The International Judge

An interdisciplinary introduction to international judges and their work

The first book-length systematic examination of how teachings are used in practice in international law.

This book traces the impact that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has had on various areas of international law. A number of prominent international experts examine whether, and to what extent, international law has been shaped by the Court's jurisprudence. The informal development of international law through the Court's judgments contrasts with the development of international law through more deliberate means, such as treaty-making. Assessing key areas of international law over which the ICJ has exercised its jurisdiction, such as international environmental law, international human rights, the law of the sea, and the law of immunities, this book comprehensively details the impact of international jurisprudence on contemporary international law. Continuing the work started by Sir Hersch Lauterpacht's influential book The Development of International Law by the Permanent Court of International Justice, this book provides key new insights into the role of the Court in wider international law. It makes required reading for anyone studying the ways in which international courts have in shaped the evolution of international law.

International courts are called upon to decide upon an increasingly wide range of issues of global importance, yet public knowledge of international judges and the process by which they are appointed remains very limited. Drawing on extensive empirical research, this book explains how the judges who sit on international courts are selected.

"While sorne researchers would approach the study of the Court through an article by article analysis and commentary, this approach would detract from the didactic goals and conceptual unity of the work. Instead, Professor Abello takes a thematic approach as he analyses the important features of the ICJ while taking into account their transition from the earlier PCIJ. The reader will understand the continuity between the Permanent Court of International Justice, an organ of the League of Nations and the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. The Optional Clause of Compulsory Jurisdiction is a symbol of the continuity between the PCIJ and the ICJ". "A la manera de un investigador que separa los elementos de un cuerpo para su análisis, el autor aborda el estudio de la Corte en su estructura y funciones, precedido por la transición de la Corte Permanente de Justicia Internacional a la actual Corte Internacional de Justicia. Prefirió, entonces, una división temática a una que lo habría llevado a comentar articulo por articulo el Reglamento de la Corte pero en desmedro de la unidad conceptual y la facilidad didáctica, propósito declarado por el autor. Entenderá el lector la continuidad entre la Corte Permanente de Justicia Internacional, órgano de la Sociedad de Naciones, y la Corte Internacional de Justicia, órgano judicial de la ONU y cómo el símbolo de tal continuidad es la aplicación a la última Corte citada de las Declaraciones Facultativas de Jurisdicción Obligatoria emitidas para la primera".

In approaching the writing of Intervention in the International Court of Justice, the author soon reached two conclusions. The first was that in order to understand the attitude of the Court today in applying the provisions of Articles 62 and 63 of the Statute, considerable importance attaches to their legislative history. In the Barcelona Traction (Preliminary Objections) case the Court referred to the `drafting records' of certain provisions of the Rules of Court under consideration there. The second conclusion was that examination of the decisions of the Court in intervention proceedings incidentally and in isolation from the case as a whole could put the material out of focus. The Court's position in a case of intervention can only be fully assessed in the context of the proceedings as a whole, when the real influence of the intervention phase on the final decision comes into the open. In addition, a new dimension, that of modern diplomacy, could be added to an understanding of the difficulties posed - for the Court, for individual States and for their legal advisers - by the institution of intervention. The book is based on a series of courses given by the author as Belle van Zuylen Professor in the Humanities at the University of Utrecht in 1986--1987. Nicaragua's intervention in the `Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute' case between El Salvador and Honduras before a Chamber of the International Court led to a complete reexamination of the whole work, and to this current publication.

Since its birth with the creation of the international Red Cross in 1863, international humanitarian assistance has developed considerably since World War II. In accordance with the Red Cross principle of humanity, it aims at preventing & alleviating human suffering wherever it may be found, protecting life & health & ensuring respect for the human being. International humanitarian assistance involves a complex network of government agencies, intergovernmental & non-governmental organizations, & individual volunteers: it has been labelled a 'non-system'. While governments & intergovernmental organizations play a dominant & structured role in this field, the non-governmental organizations & their volunteers have proved to be their necessary operational partners, providing material, medical & moral relief & care wherever it may be needed, beyond borders, at the grassroots level. Following a brief review of recent humanitarian activities of intergovernmental organizations, & an analysis of current trends of voluntarism, this book focuses on the role, status & attitudes of the major humanitarian non-governmental organizations, including the Red Cross organizations, the British charities, Church-related agencies, medical volunteers (such as the 'French Doctors') & U.N. volunteers. Should humanitarian non-governmental organizations provide relief assistance with the Red Cross concern for discretion, neutrality & impartiality? Or should they bear witness & denounce publicly human rights violations, at the risk of being expelled from recipient countries & having to stop their assistance? The controversial claim of a 'right' to receive & a 'duty' to provide humanitarian assistance beyond borders is also addressed, as well as the possible need for a status to be accorded to international volunteers.

A sequel to Bauer and Dawuni's pioneering study on gender and the judiciary in Africa (Routledge, 2016), International Courts and the African Woman Judge examines questions on gender diversity, representative benches, and international courts by focusing on women judges from the continent of Africa. Drawing from postcolonial feminism, feminist institutionalism, feminist legal theory, and legal narratives, this book provides fresh and detailed narratives of seven women judges that challenge existing discourse on gender diversity in international courts. It answers important questions about how the politics of judicial appointments, gender, geographic location, class, and professional capital combine to shape the lives of women judges who sit on international courts and argues the need to disaggregate gender diversity with a view to understanding intra-group differences. International Courts and the African Woman Judge will be of interest to a variety of audiences including governments, policy makers, civil society organizations, students of gender studies, and feminist activists interested in all questions of gender and judging.