International Legal Issues Arising Under The United Nations Decade Of International Law

The State of Qatar, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC), in cooperation with the Secretariat of the United Nations and Frère Cholmeley (Paris) organised the Conference on International Legal Issues Arising under the United Nations Decade of International Law in Doha, Qatar on 22--25 March 1994. Around 60 speakers and 200 participants from more than 40 nations freely expressed their views on the progressive development of international law and its codification with a view to States' actions in the future adhering to the principles of international law as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. The subjects dealt with by the Conference had one thing in common: they were all topical issues or, in French, `des questions d'actualité', and will remain thus throughout the United Nations Decade of International Law. The various themes were Environmental Law, the Law of the Sea, the Settlement of Disputes, Humanitarian Law, and the Rio Conference, Post-Rio and the New International Economic Order. This book which contains the Conference proceedings will be of great interest to lawyers specializing in international law. The book is not only a photograph of some very important issues as they existed and were perceived in 1994, it will also serve as a reference book and a unique tool which will be indispensable to understanding some of the most crucial legal problems with which the world community is faced today.

In its forty-fourth session the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as the Decade of International Law. One of the main purposes of the decade is the promotion of effective means for peaceful international dispute settlement, and, especially, strenghtening the role of and respect for the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The editors of this book contribute to this aim by bringing together a variety of opinions by international legal experts on peaceful dispute settlement. The subject is approached from different angles, ranging from the role of the International Law Commission and the Non-Aligned Movement to human rights and space law disputes, in order to identify areas of international law where room exists for further development of existing means for peaceful settlement of international disputes. A general conclusion which can be drawn from this survey is that the focus of attention should not be aimed primarily at strenghtening the role of the International Court of Justice, e.g. by amending some of its rules or by trying to increase its political acceptability through diplomatic efforts. Instead, the focus should be on small scale improvements within specific areas of international law with an emphasis on the relation between dispute settlement and supervision. Furthermore, it seems essential for a real improvement to give non-governmental organisations or private persons a greater role in upholding the rule of international law, whether in domestic courts or in international fora. This work has been published previously in the Leiden Journal of International Law, Special Issue (3 LJIL 90).

In the spirit of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations and the United Nations Decade of International Law, the contributors to "Perspectives on International Law" honour with this legal treatise a devoted friend of the United Nations and international law, Judge Manfred Lachs - a noted judge, diplomat, humanist and, above all, teacher. The work includes a variety of perspectives on international law relating to what were Judge Lachs' four main areas of interest: the theory and practice of international law, the United Nations, the World Court, and space law. The book meets the need for a reference work covering selected subject areas and providing different perspectives on some of the key issues of current concern. Many eminent experts in various fields related to international law, including Judges of the International Court of Justice, diplomats, and professors of law - most of whom knew Judge Lachs personally - have contributed. Each chapter has been prepared specifically for the book. The contributors represent all political, legal and cultural regions of the world and provide a range of backgrounds and viewpoints, offering a variety of new ideas for strengthening international law, based on their assessment of the lessons of the past.

This volume provides students and scholars with a text that examines, explains, and appraises contributions made by the United Nations to contemporary international law and the law-creating process. The authors consider how UN institutions have made the law, what law has been made, and the extent to which that law has been meaningfully accepted by and evidenced in contemporary state practice. The study first deals with processes and measures that cut across law-making, covering practical as well as conceptual aspects. Then the substantive law is addressed in terms of the different fields of activity that the United Nations has made subject to legal rules and processes. Some chapters cover prominent areas, such as human rights, use of force, and economic relations; others deal with topics which have not previously been examined with sufficient care, such as labor, the environment, refugees, and women. The book's final section deals with the internal law of the UN system itself - the international civil services and financial contributions.

The purpose of these volumes is to examine, explain and appraise contributions made by the United Nations system to international law and the law-creating process. The work assesses the effect UN institutions have had on the law-making process, and the extent to which that law has been accepted by and evidenced in contemporary state practice. It is divided into three main parts. The first examines the practical as well as conceptual aspects of the UN system as a source of law. The second part deals with different fields of activity which have become the subjects of legal rules and processes. Areas covered include human rights, use of force and economic relations. In addition, topics that have not previously been examined in such a comprehensive manner, such as shipping, aviation, and private international law, are also discussed. The third part covers the internal law of the UN system - international civil services and financial contributions.

"Progress in International Law" is a comprehensive accounting of international law for our times. Forty leading international law theorists analyze the most significant current issues in international law and their critical assessments draw diverse conclusions about the current state and future prospects of international law. The material is grouped under the headings: The History and Theory of International Law; The Sources of International Law and Their Application in the United States; International Actors; International Jurisdiction and International Jurisprudence; The Use of Force and the World's Peace; and The Challenge of Protecting the Environment and Human Rights. The book draws its inspiration from a similar survey undertaken in 1932 by Harvard Law Professor and PCIJ Judge Manley O. Hudson. In his book "Progress in International Organization," Hudson sought to demonstrate that what he perceived as an emerging international infrastructure, and as moves toward the rule of law in international affairs, were sure signs of human progress towards peace and cooperation. "Progress in International Law" critically engages with that claim as a normative matter and, at the same time, presents the evidence by which a judgment about our own progress towards peace and cooperation might be judged.

In its forty-fourth session the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as the Decade of International Law . One of the main purposes of the decade is the promotion of effective means for peaceful international dispute settlement, and, especially, strenghtening the role of & respect for the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The editors of this book contribute to this aim by bringing together a variety of opinions by international legal experts on peaceful dispute settlement. The subject is approached from different angles, ranging from the role of the International Law Commission & the Non-Aligned Movement to human rights & space law disputes, in order to identify areas of international law where room exists for further development of existing means for peaceful settlement of international disputes. A general conclusion which can be drawn from this survey is that the focus of attention should not be aimed primarily at strenghtening the role of the International Court of Justice, e.g. by amending some of its rules or by trying to increase its political acceptability through diplomatic efforts. Instead, the focus should be on small scale improvements within specific areas of international law with an emphasis on the relation between dispute settlement & supervision. Furthermore, it seems essential for a real improvement to give non-governmental organisations or private persons a greater role in upholding the rule of international law, whether in domestic courts or in international fora. This work has been published previously in the Leiden Journal of International Law, Special Issue (3 LJIL 90).

The United Nations, whose specialized agencies were the subject of an Appendix to the 1958 edition of Oppenheim's International Law: Peace, has expanded beyond all recognition since its founding in 1945.This volume represents a study that is entirely new, but prepared in the way that has become so familiar over succeeding editions of Oppenheim. An authoritative and comprehensive study of the United Nations' legal practice, this volume covers the formal structures of the UN as it has expanded over the years, and all that this complex organization does. All substantive issues are addressed in separate sections, including among others, the responsibilities of the UN, financing, immunities, human rights, preventing armed conflicts and peacekeeping, and judicial matters. In examining the evolving structures and ever expanding work of the United Nations, this volume follows the long-held tradition of Oppenheim by presenting facts uncoloured by personal opinion, in a succinct text that also offers in the footnotes a wealth of information and ideas to be explored. It is a book that, while making all necessary reference to the Charter, the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and other legal instruments, tells of the realities of the legal issues as they arise in the day to day practice of the United Nations. Missions to the UN, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, practitioners of international law, academics, and students will all find this book to be vital in their understanding of the workings of the legal practice of the UN. -- $c Provided by publisher.