The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new golden era in international law. Treaties and international organisations proliferated at an unprecedented rate, and many courts and tribunals were established with a view to ensuring the smooth operation of this new universe of international relations. The network of courts and tribunals that exists today is an important feature of our global society. It serves as an alternative to other, sometimes more violent, forms of dispute settlement. The process of international adjudication is constantly evolving, sometimes in unexpected ways. Through contributions from world-renowned experts and emerging voices, this book considers the future of international courts from a diverse range of perspectives. It examines some of the regional, institutional and procedural challenges that international courts face: the rising influence of powerful states, the turn to populism, the interplay between courts, the involvement of non-state actors and third parties in international proceedings, and more. The book offers a timely discussion of these challenges, with the future of several international courts hanging in the balance and the legitimacy of international adjudication being called constantly into question. It should also serve as a reminder of the importance of international courts for the functioning of a rules-based international order. ‘The Future of International Courts’ is essential reading for academics, practitioners and students who are interested in international law, including those who are interested in the role international courts play in international relations.
The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new golden era in international law. Treaties and international organisations proliferated at an unprecedented rate, and many courts and tribunals were established with a view to ensuring the smooth operation of this new universe of international relations. The network of courts and tribunals that exists today is an important feature of our global society. It serves as an alternative to other, sometimes more violent, forms of dispute settlement. The process of international adjudication is constantly evolving, sometimes in unexpected ways. Through contributions from world-renowned experts and emerging voices, this book considers the future of international courts from a diverse range of perspectives. It examines some of the regional, institutional and procedural challenges that international courts face: the rising influence of powerful states, the turn to populism, the interplay between courts, the involvement of non-state actors and third parties in international proceedings, and more. The book offers a timely discussion of these challenges, with the future of several international courts hanging in the balance and the legitimacy of international adjudication being called constantly into question. It should also serve as a reminder of the importance of international courts for the functioning of a rules-based international order. 'The Future of International Courts' is essential reading for academics, practitioners and students who are interested in international law, including those who are interested in the role international courts play in international relations.
The book casts light on the early development, challenges, and philosophy of international law and the international jurisprudential process. It brings together foreign, comparative, and international legislative ideas from 1600-1926. It quotes and contains works of some of the great legal theorists, including Gentili, Grotius, Selden, Zouche, Pufendorf, Bijnkershoek, Wolff, Vattel, Martens, Mackintosh, and Wheaton. Even today, almost a century after publication, many of the challenges remain. Therefore, the book is a great account of the history of international law and a reference for topical information.
This is the third volume in the series by the "Leiden Journal of" "International Law" dealing with the Decade of International Law and International Dispute Settlement. In this book, the 50th anniversary of the International Court of Justice is commemorated. Its past and future role is examined from various angles which have been defined as "roles "played by the Court. First and foremost, its role as a mechanism for the settlement of disputes is examined. The analysis goes beyond the traditional frontiers of disputes between states and also explores the possibilities of granting international organizations and individuals access to the Court. The second role that is looked into is its supervisory role, or, in other words, its possible role as supreme court in international law. Thirdly, the Court in its advisory function is examined. The last role that is focused upon is the Court in its role as developer of rules of international law. The book ends with a conclusion from both a legal and a political perspective.
An innovative, interdisciplinary and far-reaching examination of the actual reality of international courts, International Court Authority challenges fundamental preconceptions about when, why, and how international courts become important and authoritative actors in national, regional, and international politics. A stellar group of scholars investigate the challenges that international courts face in transforming the formal legal authority conferred by states into an actual authority in fact that is respected by potential litigants, national actors, legal communities, and publics. Alter, Helfer, and Madsen provide a novel framework for conceptualizing international court authority that focuses on the reactions and practices of these key audiences. Eighteen scholars from the disciplines of law, political science and sociology apply this framework to study thirteen international courts operating in Africa, Latin America, and Europe, as well as on a global level. Together the contributors document and explore important and interesting variations in whether the audiences that interact with international courts around the world embrace or reject the rulings of these judicial institutions. Alter, Helfer, and Madsen's authority framework recognizes that international judges can and often do everything they 'should' do to ensure that their rulings possess the gravitas and stature that national courts enjoy. Yet even when imbued with these characteristics, the parties to the dispute, potential future litigants, and the broader set of actors that monitor and respond to the court's activities may fail to acknowledge the rulings as binding or take meaningful steps to modify their behaviour in response to them. For both specific judicial institutions, and more generally, the book documents and explains why most international courts possess de facto authority that is partial, variable, and highly dependent on a range of different audiences and contexts - and thus is highly fragile. An introduction situates the book's unique approach to conceptualizing international court authority within theoretical debates about the authority of global institutions. International Court Authority also includes critical reflections on the authority framework from legal theorists, international relations scholars, a philosopher, and an anthropologist. The book's conclusion questions a number of widely shared assumptions about how social and political contexts facilitate or undermine international courts in developing de facto authority and political power.
