International law Books

Book SynopsisThe US administration’s pursuit of the Al-Qaeda organisation and Taliban régime in Afghanistan, responsible for the September 11, 2001 international terrorist attacks, was supported by an international “coalition of the willing” and backed by the full legal authority of UN Security Council Resolutions. The US bid to follow this successful multilateral initiative with similar armed intervention against Saddam Hussein’s government failed to rally support in the Security Council. The US then proceeded to act unilaterally, and with British military support, to invade Iraq. The problems for contemporary international law and the UN Charter based World Order system posed by the conflicts within the Security Council and the assorted legal claims advanced, such as a revived doctrine of Humanitarian Intervention; régime change as a justification for intervention; Preemptive military strikes as an exercise in Self-defence; and Multilateralism versus Unilateralism in the exercise of the Peace and Security powers under the UN Charter, are canvassed in the present collection of legal opinions.Trade Review'This hard-hitting analysis of the US-driven pre-emptive presents daunting questions arising under contemporary International Law, spawned by conflicts including the lack of an authorizing Security Council resolution, and the proffered US/British claim of legality. […] The author presents his forceful critique of lessons learned and future directions in three phases, marked by successive time periods.' ASIL Newsletter UN21 Interest Group, June 2005.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements, Chapter 1. “Linkage” in International Law. From September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks to March 20, 2003 US/British Invasion of Iraq, Chapter 2. International Legal Controls on International Terrorism, I. International Law-based Responses to the September 11 International Terrorist Attacks, II. Use of Armed Force under the United Nations Charter, III. Individual and Collective Self-Defence, IV. New Anti-Terrorist International Law, V. International Terrorism and the Law of War (Jus in Bello), Chapter 3. “Rogue States” and the Claimed Legal Doctrine of Preemptive Strikes, I. President Bush and the New U.S. National Security Strategy: the Continuing Relevance of the Legal Adviser and International Law, II. The SALT I, ABM Treaty, 1972 Re-visited, III. The Legal Basis of the New U.S. National Security Strategy, a. The U.N. Charter and Use-of-Force and Armed Intervention, b. Korean Crisis, 1950, c. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, d. Retrospective Examination of NATO Armed Intervention in Yugoslavia, 1999, d.i. Parliamentary Scrutiny, d.ii. “Uniting for Peace” Resolution in U.N. General Assembly, d.iii. U.N. Charter, Article 51: Self-Defense, IV. Use of Armed Force: Continued Relevance of U.N. Security Council and General Assembly, a. International Law as an Autonomous and Self-Sufficient System, b. An Alternative Doctrinal Approach: Non Liquet, c. Afghanistan, 2001-2: U.S. and Allied Return to the Security Council, d. Contemporary International Law as to Peace and Security and Use of Armed Force, d.i. Armed Force, Armed Intervention, d.ii. Self-Defence under the U.N. Charter: Anticipatory Self-Defense, d.iii. Legal Controls for International Terrorism, V. Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism, and the Special Case of Iraq: the Law and Power Antinomy, Chapter 4. Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism: the United Nations Charter Prohibition on the Use-of-Force, I. The US/British Invasion of Iraq and the United Nations Charter. The Paradox of Unintended Consequences, II. From the Gulf War (1990-1) and Afghanistan (2001-2) to the Iraq Invasion: US/British Failure to Produce a Legal Common Front against Iraq, III. The Kosovo, 1999 Precedent: Re-visiting NATO Armed Intervention against Yugoslavia, IV. The UN Security Council and the Iraq Invasion: the “Pretext” Issue, V. After the Iraq Invasion: Charter Legal Principle of the Non-Use-of-Force, VI. Continued Multilateral Cooperation in Security Council-Authorized Antiterrorist Action, VII. Return to Multilateralism? Back to the U.N. and U.N. Charter-based International Law, Chapter 5. Unfolding of the Legal Dialectic: Legal Lessons from September 11 and the Iraq Invasion, I. Law and Fact. The Crucial Rôle of Fact-Finding as Premise for Legal Action, II. National Decision-Making on War and Peace: Changing Constitutional Balances, III. Legal Adviser, Legal Academies, Private Pressure Groups and NGOs, IV. Participatory Democracy: People’s Power as Factor in National Decision-Making, V. The Leadership Variable: Changing of the Generations, VI. International Decision-Making Arenas: New Political and Constitutional Balances within the United Nations System, VII. Who Decides on War and Peace, and on When It Is a Just War?, VIII. The United States as Lone Superpower: New Challenges and New Opportunities in the Post-Iraq Invasion Period, Appendix: Institut de Droit International: Bruges Declaration on the Use-of-Force and on Belligerent Occupation (September 2, 2003), The Author: Biographical Note, Publications of the Author, As Author, As Joint Author, Editor, Index.

