This book is a collection of essays dealing with issues of contemporary significance in the law of treaties. It neither purports nor aspires to provide a general overview of all aspects of the law of treaties, and it is by no means intended to be a comprehensive textbook. The discussion of the subjects selected in this book will shed some light on a number of areas of the contemporary law of treaties, and, consequently, on some important features of the international legal system at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The relevance of the rules governing the law of treaties for other central fields of international law continue to be the subject of frequent doctrinal discussion. In addition, some rapidly developing newer areas of public international law, which are regulated for the most part by treaties, have renewed the importance of some older problems, for example, the question of conflicts between treaties regulating the same subject-matter and the matter of treaty interpretation. One other important issue is the relevance of the emergence of new actors and factors, other than states, in the international legal order in general, and in the law of treaties in particular.

The United States spearheaded the creation of many international organizations and treaties after World War II and maintains a strong record of compliance across several issue areas, yet it also refuses to ratify major international conventions like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Why does the U.S. often seem to support international law in one way while neglecting or even violating it in another? The United States and International Law: Paradoxes of Support across Contemporary Issues analyzes the seemingly inconsistent U.S. relationship with international law by identifying five types of state support for international law: leadership, consent, internalization, compliance, and enforcement. Each follows different logics and entails unique costs and incentives. Accordingly, the fact that a state engages in one form of support does not presuppose that it will do so across the board. This volume examines how and why the U.S. has engaged in each form of support across twelve issue areas that are central to 20th- and 21st-century U.S. foreign policy: conquest, world courts, war, nuclear proliferation, trade, human rights, war crimes, torture, targeted killing, maritime law, the environment, and cybersecurity. In addition to offering rich substantive discussions of U.S. foreign policy, their findings reveal patterns across the U.S. relationship with international law that shed light on behavior that often seems paradoxical at best, hypocritical at worst. The results help us understand why the United States engages with international law as it does, the legacies of the Trump administration, and what we should expect from the United States under the Biden administration and beyond.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the law of treaties based on the interplay between the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and customary international law. Written by a team of renowned international lawyers, it offers new insight into the basic concepts and methodology of the law of treaties and its problems.

Giving an overview of the current state of the law and practice in relation to treaties, this edited work is an essential reference for practitioners and legal advisers involved in treaty negotiations or the interpretation of treaties. It also reflects on the current areas of disagreement or ambiguity.

On the publication of its first edition, this textbook was welcomed as the definitive study of treaty law written from the viewpoint of an experienced practitioner. As with the first, this edition aims to provide the student and practitioner with a full understanding of the law and updates existing information and refines previous arguments. New to its scope of examination is the study of the use of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in litigation, the treaty-making capacity of entities such as the Vatican, Taiwan and Palestine, and the effect of hostilities on treaties. Given their increasing importance, there is also a new chapter on international organisations, including an attempt to explain the sometimes baffling roles in treaty-making played by the European Community and European Union. Students and practitioners alike will find this an invaluable guide to this increasingly important subject.

. . . Highly recommended as a key contribution to the literature. It fulfils its title in being contemporaneous, but more than that it also provides a subtle critique of how many international environmental lawyers have approached their subject. . . this book will be an essential read for anyone interested in the subject. British Yearbook of International Law This book presents an interesting, scholarly read. . . an invaluable reference asset, to law students, researchers, policy makers and non-state actors with interest in environmental regulation and governance. Priscilla Schwartz, Journal of Environmental Law This is a thoughtful and well-researched study of current issues in international environmental law. Malgosia Fitzmaurice s collection of essays is a welcome addition to the literature in this rapidly developing area of the law: it provides perspective on the environmental law issues discussed, but always against the background of the broader concepts and principles of general international law. James Crawford, University of Cambridge, UK The central aim of this insightful book is to illuminate how many concepts in international environmental law such as the precautionary principle and sustainable development are taken for granted. These problematic issues are very much still evolving and subject to heated debate between scholars as well as between states. The author explores these controversies viewing them as a positive development within a field that is in a constant state of flux. Areas discussed include the convergence of human rights with environmental issues and the quest for the human right to a clean environment. The book also clearly demonstrates that international environmental law cannot be analysed in isolation since it greatly influences the development of general international law. Taking full account of the most recent decisions of international courts and tribunals as well as the most up-to-date scholarly analysis, Contemporary Issues in International Environmental Law is a timely and important resource for legal scholars, under- and post-graduates and practitioners alike.

The rules of treaty interpretation codified in the 'Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties' now apply to virtually all treaties, in an international context as well as within national legal systems, where treaties have an impact on a large and growing range of matters. The rules of treaty interpretation differ somewhat from typical rules for interpreting legal instruments and legislation within national legal systems. Lawyers, administrators, diplomats, and officials at international organisations are increasingly likely to encounter issues of treaty interpretation which require not only knowledge of the relevant rules of interpretation, but also how these rules have been, and are to be, applied in practice. Since the codified rules of treaty interpretation came into decree, there is a considerable body of case-law on their application. This case-law, combined with the history and analysis of the rules of treaty interpretation, provides a basis for understanding this most important task in the application of treaties internationally and within national systems of law. Any lawyer who ever has to consider international matters, and increasingly any lawyer whose work involves domestic legislation with any international connection, is at risk nowadays of encountering a treaty provision which requires interpretation, whether the treaty provision is explicitly in issue or is the source of the relevant domestic legislation. This fully updated new edition features case law from a broader range of jurisdictions, and an account of the work of the International Law Commission in its relation to interpretative declarations. This book provides a guide to interpreting treaties properly in accordance with the modern rules.

Permeating all facets of public international law, the modern law of treaties is a fundamental aspect of governance in the ‘democratized’ world. In this contemporary introduction, Robert Kolb provides a refreshing study that is both legally analytical and practical. Written in a highly readable style, the book explores the key topics through concise chapters, which are organized into two parts. The first of these gives a structured overview of the law of treaties along with practical examples. The second provides a critical engagement with the underlying issues and discusses the multi-dimensional problems raised by legal regulations, explored through specific case studies. The Law of Treaties: An Introduction will provide valuable insights to scholars and practitioners in the areas of international law, international affairs and international relations. Its clear structure and concise style mean it will also be highly accessible to students.

This book "represents an attempt to highlight the breadth of debate, and the evident problems and divergences within current understandings of the law of treaties and to open up...serious discussion as to the theoretical, conceptual and practical dimensions of the law of treaties in the post-Vienna world".

Covering subjects ranging from treaties and dispute resolution to the environment, human rights, and terrorism, this anthology is unique in revealing the influence of international law on political behavior. The third edition has been updated with 13 new chapters that discuss emerging actors and structures, address the most pressing current issues, and consider the future evolution of the international legal system.