Home >
Law >
International Law >
International Law: A Critical Introduction, 2nd Edition

International Law: A Critical Introduction, 2nd Edition

Author: Wade Mansell; Karen Openshaw
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781509926725

Previous Edition ISBN: 9781849460972
Published In: August 2019
Format: Paperback , 286 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

List Price: HKD 324.87

HKD 315.12 Save HKD 9.75 (3%)

Download Order Form

Add to Wishlist
| Add to Compare

Description
Contents
Author

Details

This book is intended to provide a significant and critical introduction to the concepts, principles and rules of international law through a consideration of contemporary international events. It provides ways of considering the relevance of international law to particular disputes and also an appreciation of both the possibilities and limitations of legal method in international disputes. This in turn necessitates an examination of the relationship between international law and power. Thus rather than studying international law as a system of rules that purports to govern, or at least constrain the international community, this book considers the actual effects of international law upon international disagreements.

Such an approach will be sceptical rather than cynical, intending to provide the means by which the role of international law may be evaluated. This necessitates discussion of the legal quality of international law; of the relationship between the academic disciplines of international law and international relations; of the apparent 'Eurocentricity' of international law, and of the relationship between political power and the ability to use or abuse (or ignore) international law.

Underlying the book is the assertion that international law is political in content (in the sense of being concerned with the exercise of power) but that it draws much of its effectiveness from its self-portrayal as being apolitical, or at least politically neutral.

Introduction

I. International Law and Domestic Law

II. Paradoxes in the Contemporary World

III. Law and Power

IV. The Structure of the Book

1. The Distinctive Nature of International Law

I. What is International Law?

II. How International Law Differs from Domestic Law

III. The Changing Nature of International Law

IV. International Law and Common Sense

V. What Makes International Law 'Law'?

VI. Why is it Necessary to Identify the Sources of International Law?

2. The Dynamic Quality of International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Concept of Sovereignty and Sovereign Equality

III. The Concept of Sovereignty and Jurisdiction

IV. Sovereignty and Controversial Bases of International Jurisdiction

V. Sovereign Equality and the Concept of Universal Jurisdiction

VI. Immunity from Jurisdiction

VII. Legal Personality in International Law

VIII.The Place of the Individual in International Law

IX. The Individual in International Law as Exemplified by the European Convention on Human Rights..

X. The Interrelationship between Sovereignty, Personality and the Individual in International Law

3. Self-determination and Territory in International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Concept of Self-determination in International Law before the Creation of the United Nations

III.The United Nations Charter, Self-determination and Decolonisation

IV.Self-determination after the Cold War

V. States, Territory and Recognition

VI.Territorial and Other Rights Over the Sea and its Bed

VII. Conclusion

4. The International Obligations of States: Treaties and State Responsibility

I. Introduction

II. The Law of Treaties

III.State Responsibility in International Law

IV.Conclusion

5. The United Nations, the UN Charter and International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Origins of the UN

III.The Structure of the UN

IV.How the UN is Financed

V. The UN Charter: A Constitution for the World?

VI. Conclusion

6. Human Rights in International Law

I. Introduction

II. What are Human Rights?

III.The Politics of Human Rights

IV.The International Bill of Human Rights

V. Other Principal UN Human Rights Conventions and Bodies

VI.Regional Protection of Human Rights

VII. The International Criminal Court

VIII.Conclusion

7. The Peaceful Settlement of Disputes in International Law

I. Introduction

II. Legal Method and International Dispute Resolution

III.The International Court of Justice

IV. International Arbitration

V. Conclusion

8. Use of Force in International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Use of Force in International Law before the Creation of the UN

III.The Charter of the UN

IV.Chapter VII of the UN Charter

V. Self-defence in International Law

VI.From Humanitarian Intervention to Responsibility to Protect

VII. Rules Constraining the Type of Force Permissible

VIII. Conclusion

9. The Misery and Grandeur of International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Paradox of Sovereign Equality

III.The United States of America and International Law

IV.The Case of Israel and International Law

V. Conclusion

Wade Mansell is Professor of International Law at the University of Kent, Canterbury.
Dr Karen Openshaw holds postgraduate diplomas in law and international law and relations, and practised as a solicitor for a number of years.