Extinctive Prescription / On the Limitation of Actions contains sixteen national reports and the general report on the subject, written for the XIVth Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, held from 31 July-August, 1994, in Athens, Greece. The volume deals with limitations of actions, or `extinctive prescription', as the subject is usually called in civil law jurisdictions. This is both a highly technical and a highly political topic. The book focuses on the political aspects of extinctive prescription; specifically, how long should prescription periods run, as of what event, interrupted by which circumstances, etc. The trend in modern legislation has been to shorten the periods of extinctive prescription. Recent occurrences in biology and medicine, however, have led to proposals to lengthen the limitation periods again. The reports discuss the situation in Europe, Latin America, and North America, and are especially interesting because of their comparative nature.

The debate about the relationship between international and community law usually centres on the question of which of these two `belongs' to the other, and how `special' community legal order is in relation to international law. In this volume, a distinguished group of Finnish and British academics and practitioners break new ground by, instead of becoming mired in these questions, clearly examining the international law aspects of the activities of the Community and the Union. In doing so, they have elucidated points of connection and possible points of conflict. The result is a thought-provoking collection of essays which examines community law through the conceptual grid of international law, and thus enriches our understanding of the workings of both.

The popularity of his monumental and definitive works have established Shabtai Rosenne as the undisputed expert on the International Court of Justice s law and practice. His broad exchange of correspondence and extensive conversations with members of the Court and its Registrars, as well as with other friends who know the Court and its practices well, and his experience in the Court and in the UN, especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, led him to undertake this major reconstruction of this work in the previous edition. Now divided into several substantive volumes, the work addresses: The Court as one of the principal organs, and as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Diplomats and legal advisers who have to deal with matters relating to the Court on a political level, in different organs of the United Nations and in other offices will appreciate the full discussion of the diplomatic, political, and administrative aspects of the Court s affairs. Jurisdiction and the treatment of jurisdictional matters by the Court. This volume also includes the Court s advisory jurisdiction; the advisory work has related to very difficult legal issues in matters of major political import. The Court s procedure.All of these arenas have undergone significant recent changes. The work s practical features include the English text of the Charter of the United Nations, the Statute of the Court, the Practice Directions, and the 1978 Rules of the Court, together with a full set of indexes. The Fourth Edition (updated until 31 December 2005) of The Law and Practice of the International Court is an essential component of all international law libraries and an indispensable work for those practicing in the field, all of whom will appreciate access to the most recent work on the Court from this expert author.