and infectious diseases. Infectious diseases pose a global threat, and international law plays an important but under-explored role in infectious disease control. The book analyses the globalization of public health; and it examines the history of international law in this area, the International Health Regulations, and international law on trade, human rights, armed conflict and arms control, and the environment. Fidler develops the concepts of microbialpolitik and global health jurisprudence to provide a political perspective and a framework for future legal action. The aim of this series of monographs is to publish important and original pieces of research on all aspects of public international law. Topics that are given particular prominence are those, which, while of interest to the academic lawyer, also have important bearing on issues which, touch the actual conduct of international relations. None the less the series is wide in scope and includes monographs on the history and philosophical foundations of international law.

This book examines one of the most important challenges facing the United Nations today: the effective and lawful use of force by or under the authority of the UN to maintain or restore peace. In particular, the book provides a legal analysis of the institutional mechanisms and processes which the UN employs to use force to maintain or restore peace. The UN Security Council is the main organ of the UN entrusted with the responsibility for the maintenance or restoration of peace. It is given broad powers of enforcement under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in order to achieve this objective. However, the Charter provision which was intended to provide the Council with a standing military force to carry out enforcement action has not as yet been implemented. In response, the Council has sought to deal with an increasing demand for military enforcement action by delegating its powers in this area to other UN organs (e.g. the UN Secretary-General in Somalia, and the War Crimes Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia), UN Member States (e.g. the coalition against Iraq), and regional and collective self-defence organizations (e.g. NATO in Bosnia). It is this process of delegation of military enforcement powers by the Council which is the focus of the book. By examining the legal framework which governs the process of a delegation by the Council of its Chapter VII powers; the practice relating to the exercise of these powers by each of the delegates concerned; and the policy issues relating to such delegations, the book makes a significant contribution to the content of the law pertaining to the use of force by the UN and provides guidance as to the likely future developments in the legal framework governing collective action to maintain peace under the auspices of the United Nations.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal celebrates its tenth anniversary in 1999. As the only treaty addressing international transfer and environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes at the global level, the Basel Convention has gained universal recognition as the key legal instrument in this field. The anniversary presents an opportunity to assess its evolution , and to consider challenges for the future. Other existing relevant legal instruments have also evolved further, and new ones have been adopted. This book analyses the relationship of the Basel Convention with other pertinent legal rules, and proposes means to form a comprehensive global regulatory regime for hazardous waste management on the basis of the Convention. Since the book was first published, a number of important developments have taken place. Chief among these is the adoption of an amendment to the Basel Convention which provides for a ban on exports of hazardous wastes from OECD to non OECD countries. A tendency to impose similar restrictions can also be observed in other relevant legal instruments. The introduction to this book has therefore been revised by way of a substantial new preface to give an overview of the important developments since 1994, and their impact on the overall analysis.

The Responsibility of States for International Crimes focuses on the concept of state responsibility for international crimes which gained support following the First World War, but was pushed into the background by the development of the principle of individual criminal responsibility under international law after the Second World War. The concept became the topic of debate and controversy upon its inclusion in Part I of the United Nations International Law Commission's Draft Articles on State Responsibility adopted on first reading in 1980. The book considers the history and merits of a concept which, it is argued, is currently on the threshold between lex ferenda and lex lata and has a place and an existence in international law independent from the Draft Articles on State Responsibility. It is divided into five parts. Part I consists of an historical introduction to the concept which deals, in particular, with the issue of international accountability following the First and Second World Wars and goes on to trace efforts to codify and develop the law relating to international criminal responsibility. In Part II, the concept is analysed in accordance with a criminal organization model and a corporate crime model and against this background the concept is found to be juridically sound. In Part III, eight candidate criteria and indicia are discussed which form a conceptual differentiation between between state crimes and other wrongful acts or delicts. On the basis of this analysis it is submitted that the concept is an emergent general principle of international law. Part IV considers the problems and modalities of punishing a state and addresses the question of an institutional framework for imposing criminal responsibility on states. The issues discussed in Part IV are found to confirm the concepts status as an emergent general principle of international law. An investigation into the status of the concept in contemporary international law is undertaken in Part V with particular emphasis on the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1996 Judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Preliminary Objections) between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia. It is concluded that the concept is emerging as customary international law.

