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Full-Text Articles in Law
Reacting Against Treaty Breaches, Bruno Simma, Christian J. Tams
Reacting Against Treaty Breaches, Bruno Simma, Christian J. Tams
Book Chapters
States regularly proclaim the sanctity of treaty obligations and few principles are as firmly established as pacta sunt servanda. Yet, treaty breaches are by no means exceptional: adapting one of international law's most celebrated statements, one might even say that 'almost all nations, almost all the time, consider their rights under a given treaty to be violated: By way of a snapshot, at the time of writing, eleven of fourteen active contentious cases pending before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) involve claims, by one State, that a certain treaty has been violated. And this ignores the many treaty breaches …
Adoption Of 1325 Resolution, Christine M. Chinkin
Adoption Of 1325 Resolution, Christine M. Chinkin
Book Chapters
UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was not adopted in a vacuum, but rather can be read with a number of other programs within the Security Council (SC) and UN architecture. These include other thematic resolutions, as well as broader policy initiatives. Taken together, these diverse strands sought to shift the understanding of the SC’s role in the maintenance of international peace and security, away from a classic state-oriented approach to one that places people at its center. The adoption of Resolution 1325, along with these other developments, had implications for the making of international law (the place of civil society …
A Standard Of Global Justice, Steven R. Ratner
A Standard Of Global Justice, Steven R. Ratner
Book Chapters
This chapter presents the standard of justice that is used in this book to appraise international law. That standard is based on two core principles, or what the book calls pillars—the promotion of international and intrastate peace, on the one hand, and respect for the basic human rights of all individuals, on the other. The justice of international norms is determined by the extent to which they lead to a state of affairs involving peace and human rights, with some room for deontological considerations in limited situations. The chapter defends the choice of these two pillars. It elaborates on the …
Self-Defense Against Terrorists: The Meaning Of Armed Attack, Steven Ratner
Self-Defense Against Terrorists: The Meaning Of Armed Attack, Steven Ratner
Book Chapters
The last decade has witnessed increased recourse by states to military force to respond to terrorist attacks on their soil that have originated from abroad. A number of states -- including the United States -- have justified these military actions as lawful self-defense in response to an armed attack, as permitted under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. These claims raise multiple interpretive questions about the meaning of "armed attack" under Article 51 and of the various options that are allowed in response to one. This essay explores the contemporary understanding of an "armed attack" in terms of an …
The History Of International Adjudication, Mary O'Connell, Lenore Vanderzee
The History Of International Adjudication, Mary O'Connell, Lenore Vanderzee
Book Chapters
This chapter on the history of international adjudication will show that courts and tribunals have been part of international law since the emergence of modern international law with the rise of the state system in the mid-seventeenth century. Courts and their role within international law have also been a persistent part of the theoretical debates about the nature of international law. From an early emphasis on arbitration, support grew for the creation of courts with general compulsory jurisdiction. By the late twentieth century, the theoretical trend shifted toward interest in courts with special subject matter jurisdiction, including human rights, trade, …
Behind The Flag Of Dunant: Secrecy And The Compliance Mission Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross, Steven Ratner
Behind The Flag Of Dunant: Secrecy And The Compliance Mission Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross, Steven Ratner
Book Chapters
In the world where most NGOs see their role in the international legal process as public advocacy, often through naming and shaming, the International Committee of the Red Cross stands apart. Much of its work consists of confidential visits and secret communications to warring parties. It rarely identifies violators publicly; it leaves its legal position on many issues ambiguous; and at times it avoids legal discourse entirely. This aversion to transparency is not only at odds with the assumptions of the naming and shaming strategy regarding the most effective means to induce compliance. It also makes it almost impossible for …
Persuading To Comply: On The Deployment And Avoidance Of Legal Argumentation, Steven Ratner
Persuading To Comply: On The Deployment And Avoidance Of Legal Argumentation, Steven Ratner
Book Chapters
For those international actors seeking to promote respect for international law, persuasion -- the process of social interaction whereby one actor seeks to convince another to believe or do something through principled rational arguments and interactions, without any overt coercion -- is at the core of the enterprise. Yet the scholarship in international law and international relations is woefully thin on the content of such a communication of persuasion, and, in particular, on the role of legal argumentation. This paper constructs a theoretical model for determining when and how international actors deploy legal argumentation in contrast to other arguments that …
From Enlightened Positivism To Cosmopolitan Justice: Obstacles And Opportunities, Steven Ratner
From Enlightened Positivism To Cosmopolitan Justice: Obstacles And Opportunities, Steven Ratner
Book Chapters
This paper explores the possibilities for linkages between various forms of positivism accepted by many international lawyers and various forms of cosmopolitanism advocated by scholars of global justice. Building on Bruno Simma's conception of "enlightened positivism," it identifies areas in which cosmopolitan trends have already seeped into the fabric of international law and the key gaps between positivist and cosmopolitan visions of international law and the international community. Emphasizing the contributions that philosophical inquiry can add to international legal scholarship, and vice-versa, it concludes with some thoughts on further integration of cosmopolitan thinking into positivist methodologies.
Comparative Federalism And The Issue Of Commandeering, Daniel Halberstam
Comparative Federalism And The Issue Of Commandeering, Daniel Halberstam
Book Chapters
Divided power systems, such as the United States, the European Union, and the Federal Republic of Germany, confront a common question: whether the central government may 'commandeer' its component States, that is, whether the central government may issue binding commands that force its component States to take regulatory action with respect to private parties. This chapter explores what may initially appear as a puzzling difference in the answers given. Whereas US constitutional jurisprudence currently prohibits commandeering, the founding charters of the EU and Germany permit such action. And all do so in the name of protecting the integrity and importance …