International Customary Law And Codification

Fundamentals of Public International Law, by Giovanni Distefano, provides an overview of public international law’s main principles and fundamental institutions.

States often regard themselves bound by treaty rules which have developed under customary international law, even though many of the treaties themselves have not been ratified. The Law of the Sea Convention, for instance, has generated new customary rules which modified the 1958 Geneva Conventions. These & many other issues are dealt with clearly & systematically in this informative handbook on the relations between written & unwritten international law. The conclusions of the first edition of Customary International Law & Treaties were largely confirmed by the International Court of Justice in the Nicaragua Case. This fully revised second edition, while basing itself on the original version, brings the subject up to date.

Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume I: Rules is a comprehensive analysis of the customary rules of international humanitarian law applicable in international and non-international armed conflicts. In the absence of ratifications of important treaties in this area, this is clearly a publication of major importance, carried out at the express request of the international community. In so doing, this study identifies the common core of international humanitarian law binding on all parties to all armed conflicts. Comment Don:RWI.

"A study of their interactions and interrelations, with special consideration of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties."--T.p.

In the wake of the adoption by the International Law Commission of a complete set of articles on state responsibility in international law in 2001, this collection assembles a number of essays tracing key debates which have marked the evolution of this field over the last fifty years. These include explorations of the general theory of state responsibility (link between ’primary’ and ’secondary’ rules, the place of due diligence, the link between liability and wrongfulness), the consequences of an internationally wrongful act (nature of remedies, suitability of countermeasures, third states and the shift from bilateralism to community interests in the law of state responsibility), the debate over criminalizing state responsibility, and the continuing relevance of the law of injuries to aliens. The collection also contains a series of essays offering critical perspectives on state responsibility, including feminist and developing world perspectives. It is completed by an extensive and up-to-date bibliography.

Interest in international law has increased greatly over the past decade, largely because of its central place in discussions such as the Iraq War and Guantanamo, the World Trade Organisation, the anti-capitalist movement, the Kyoto Convention on climate change, and the apparent failure of the international system to deal with the situations in Palestine and Darfur, and the plights of refugees and illegal immigrants around the world. This Very Short Introduction explains what international law is, what its role in international society is, and how it operates. Vaughan Lowe examines what international law can and cannot do and what it is and what it isn't doing to make the world a better place. Focussing on the problems the world faces, Lowe uses terrorism, environmental change, poverty, and international violence to demonstrate the theories and practice of international law, and how the principles can be used for international co-operation.