Territorial disputes remain a significant source of tension in international relations, representing an important share of interstate cases brought before international tribunals and courts. Analysing the international law applicable to the assessment of territorial claims and the settlement of related disputes, this Research Handbook provides a systematic exposition and in-depth discussions of the relevant key concepts, principles, rules, and techniques. Combining extensive knowledge from across international law, Marcelo Kohen and Mamadou Hébié expertly unite a multinational group of contributors to provide a go-to resource for the settlement of territorial disputes. The different chapters discuss the process through which states establish sovereignty over a territory, and review the different titles of territorial sovereignty, the relation between titles and effectivités, as well as the relevance of state conduct. Select chapters focus on the impact of foundational principles of international law such as the principle of territorial integrity, the right of self-determination and the prohibition of the threat or use of force, on territorial disputes. Finally, technical rules that are crucial for the assessment of territorial claims, especially the techniques of intertemporal law and critical date, as well as evidentiary rules, are presented. An essential resource for practitioners, international law academics and public officials including judges and arbitrators, this Research Handbook is a highly original collection of scholarship and research on territorial disputes and their settlement. Contributors include: M.J. Aznar, T. Christakis, A. Constantinides, K. Del Mar, G. Distefano, M. Hébié, P. Klein, M. Kohen, V. Koutroulis, S. Lee, G. Nesi, K. Parlett

The Oxford ILDC online database, an online collection of domestic court decisions which apply international law, has been providing scholars with insights for many years. This ILDC Casebook is the perfect companion, introducing key court decisions with brief introductory and connecting texts. An ideal text for practitioners, judged, government officials, as well as for students on international law courses, the ILDC Casebook explains the theories and doctrines underlying the use by domestic courts of international law, and illustrates the key importance of domestic courts in the development of international law.

Contains essays describing the role of territory in international law. This book also describes how the international legal system accepts and regulates the apportionment of territory between states, and regulates boundary questions.

In seeking to foster preconditions for maintenance of order international law lays great emphasis on state sovereignty - guaranteeing states special protection against threats to their territorial integrity. However, the demarcation of territory in most post-colonial states is extremely controversial since these physical dimensions were usually established during European colonial rule. The Roman doctrine of uti possidetis was called upon to add the thrust of legal sanctity and prevent challenge to boundaries bequeathed to the new ruler. By charting its progress through different temporal phases this book demonstrates that this doctrine evolved to suit political rather than legal tenets. The book is divided into seven chapters; the first two focussing on theoretical issues surrounding uti possidetis, examining its original development in Roman law. The next three chapters trace usage of the doctrine through Spanish decolonization, African colonisation and recent ICJ jurisprudence while the last two study modern manifestations of the effects of the doctrine in the former Yugoslavia and for indigenous peoples world-wide. A comprehensive and critical analysis of the Roman doctrine of uti possidetis, this book is an important resource for both students and scholars of international law.

This book examines the challenges posed to contemporary international law by the shifting role of the border, which has recently re-emerged as a central issue in international relations. It posits that borders do not merely correspond to States’ boundaries: indeed, while remaining a fundamental tool for asserting States’ power, they are in fact a collection of constantly changing spatial limits. Consequently, the book approaches borders as context-specific limits and revisits notions traditionally linked to them (jurisdiction, sovereignty, responsibility, individual rights), while also adopting the innovative approach of viewing borders as phenomena of both closedness and openness. Accordingly, the first part of the book addresses what happens “within” borders, investigating the root causes of the emergence of spatial limits and re-assessing apparent extra-territorial assertions of State power. In turn, the second part not only explores typical borderless spaces, but also more generally considers the exercise of States’ and international organisations’ powers and prerogatives across or “beyond” borders.

This book argues that the introduction of popular sovereignty as the basis for government in France facilitated a dramatic transformation in international law in the eighteenth century.

Interest in international law has increased greatly over the past decade, largely because of its central place in discussions such as the Iraq War and Guantanamo, the World Trade Organisation, the anti-capitalist movement, the Kyoto Convention on climate change, and the apparent failure of the international system to deal with the situations in Palestine and Darfur, and the plights of refugees and illegal immigrants around the world. This Very Short Introduction explains what international law is, what its role in international society is, and how it operates. Vaughan Lowe examines what international law can and cannot do and what it is and what it isn't doing to make the world a better place. Focussing on the problems the world faces, Lowe uses terrorism, environmental change, poverty, and international violence to demonstrate the theories and practice of international law, and how the principles can be used for international co-operation.

This fully updated second edition of Jurisdiction in International Law examines the international law of jurisdiction, focusing on the areas of law where jurisdiction is most contentious: criminal, antitrust, securities, discovery, and international humanitarian and human rights law. Since F.A. Mann's work in the 1980s, no analytical overview has been attempted of this crucial topic in international law: prescribing the admissible geographical reach of a State's laws. This new edition includes new material on personal jurisdiction in the U.S., extraterritorial applications of human rights treaties, discussions on cyberspace, the Morrison case. Jurisdiction in International Law has been updated covering developments in sanction and tax laws, and includes further exploration on transnational tort litigation and universal civil jurisdiction. The need for such an overview has grown more pressing in recent years as the traditional framework of the law of jurisdiction, grounded in the principles of sovereignty and territoriality, has been undermined by piecemeal developments. Antitrust jurisdiction is heading in new directions, influenced by law and economics approaches; new EC rules are reshaping jurisdiction in securities law; the U.S. is arguably overreaching in the field of corporate governance law; and the universality principle has gained ground in European criminal law and U.S. tort law. Such developments have given rise to conflicts over competency that struggle to be resolved within traditional jurisdiction theory. This study proposes an innovative approach that departs from the classical solutions and advocates a general principle of international subsidiary jurisdiction. Under the new proposed rule, States would be entitled, and at times even obliged, to exercise subsidiary jurisdiction over internationally relevant situations in the interest of the international community if the State having primary jurisdiction fails to assume its responsibility.

In Stress Testing the Law of the Sea: Dispute Resolution, Disasters & Emerging Challenges, edited by Stephen Minas and H. Jordan Diamond, leading practitioners and scholars of the law of the sea examine key developments that are placing pressure on the current legal framework. Following an expert preface setting the historical context for the discussion, Part I explores the changing norms of marine dispute resolution – long the foundation of the UNCLOS framework – in an era when the lines between private and public governance are continually shifting and following the landmark South China Sea arbitration. Part II explores emerging issues whose inherent levels of uncertainty challenge the structure of the framework, including climate change, disasters, and expanding energy exploration.