Centered on progressiveness, these essays rigorously address some philosophical, conceptual and structural issues relating to the international legal system, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the international criminal tribunals. These include: the concept of the international law of co-progressiveness, opinio juris and customary international law, the rule of law, the interpretation of the ICJ Statute, law and expedience at the ICJ, the relationship between the International Criminal Court and the Security Council, the definition of crimes against humanity, guilty plea fairness, defenses to international crimes, constitutions of international organizations, September 11 and international law, international experiment in national constitution-making, discretionary function and foreign sovereign immunities, and the concept of human rights in Asia. This book is valuable to critical thinkers and scholars in international law and relations, policy-makers and international judges, practitioners and NGO advocates. This collection includes fourteen essays both new and previously published in fine journals such as European JIL (Oxford), ICLQ (Oxford), German YIL, Max Planck YUNL, Columbia LR, Leiden JIL (Cambridge) and Chinese JIL.

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.

This rich and remarkable volume offers an overview of the most important schools, movements and trends which make up the theoretical landscape of contemporary international law, as well as the works of over 500 authors. It moves beyond generalization and examines how the relevant literature deals with the basic issues of the international legal system, such as international obligations, legitimacy, compliance, unity and universality, the rule of law, human rights, use of force and economics. It offers insights into the addressees (the state, international organizations, individuals and other private persons), and the construction of international law, including law-making, the relationship between norms, and interpretation. Moreover, it widens the discourse by addressing old, yet enduring, as well as new concerns about the functioning of the international legal system, and presents views of non-international lawyers and political scientists regarding that system. It is a valuable analysis for researchers, students, and practitioners.

Global Governance, Conflict and China sheds a unique perspective on China’s normative behaviour in the realm of collective security, peacekeeping, arms control, the war on terror and post-conflict justice. This analysis engages with an Asian epistemological framework whose relational thought borrows from the context – space and time alike – that informs China’s principle-driven conduct on the international plane. Through the lens of relational governance, this work develops a new theory on the relational normativity of international law (TORNIL) that identifies the interdependent sources that underpin China’s international legal argument, i.e. norms, values and relationships. Without a fertile soil in which those conflicting relationships between share- and stakeholders can be rebuilt, international laws governing (post-conflict) violence cannot restore and maintain peace, humanity and accountability.

Based on the author's first-hand experience as a UN Special Rapporteur, this thought-provoking and original book examines the values of Eastern civilisations and their contribution to the development of the UN Human Rights agenda. Rejecting the argument based on “Asian Values” that is often used to undermine the universality of human rights, the book argues that secularism, personal liberty and universalism are at the heart of both Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

International law is fragmented and complex, and at the same time increasingly capable of shaping reality in areas as diverse as human rights, trade and investment, and environmental law. The increased influences of international law and its growing institutionalization and judicialization invites reconsideration of the question how should the authority to make and interpret international law be allocated among states, international organizations and tribunals, or in other words, "who should decide what" in a system that formally lacks a central authority? This is not only a juridical question, but one that lies at the very heart of the political legitimacy of international law as a system of governance, defining the relationship between those who create the law and those who are governed by it in a globalizing world. In this book, leading international legal scholars address a broad range of theoretical and practical aspects of the question of allocation of authority in international law and debate the feasibility of three alternative paradigms for international organization: Sovereignty, Supremacy and Subsidiarity. The various contributions transcend technical solutions to what is in essence a problem of international constitutional dimensions. They deal, inter alia, with the structure of the international legal system and the tenacity of sovereignty as one of its foundations, assess the role of supremacy in inter-judicial relations, and draw lessons from the experience of the European Union in applying the principle of subsidiarity. This volume will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners of international law alike.

The International Court of Justice at The Hague is the principal judicial organ of the UN, and the successor of the Permanent Court of International Justice (1923–1946), which was the first real permanent court of justice at the international level. This 2005 book analyses the groundbreaking contribution of the Permanent Court to international law, both in terms of judicial technique and the development of legal principle. The book draws on archival material left by judges and other persons involved in the work of the Permanent Court, giving fascinating insights into many of its most important decisions and the individuals who made them (Huber, Anzilotti, Moore, Hammerskjöld and others). At the same time it examines international legal argument in the Permanent Court, basing its approach on a developed model of international legal argument that stresses the intimate relationships between international and national lawyers and between international and national law.

This book showcases how the People's Republic of China (PRC) has been utilizing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to reshape the global order. Dissecting China's increasingly assertive international behaviour, the book demonstrates how the PRC projects its self-perception onto the international order. The book outlines five aspects of China's international role projection, which the PRC applies selectively, depending on its target audience: (1) The bearer of traditional Chinese culture; (2) The humiliated nation; (3) The socialist state with Chinese characteristics; (4) The developing state and promoter of international development; (5) The authoritarian globalization optimist.Drawing on an in-depth analysis of hundreds of primary BRI documents, the book offers a comprehensive overview of China's most crucial foreign policy agenda item. It demonstrates how, through the BRI, the PRC has introduced mechanisms to the international level, which reflect its domestic policy-making mode. In addition, the PRC has institutionalized the initiative by establishing China-centered BRI networks across a wide range of policy areas. Within those emerging China-centered BRI networks, the PRC systematically increases its international discursive power, for example, by inserting Chinese vocabulary into UN resolutions or by promoting Beijing's approaches vis-à-vis 'the rule of law' across a range of developing states. This book also further discusses the implications of the BRI for the international legal order.

This volume discusses the practice of transformative military occupation from the perspective of public international law through the prism of the occupation of Iraq and other cases of historical significance. It seeks to assess how international law should respond to measures undertaken in the pursuit of a given transformative project, whether or not supported by the Security Council. A monographic study tackling the bulk of the international law issues that emerge during and as a result of a transformative occupation, based on a comprehensive analysis of historical cases, applicable norms, and relevant facts. "With this thorough and thought provoking study, Andrea Carcano has put us all in his debt." From the foreword by Georges Abi-Saab, Emeritus Professor, Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development.

Centered on progressiveness, these essays rigorously address some philosophical, conceptual and structural issues relating to the international legal system, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the international criminal tribunals. These include: the concept of the international law of co-progressiveness, opinio juris and customary international law, the rule of law, the interpretation of the ICJ Statute, law and expedience at the ICJ, the relationship between the International Criminal Court and the Security Council, the definition of crimes against humanity, guilty plea fairness, defenses to international crimes, constitutions of international organizations, September 11 and international law, international experiment in national constitution-making, discretionary function and foreign sovereign immunities, and the concept of human rights in Asia. This book is valuable to critical thinkers and scholars in international law and relations, policy-makers and international judges, practitioners and NGO advocates. This collection includes fourteen essays both new and previously published in fine journals such as European JIL (Oxford), ICLQ (Oxford), German YIL, Max Planck YUNL, Columbia LR, Leiden JIL (Cambridge) and Chinese JIL.