Whilst the concept of jus cogens has grown increasingly more important in public international law, lawyers remain hugely divided both over what precisely confers a jus cogens status on a norm, and what this conferral implies in terms of legal consequences. In this ground-breaking book, Ulf Linderfalk clearly and succinctly explores the reasons for this divide in order to facilitate more rational and productive future discourse.

Peremptory Norms of General International Law (Jus Cogens): Disquisitions and Dispositions is a collection of contributions on various aspects of jus cogens in international law.

This book gathers the contributions presented to the first edition of the Gaetano Morelli Lectures, held in the Spring of 2014 on “the Present and Future of Jus Cogens”. The first two Chapters reproduce the two general courses by Christian Tomuschat and by Pierre-Marie Dupuy. Two short Chapters, by Enzo Cannizzaro and by Beatrice Bonafé, address topics dealt with in the final seminar class.

One of the most complex doctrines in contemporary international law, jus cogens is the immediate product of the socialization of the international community following the Second World War. However, the doctrine resonates in a centuries-old legal tradition which constrains the dynamics of voluntarism that characterize conventional international law. To reconcile this modern iteration of individual-oriented public order norms with the traditionally state-based form of international law, Thomas Weatherall applies the idea of a social contract to structure the analysis of jus cogens into four areas: authority, sources, content and enforcement. The legal and political implications of this analysis give form to jus cogens as the product of interrelation across an individual-oriented normative framework, a state-based legal order, and values common to the international community as a whole.

Because of its unique nature, the sources of international law are not always easy to identify and interpret. This book provides an ideal introduction to these sources for anyone needing to better understand where international law comes from. As well as looking at treaties and custom, the book will look at more modern and controversial sources.

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.

Focusing on how states have utilized the persistent objector rule in practice, this volume details how the rule emerged and operates, how it should be conceptualised, and what its implications are for the binding nature of customary international law.

The purpose of this book is to explore what role ethical discourse plays in public and private international law. The book seeks (1) to delineate the role of ethical investigation in creating, sustaining, challenging and changing international law and (2) to open up a conversation between two related disciplines - public and private international law - that frequently labor in different vineyards. By examining the role of ethical discourse in international law's public and private dimensions, this volume will hopefully open new avenues for cross-disciplinary exchange in these important fields and related disciplines. The chapters in this book show that there is a way to engage the ethical dimension of international law without seeking to use ethics as raw politics and the will to power.

Realizing Utopia is a collection of essays by a group of innovative international jurists. Its contributors reflect on some of the major legal problems facing the international community and analyse the inconsistencies or inadequacies of current law. They highlight the elements - even if minor, hidden, or emerging - that are likely to lead to future changes or improvements. Finally, they suggest how these elements can be developed, enhanced, and brought to fruition in the next two or three decades, with a view to achieving an improved architecture of world society or, at a minimum, to reshaping some major aspects of international dealings. Contributions to the book thus try to discern the potential, in the present legal construct of world society, that might one day be brought to light in a better world. As the impact of international law on national legal orders continues to increase, this volume takes stock of how far international law has come and how it should continue to develop. The work features an impressive list of contributors, including many of the leading authorities on international law and several judges of the International Court of Justice.

This book sets out to articulate a comprehensive theory of customary international law that can effectively resolve the conceptual and practical enigmas surrounding it. It takes a multidisciplinary approach and draws insights from international law, legal theory, political science, and game theory. It is anchored in a sophisticated ethical framework and explores the interrelationships between customary international law and ethics.