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Book SynopsisThis volume offers a wealth of information on the protection functions of existing national human rights institutions in a wide selection of countries, drawn from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. These essays together make clear the genuine striving by national human rights commissions to act for the protection of human rights in the countries they serve, and the variety of protection models that can and are being adopted, both in developed and developing countries.Table of ContentsIntroduction B.G. Ramcharan; I. The Protection Role of the Australian Human Rights Commission The Hon. John von Doussa, Q.C.; II. The Protection Role of the Danish Human Rights Commission Morten Kjaerum; III. The Protection Role of the Fiji Human Rights Commission Dr. Shaista Shameem; IV. The Protection Role of the Ghana Human Rights Commission Anna Bossman; V. The Protection Role of the Indian Human Rights Commission Justice (Dr.) A.S. Annand; VI. The Protection Role of the Mexican Human Rights Commission Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández; VII. The Protection Role of the Nepalese Human Rights Commission Nayan Bahadur Khatri; VIII. The Protection Role of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Prof. Brice Dickson; IX. The Protection Role of the Philippines Human Rights Commission Dr. Purificacion C.V. Quisumbing; X. The Protection Role of the Uganda Human Rights Commission Justice Margaret Sekaggya; XI. National Institutions and the Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Orest Nowosad; Conclusion B.G. Ramcharan; Select Bibliography; Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles); Annex I: General Comment No 10 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in the Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Annex II: Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 56th Session of the Commission on Human Rights (2000).

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Book SynopsisThis work brings together a number of papers written by experts, mostly senior and active international civil servants, but also retired staff, analyzing the measures taken in international organizations in order to obtain greater accountability. Codes of conduct have been introduced, as well as more detailed measures of control. This has also required review of due process and dispute resolution provisions. The main objective of these codes of conduct is to foster appropriate behaviour of staff, but, ideally, these codes should also be instrumental in avoiding disputes, since staff knew more clearly what is expected of them. This book is a reflection of exchanges of views and information between administrative lawyers and, to some extent, investigators/prosecutors to ensure that the organizations become more transparent, corruption free and respective of the highest standards. Accountability and transparency have now become the rule, and increasingly also the practice. Much is still to be done, however. Discussions are ongoing in many organizations. This work’s purpose is also to contribute to these discussions. In addition to the analytic and frank contributions, this work contains various documents of international organizations, reflecting the codes of conduct and charters of values now in place.Trade Review'The papers provided in this work address the views and information which normally circulates only between administrative lawyers and investigators/prosecutors. It thus provides organizational transparency, with a view toward freedom from corruption and observance of the highest standards...This publication provides some rare insight into the processes that have therefore been almost hidden from public view.' American Society of International Law, 2006.Table of ContentsPreface, Ethics and Accountability in the International Civil Service, Chris de Cooker, Overview of the Rules on Conduct and Ethics at the IMF, Joan Powers, Accountability at the United Nations – in Need of a Genuine External Enforcement body, Francois Loriot, Due Process: The Rights of World Bank Staff in Misconduct Investigations, Howard Dean, Challenges in Applying Codes of Ethics in A Small Professional Community: The Example of The WTO Rules of Conduct For The Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, Yves Renouf, Revision in the OECD of Title II of the Staff Regulations “Basic Principles, Rights and Duties”, Sylvie Vanston, Annexes, Index

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Book SynopsisFrom the historic launch of the organization by such luminaries as Elihu Root and Charles Evans Hughes, to the recent era when international law is more and more in the public realm, Kirgis’s book traces the evolution of the organization and its relationship to events in the United States and around the world. As he says in the preface: '...In the end, the reader will have to make his/her own judgment about how well the Society has run the course it set out for itself in 1906. I hope this book will provide a basis for that judgment. And of course no judgment at this stage can be final. The American Society of International Law will carry on into its second century with new and continuing programs that take into account what it has done in its first one hundred years. It will continue to do its best to demonstrate not only what international law is or should be, but also that, in the words of former ASIL President Louis Henkin, international law matters.'Trade Review'Long anticipated, Rick Kirgis’s history of the ASIL has proved well worth the wait. It is a meticulously researched tale made lively in the telling. It is far more than just an ‘in-house history,’ however. Even non-members of the Society will find it valuable as a window into shifting American conceptions of and attitudes toward international law.' Anne-Marie Slaughter, Chair of the Centennial Committee of the American Society of International Law, 2002-2004Table of ContentsForeword, List of Illustrations, Preface, Chapter One The Formative Years, Chapter Two Adapting to a New World, Chapter Three Looking Forward in the Twenties, Chapter Four The Years Leading to World War II, Chapter Five War Years Again, Chapter Six The Immediate Post-War Years, Chapter Seven The Society in the Fifties, Chapter Eight A New Beginning, Chapter Nine Building on the New Foundation in a Time of National Turmoil, Chapter Ten A Change of Emphasis, Chapter Eleven Persevering During Lean Years, Chapter Twelve An External Focus at the End of the Cold War, Chapter Thirteen Infrastructure for Expanded Outreach, Chapter Fourteen Approaching and Celebrating the Centennial, Appendix A, The Original Constitution of the American Society of International Law, Appendix B, Prospectus (1906), Appendix C, ASIL Presidents, Appendix D, Manley O. Hudson Medal Recipients, Appendix E, Certificate of Merit Recipients, Appendix F, Goler T. Butcher Medal Recipients, Appendix G, Honorary Members, Index.

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