Universalising International Law

Universalising international law is one of the most urgent tasks awaiting those who wish to advance the discipline. Though all the world acknowledges its universal nature, it has long been confined in a largely monocultural mould. Indeed a tendency is sometimes discernible for international law to be compartmentalised and to function within a close cabinet of technical rules little known to those outside the ranks of specialists. This volume looks initially at some general aspects of universalisation. It thereafter adopts a universalist approach to some of the sources of international law and it deals with peace, the bedrock of international law, which likewise requires a universalist approach. It is hoped that these studies will highlight the imperative need that now exists for extending the conceptual framework of international law, thereby buttressing its moral authority and widening its appeal at a time when universal acceptance of international law is one of the most pressing demands of the international system.

The universal promise of contemporary international law has long inspired countries of the Global South to use it as an important field of contestation over global inequality. Taking three central examples, Sundhya Pahuja argues that this promise has been subsumed within a universal claim for a particular way of life by the idea of 'development'. As the horizon of the promised transformation and concomitant equality has receded ever further, international law has legitimised an ever-increasing sphere of intervention in the Third World. The post-war wave of decolonisation ended in the creation of the developmental nation-state, the claim to permanent sovereignty over natural resources in the 1950s and 1960s was transformed into the protection of foreign investors, and the promotion of the rule of international law in the early 1990s has brought about the rise of the rule of law as a development strategy in the present day.

Realizing Utopia is a collection of essays by a group of innovative international jurists. Its contributors reflect on some of the major legal problems facing the international community and analyse the inconsistencies or inadequacies of current law. They highlight the elements - even if minor, hidden, or emerging - that are likely to lead to future changes or improvements. Finally, they suggest how these elements can be developed, enhanced, and brought to fruition in the next two or three decades, with a view to achieving an improved architecture of world society or, at a minimum, to reshaping some major aspects of international dealings. Contributions to the book thus try to discern the potential, in the present legal construct of world society, that might one day be brought to light in a better world. As the impact of international law on national legal orders continues to increase, this volume takes stock of how far international law has come and how it should continue to develop. The work features an impressive list of contributors, including many of the leading authorities on international law and several judges of the International Court of Justice.

This book takes an unflinching look at the roles and functions played by the idea of universality in international legal discourses, as well as the narratives of progress that often accompany it. In doing so, it provides a critical appraisal of the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion attendant to international law and its universalist discursive strategies. Universality is therefore not reduced to the question of the geographical outreach of international law but is instead understood in terms of boundaries. This entails examining how the idea of universality was developed in the dominant vernaculars of international law - primarily English and French - before being universalised and imposed upon international lawyers from all traditions. This analysis simultaneously offers an opportunity to revisit the ideologies that constitute the identity of international lawyers today, as well as the socialisation and legal educational processes that international lawyers undergo. With an emphasis on the binaries that arise from the invocation of the idea of universality in international legal discourses, this book sheds new light on the idea of universality as a fraught site of contestation in international legal discourses.

This "Festschrift" is published on the occasion of Gerhard Hafnera (TM)s 65th birthday and his retirement as a professor at the University of Vienna. It assembles a great number of renowned friends and colleagues in international law honouring Gerhard Hafnera (TM)s outstanding career as scholar, diplomat, legal adviser and arbitrator. The diversity of areas selected for this "Festschrift" reflects the generalist approach of Gerhard Hafner towards international law. Among the topics on which his contribution was particularly influential are the fragmentation of international law, the law of State immunity and international criminal law, which feature prominently in the "Festschrift." Other areas covered are the theory of international law (including sources), basic principles of international law, codification of international law, subjects of international law, international dispute settlement, the law of the sea and international environmental law, human rights and humanitarian law and the law of the European Union.

The emergence of transnational social movements as major actors in international politics - as witnessed in Seattle in 1999 and elsewhere - has sent shockwaves through the international system. Many questions have arisen about the legitimacy, coherence and efficiency of the international order in the light of the challenges posed by social movements. This book offers a fundamental critique of twentieth-century international law from the perspective of Third World social movements. It examines in detail the growth of two key components of modern international law - international institutions and human rights - in the context of changing historical patterns of Third World resistance. Using a historical and interdisciplinary approach, Rajagopal presents compelling evidence challenging debates on the evolution of norms and institutions, the meaning and nature of the Third World as well as the political economy of its involvement in the international system.

Provides an accessible, balanced, and nuanced introduction to public international law, with examples of how the law applies in practice.

This volume provides students and scholars with a text that examines, explains, and appraises contributions made by the United Nations to contemporary international law and the law-creating process. The authors consider how UN institutions have made the law, what law has been made, and the extent to which that law has been meaningfully accepted by and evidenced in contemporary state practice. The study first deals with processes and measures that cut across law-making, covering practical as well as conceptual aspects. Then the substantive law is addressed in terms of the different fields of activity that the United Nations has made subject to legal rules and processes. Some chapters cover prominent areas, such as human rights, use of force, and economic relations; others deal with topics which have not previously been examined with sufficient care, such as labor, the environment, refugees, and women. The book's final section deals with the internal law of the UN system itself - the international civil services and financial contributions.