Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Treaty Interpretation From A Negotiator's Perspective, Kenneth J. Vandevelde

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The international law of treaty interpretation is based on the perspective of an objective third party, such as a court, seeking to interpret an agreement after it has been negotiated. The result is a legal regime that attempts unnecessarily to apply a uniform approach to all treaty provisions and which places primary emphasis on resolving disputes rather than on enforcing the parties' intent. This approach takes insufficient account of the actual process of treaty negotiation, undercuts the legitimacy of the court's interpretation and potentially diminishes the effectiveness of treaties as a means of governing international relations. International law needs a …

Custom And Treaty: A Response To Professor Weisburd, Anthony D'Amato

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Arthur M. Weisburd's article, "Customary International Law: The Problem of Treaties", focuses on an important problem that has been relatively overlooked: whether current doctrinal scholarship accords too much weight to treaties as constitutive of customary practice. Few issues in international law are more important than the question of where an international rule comes from and how it is proved. Professor Weisburd has addressed a significant component of this basic question. Since he regards me as the leading offender among writers who overdetermine the value of treaties, I would like to take this opportunity to respond.

As a preliminary matter, I …

The Pitfalls Of International Commercial Arbitration, James M. Rhodes, Lisa Sloan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this Article is to examine the pitfalls of international arbitration on a broad scale. These pitfalls can be roughly grouped into two categories: (1) those endemic to the process of dispute resolution by a "private extra-judicial tribunal which derives its power from the agreement of the parties,"2 including difficulties unforeseen in the drafting of the agreement that add delay, complications, and expense to the proceedings; and (2) those related to using the rules of a particular institution. Ideally, planning and skillful drafting can eliminate both types of pitfalls and preserve the advantages of arbitration over other available …

Book Review, Nicholas A. Sims

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

It is a pleasure to welcome a well-written book on arms control, and one, moreover, that has grown out of the exigencies of an undergraduate course and is designed to meet the needs of students. Because INTERNATIONAL ARMS CONTROL: ISSUES AND AGREEMENTS was the work of several hands, its lucidity and consistency are the more admirable. Comprehensive in scope, it goes just far enough in setting arms control in its various contexts (political, military, cultural, and ethical) without straying out of bounds. It raises a multitude of questions without pretending to answer them all. I found it refreshing to read …

International Law And Conflict Resolution: Palestinian Claims And The Arab States, J. L. Taulbee, David P. Forsythe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Over the last few years there has been a revival of interest in international law as a mechanism for conflict resolution. These same years have seen a demonstration of the undeveloped state of international law, particularly concerning intrastate conflicts. The wide disagreement about questions of fact, legal consequence, and world order implications of internal war is a telling commentary on the current problems of applying legal standards to such conflicts. A major part of the disagreement can be explained in terms of the specific problems relating to fact determination and authoritative interpretation engendered by the nature of the environment in …

Developments In Space Law, Albert Gore

Vanderbilt Law Review

A democratic society could not long endure without the voluntary support of its citizens of application of legal proceedings for settlement of disputes. Perhaps few take the time to consider the extent to which our daily lives are affected by the judicial machinery which a free people have established. Here I refer not merely to the deterrent effect of criminal laws by which we deal with offenses against society. I refer also to our system for the legal settlement of controversies arising between individuals. After all, without our courts and our lawyers, questions involving tort and breach of contract would …