This is the first monograph on the concept of obligations erga omnes, an increasingly important notion in contemporary international law since its appearance in the International Court's judgment in the Barcelona Traction case. In 1970, The International Court of Justice identified a separate category of international obligations, which rather than being owed to a specific State on a bilateral basis, are owed to the international community as a whole, with all States having an interest in their protection and their being binding on all States irrespective of consent. Examples of such obligations given by the International Court are those prohibiting aggression and genocide, and those protecting from slavery and racial discrimination, in other words obligations erga omnes are those protecting and promoting basic values and common interests of states. This book is the first to examine the very concept of the obligations, rather than the corresponding rights of protection of obligations erga omnes. Ragazzi adopts a pragmatic method of legal analysis that identifies five common elements among the examples of obligations erga omnes given by the International Court. These five common elements are then discussed in relation to other candidates of obligations erga omnes which have emerged in State practice and international literature. Ragazzi's approach is extremely thorough and includes extensive bibliographical references in various languages.

The concept of self-determination has played a very important role in the shaping of the international community in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is closely linked in a number of different ways to the status of minorities and minorities frequently make claims to self-determination as a right for themselves. This meticulously researched book explores the relationship between self-determination and minority rights in international law. It is highly detailed in its treatment of the subject, discussing very recent events, such as the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia, in a valuable historical context. His analysis of the issues provide the reader with a significant clarification of the legal issues involved, especially since the establishment of the UN and the development of international norms of human rights. As such, the book will hold particular appeal for all those who are interested in international law and politics, as well as students of modern history wishing to be informed on this hotly debated issue.

This book examines one of the most important challenges facing the United Nations today: the effective and lawful use of force by or under the authority of the UN to maintain or restore peace. In particular, the book provides a legal analysis of the institutional mechanisms and processes which the UN employs to use force to maintain or restore peace. The UN Security Council is the main organ of the UN entrusted with the responsibility for the maintenance or restoration of peace. It is given broad powers of enforcement under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in order to achieve this objective. However, the Charter provision which was intended to provide the Council with a standing military force to carry out enforcement action has not as yet been implemented. In response, the Council has sought to deal with an increasing demand for military enforcement action by delegating its powers in this area to other UN organs (e.g. the UN Secretary-General in Somalia, and the War Crimes Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia), UN Member States (e.g. the coalition against Iraq), and regional and collective self-defence organizations (e.g. NATO in Bosnia). It is this process of delegation of military enforcement powers by the Council which is the focus of the book. By examining the legal framework which governs the process of a delegation by the Council of its Chapter VII powers; the practice relating to the exercise of these powers by each of the delegates concerned; and the policy issues relating to such delegations, the book makes a significant contribution to the content of the law pertaining to the use of force by the UN and provides guidance as to the likely future developments in the legal framework governing collective action to maintain peace under the auspices of the United Nations.

This monograph examines the relationship between treaties providing for uninterrupted energy transit and countermeasures under the law of international responsibility. It analyses the obligations governing energy transit through pipelines in multilateral and bilateral treaties, looking at the WTO Agreement, the Energy Charter Treaty, and sixteen bespoke pipeline treaties. It argues that a number of transit obligations under these treaties are indivisible, reflecting the collective interests of states parties. The analysis is placed in the historical and normative landscape of freedom of transit in international law. After setting out the content and scope of obligations concerning transit of energy, it distinguishes countermeasures from treaty law responses, and examines the dispute settlement and compliance supervision provisions in these treaties. Building on these findings, the work discusses the availability and lawfulness of countermeasures as, on the one hand, a means of implementing the transit states responsibility for interruptions of energy transit via pipelines; and, on the other hand, circumstances that preclude the wrongfulness of the transit states interruptions of transit.

