This book clarifies factors that play an important role in securing the effectiveness of legal regimes that aim to protect public interests of the international community. In Part 1, the authors focus on theoretical problems arising in the implementation process of those legal regimes from both a constitutional and functional perspective. In Parts 2 through Part 4, they pay attention to practical issues in the implementation process of particular legal regimes, in light of what interpretation or measures are legitimate from the perspective of protecting public interests. This book incorporates an idea of public law into the theoretical framework of international law which has been mainly constructed on the theory of private law in domestic legal systems. In contrast to many books which focus on the role of the procedural and material factors in the implementation process of various institutions and rules, this book emphasises the role of normative factors in securing effectiveness of public interests-oriented rules and is a valuable resource for both academics and policy makers working in this area.

In a world of growing public interest in global matters and criticisms of multilateralism to adequately address them, the role of international courts and tribunals in the resolution of disputes is shifting. A central aspect of this shift is whether and how international courts and tribunals can be used to resolve such disputes in the public interest. This practice, referred to as public interest litigation, is the object of this collection, which identifies some recent developments, trends and prospects in this growing practice. Its aim is to assess the degree to which the bilateral design of international courts and tribunals can adapt to the shift towards a public approach to international litigation. Engaging with various fields where public interest litigation exists – such as human rights, climate change, global health and criminal law – it identifies recent developments, trends and prospects in this practice. The selected pieces provide a flavour of the types of issues that have arisen before international judicial bodies – for instance, the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, international arbitral tribunals, regional human rights bodies or criminal courts – and explores issues that may arise in the future

A large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been poured into Africa in recent decades and these investments can come with adverse effects on the environment, human rights, and development. At the same time, investment treaties, entered into by African states and aimed at promoting and protecting FDI, seriously limit those states' ability to regulate such activities in the interests of affected communities. Whilst these tensions have generated global debate, little attention has been paid to the legal status of many of these investment treaties, and whether - given their constitutional and customary international law obligations to act in the public interest - African states truly have the capacity to conclude treaties which contain standards of investment protection expressly preventing or unduly abridging the exercise of their regulatory authority. Focusing on this question, The Investment Treaty Regime and Public Interest Regulation in Africa presents The Imperatives Theory: a legal, normative, and principled framework for rethinking the legal status, making, and reform of investment treaties and investment dispute settlement in Africa, with relevant and significant implications for the global investment treaty regime.

We are proud to present to our readers Czech Yearbook of International Law 2012, Volume 3. The overarching topic of this volume, Public Policy and Ordre Public turns its focus to the doctrine which is inherently connected with private international law, which is true only at first glance. The problem of Public Policy and Ordre Public is intertwined more deeply in the national legal orders than virtually any legal branch. However, the platform of private international law through which these doctrines emerge and find its strongest application is in the cross-border traffic of the court and extra-court decisions. In these relationships, the most important differences in understanding the extent and nature of these terms take shape. The third volume of the Czech Yearbook of International Law focuses on the uncovering of national differences and the comparison of such doctrines in a global perspective. CYIL 2012 takes into account the completely different connotations given to both doctrines in the United States and the Common Law countries in continental Europe. Institutions participating in the CYIL Project: Academic institutions within Czech Republic: - Masaryk University (Brno), Faculty of Law, Department of International and European Law. - University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Faculty of Law, Department of Constitutional Law & Department of International Law. - VŠB-TU Ostrava, Faculty of Economics, Department of Law. - Department of European Law, Department of Commercial Law & Centre for Comparative Law of the Faculty of Law, Charles University. - University College of International and Public Relations Prague. - Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i. Non-academic institutions in the Czech Republic - Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Department of Legislation, Prague. - Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic, Prague. - ICC National Committee Czech Republic, Commission on Arbitration, Prague. Institutions outside Czech Republic participating in the CYIL Project: Austria University of Vienna, Department of European, International and Comparative Law, Section for International Law and International Relations. Poland Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Faculty of Law and Administration, Department of Private International Law. Slovak Republic Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of State and Law, Bratislava. University of Matej Bel in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations, Department of International Affairs and Diplomacy. Trnava University in Trnava, Faculty of Law, Department of Labour Law and Social Security Law.

Includes annual "Review of legislation" covering the years 1859-1949.