Under the relevant rules of international law, treaties are interpreted in accordance with the ordinary meaning of the language they use, their object and purpose, and the intention of the drafters, but also in light of the subsequent practice of its parties. This subsequent practice can shed light on articles whose meaning is ambiguous and subsequent agreement can even alter the meaning of treaty provisions. At a time when many of the most important international treaties are more than fi...

Globalization imposes pressures on the traditional welfare state. This book examines these pressures, and responses to them, from the less familiar perspective of international law. The book deals with the role of the international level in securing or supplementing national welfare functions. Thus, the authors evaluate the role of international labour law, social rights as human rights, the World Trade Organisation, non-governmental organisations and international taxation law, in the eff...

The Interpretation of International Law by Domestic Courts assesses the growing role of domestic courts in the interpretation of international law. It asks whether and if so to what extent domestic courts make use of the international rules of interpretation set forth in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Given the expectation that rules of international law are to have a uniform interpretation and application throughout the world, the practice of domestic courts is con...

This edited volume examines the role of international law in a changing global order. Can we, under the current significantly changing conditions, still observe an increasing juridification of international relations based on a universal understanding of values? Or are we, to the contrary, facing a tendency towards an informalization or a reformalization of international law, or even an erosion of international legal norms? Would it be appropriate to revisit classical elements of internati...

This book explores the extent to which contemporary international law expects states to take into account the interests of others - namely third states or their citizens - when they form and implement their policies, negotiate agreements, and generally conduct their relations with other states. It systematically considers the various manifestations of what has been described as 'community interests' in many areas regulated by international law and observes how the law has evolved from a le...

Since the third edition of this commentary on the Charter of the United Nations was published in 2012, the text of the Charter has not changed DL but the world has. Central pillars of the international order enshrined in the UN Charter are facing serious challenges, notably the prohibition of the use of force. Human rights, too, have come under increasing pressure, now also from contemporary information technology. Global warming poses fundamental challenges for the world community as a wh...

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...

The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law provides a comprehensive and original overview of one of the fundamental topics within international law. It contains substantial new essays by more than forty leading experts in the field, giving students, scholars, and practitioners a complete overview of the issues that inform research, as well as a 'map' of the debates that animate the field. Each chapter features a critical and up-to-date analysis of the current state of d...

This book takes an inductive approach to the question of whether there is a hierarchy in international law, with human rights obligations trumping other duties. It assesses the extent to which such a hierarchy can be said to exist through an analysis of the case law of national courts. Each chapter of the book examines domestic case law on an issue where human rights obligations conflict with another international law requirement, to see whether national courts gave precedence to human rig...

This book traces the impact that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has had on various areas of international law. A number of prominent international experts examine whether, and to what extent, international law has been shaped by the Court's jurisprudence. The informal development of international law through the Court's judgments contrasts with the development of international law through more deliberate means, such as treaty-m...

The strengths of international investment law - above all, a strong focus on investor interests and an effective adjudication and enforcement system - also entail its weaknesses: it runs the danger of impeding or even sanctioning the host states' legitimate regulatory interests and ignoring other fields of public international law. How does it cope with public interest concerns such as human rights, the environment or the fight against corruption? At the heart of this book lies a fresh app...

This ambitious analysis is centered on the evolution of economic structures in colonized economies, showing the effects of these structures on today's global reality for all economies, whether they are considered 'developed or 'underdeveloped.'With a comprehensive scope encompassing economic structures and their influence on the growth of nations from past to present, Calixto Salomão Filho delves into issues of development, economic structures, social problems, monopolies, globaliz...