This book addresses the international legal obligation to protect economic, social, and cultural human rights in times of armed conflict and other situations of armed violence. These rights provide guarantees to individuals of their fundamental rights to work, to an adequate standard of living (food, water, housing), to education, and to health. Armed violence can take many forms, from civil unrest or protest and other forms of internal disturbances and tensions to higher levels of violence that may amount to armed conflict, whether of an international or of a non-international character. However, in all such cases the protection of ESC rights is sorely challenged.Situations of actual or potential violence present a number of challenges to the application and implementation of human rights law in general and socio-economic rights obligations more specifically. This book sets out the legal framework, defining what constitutes a minimum universal standard of human rights protection applicable in all circumstances. It assesses the concept and content of ESC rights' obligations, and evaluates how far they can be legally applicable in various scenarios of armed violence. By looking at the specific human rights treaty provisions, it discusses how far ESC rights obligations can be affected by practical and legal challenges to their implementation. The book addresses the key issues facing the protection of such rights in times of armed conflict: the legal conditions to limit ESC rights on security grounds, including the use of force; the extraterritorial applicability of international human rights treaties setting out ESC rights; the relationship between human rights law and international humanitarian law; and the obligations of non-state actors under human rights law and with particular relevance to the protection of ESC rights. The book assesses the nature of these potential challenges to the protection of ESC rights, and offers solutions to reinforce their continued application.

The UN Security Council's transition to 'targeted sanctions' in the 1990s marked a revolutionary shift in the locus of the Council's decision-making from states to individuals. The establishment of the targeted sanctions regime, should be regarded as more than a shift in policy and invites attention to an emerging tier of international governance. This book examines the need to develop a due process framework having regard to the uniquely political and crisis-based context in which the Security Council operates. Drawing on Anglo-American jurisprudence, this book develops procedural principles for the international institutional context using a value-based approach as an alternative to the formalistic approach taken in the literature to date. In doing so, it is recognized that due process is more than a set of discrete legal standards, but is a touchstone for the way the international legal order conceives of far larger questions about community, law and values.

Investment protection treaties generally provide for the obligation to treat investments fairly and equitably, even if the wording of the rule and its relationship with the customary international standard may differ. The open-textured nature of the rule, the ambiguous relationship between the vague treaty and equally vague customary rules, and States' interpretations of the content and relationship of both rules (not to mention the frequency of successful invocation by investors) make this issue one of the most controversial aspect of investment protection law. This monograph engages in a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the international minimum standard and fair and equitable treatment. It provides an original argument about the historical development of the international standard, a normative rationale for reading it into the treaty rules of fair and equitable treatment, and a coherent methodology for establishing the content of this standard.The first part of this book untangles the history of both the international minimum standard and fair and equitable treatment. The second part addresses the normative framework within which the contemporary debate takes place. After an exhaustive review of all relevant sources, it is argued that the most persuasive reading of fair and equitable treatment is that it always makes a reference to customary law. The third part of the book builds on the historical analysis and the normative framework, explaining the content of the contemporary standard by careful comparative human rights analysis.

This book examines how international law prohibits state and individual complicity. Complicity is a derivative form of responsibility that links an accomplice to the wrongdoing of a principal actor. Whenever a legal system prohibits complicity, it must address certain questions as to the content and structure of the rules. To understand how international law answers these questions, this book proposes an analytical framework in which complicity rules may be assessed and defends a normative claim as to how they should be structured. Anchored by this framework and normative claim, this book shows that international criminal law regulates individual complicity in a comprehensive way, using the doctrines of instigation and aiding and abetting to inculpate complicit participants in international crimes. By contrast, international law's regulation of state complicity was historically marked by an absence of complicity rules. This is changing. In respect of state complicity in the wrongdoing of another state, international law now imposes both specific and general complicity obligations, the latter prohibiting states from aiding or assisting another state in the commission of any internationally wrongful act. In respect of the ways that states participate in harms caused by non-state actors, the traditional normative structure of international law, which imposed obligations only on states, foreclosed the possibility of prohibiting the state's participation as a form of complicity. As that traditional normative structure has evolved, so the possibility of holding states responsible for complicity in the wrongdoing of non-state actors has emerged.More and more, both the wrongs that international actors commit, and the wrongs they help or encourage others to commit, matter.