This book discusses the future role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a world facing survival challenges. It discusses threats such as climate change, environmental degradation and pandemics, and argues that in the future the ICJ will need to carry out judicial, security and protection functions as it is the only organ of the United Nations (UN) that can discharge such functions in view of its independence and expertise. The author proposes that the ICJ can apply a hitherto unused jurisdictional provision in Article 36 of its statute that allows it to deal with "All Matters Specially Provided for in the UN Charter" and presents three examples of issues that would require the urgent attention of the ICJ: vaccine equity in a global pandemic, climate disaster, and mass movements of people across frontiers due to climate change and environmental degradation. Bertrand Ramcharan (Guyana) is a Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn with a Doctorate in international law from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Diploma in International Law of the Hague Academy of International Law. He was LSE International Law Scholar and has been Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He has also been Director of the Research Centre of the Hague Academy of International Law (The Right to Life), Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, and Chancellor of the University of Guyana. He is a former Chief speech-writer of the UN Secretary-General, and has performed the functions of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His doctoral thesis was on the approach of the International Law Commission to the codification and progressive development of international law.
Although customary international law has long been an important source of rights and obligations in international relations, there has been extensive debate in recent years about whether this body of law is equipped to address complex modern problems such as climate change, international terrorism, and global financial instability. In addition, there is growing uncertainty about how, precisely, international and domestic courts should identify rules of customary international law. Custom's Future seeks to address this uncertainty by providing a better understanding of how customary international law has developed over time, the way in which it is applied in practice, and the challenges that it faces going forward. Reflecting an interdisciplinary mix of historical, empirical, economic, philosophical, and doctrinal analysis, and containing chapters by leading international law experts, it will be of use to lawyers, judges, and researchers alike.
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and plays a central role in both the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the development of international law. This comprehensive Commentary on the Statute of the International Court of Justice, now in its second edition, analyses in detail not only the Statute of the Court itself but also the related provisions of the United Nations Charter as well as the relevant provisions of the Court's Rules of Procedure. Five years after the first edition was published, the second edition of the Commentary embraces current events before the International Court of Justice as well as before other courts and tribunals relevant for the interpretation and application of its Statute. The Commentary provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of all legal questions and issues the Court has had to address in the past and will have to address in the future. It illuminates the central issues of procedure and substance that the Court and counsel appearing before it face in their day-to-day work. In addition to commentary covering all of the articles of the Statute of the ICJ, plus the relevant articles of the Charter of the United Nations, the book includes three scene-setting chapters: Historical Introduction, General Principles of Procedural Law, and Discontinuation and Withdrawal. The second edition of the Commentary adds two important and instructive chapters on Counter-Claims and Evidentiary Issues. The combination of expert editors and commentators, and their assessment of new developments in the important work of the ICJ, make this a landmark publication in the field of international law.
This collection takes a thematic and interpretive, system-wide and inter-jurisdictional comparative approach to the debates and controversies related to the growth of international courts and tribunals. By providing a synthetic overview and critical analysis of these developments from a variety of perspectives, it both contextualizes and stimulates future research and practice in this rapidly developing field.
"The term 'International Commercial Courts' is a curious one. Certainly, the institutions which are the subject of discussion in this book are courts. The extent to which they are properly characterised as 'international' (whether self-styled by the institutions themselves or referred to as such by commentators) needs some exploration. So too does the extent to which these institutions exclusively deal with commercial matters for, as will be demonstrated, many of these international commercial courts deal with matters which, whilst specialising in commercial law disputes, are in fact much broader than that"--
