Essays On International Law And Organization

Throughout his career, Michael Reisman emphasized law’s function in shaping the future. In this wide-ranging collection of essays, major thinkers in the international legal field address the goals of the twenty-first century and how international law can address the needs of the world community.

In 1983, when he was 80 years old, Leo Gross compiled 45 of his essays which had been published in scholarly journals and other collections from 1945 to 1984. The collection was published in two volumes by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and Transnational Publishers in 1984, with a Preface by Judge Stephen M. Schwebel of the International Court of Justice. The collection has been out of print for some time. In response to many requests, the Publishers have now decided to issue a shorter, one-volume collection, the selection from the 1984 books having been carried out by Professor Alfred P. Rubin, who occupied the office adjoining that of Leo Gross in the Fletcher School for no less than seventeen years. In his impressive and illuminating Introduction to this one-volume collection, Alfred Rubin pays tribute to his former colleague and points to a number of the most impressive features of the Gross essays. In discussing the criteria of his choice, he concludes: `Tough choices had to be made to present the reader with the widest and deepest selection of the works of a wide and deep mind. The bottom line was always the utility of the selection to the next generation of students of public international law and organization. '

This book contains ten writings on different aspects of international law, each of them cross-referenced, in instances in which information in one is relevant to points made in another. The first essay considers the character of the subject, and its relation to other entities of relevance to it, such as its compatibility with national law and its relation to maritime law. The second one considers different types of legal instruments in settings of international law, and explains how to read a multilateral convention, using the Convention for the International Sale of Goods as an example. The third part discusses the characteristics of a state and the concept of recognition, the fourth reviews the various roles that institutions take in international law, concentrating in particular on major regional organisations, and the fifth explores the extent to which the World Trade Organisation and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade provide for developing countries. Essay Six summarises the framework for international labour law and investigates its contents and workings, then the seventh considers which countries predominate in the running of international institutions. The eighth paper explores how regional entities might co-operate with international institutions in the harmonisation of the law, and the ninth one investigates the place of negotiation as a method of international dispute resolution. Finally, the tenth essay considers the past, present and future of international law, and reviews especially the role of language.

This interdisciplinary volume examines the highly topical issue of the role international law plays in international politics today.

In 1983, when he was 80 years old, Leo Gross compiled 45 of his essays which had been published in scholarly journals and other collections from 1945 to 1984. The collection was published in two volumes by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and Transnational Publishers in 1984, with a Preface by Judge Stephen M. Schwebel of the International Court of Justice. The collection has been out of print for some time.