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9541. Eric A. Posner. The Perils of Global Legalism

Author:
Joel P. Trachtman
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
At a time when the Obama administration, the rest of the G20, and other governments, are emphasizing multilateral action to address global problems, such as global warming, terrorism, financial regulation, monetary policy, failed states, and public health, much is at stake in theoretical and empirical arguments about the possibility for effective collective action among groups of states. In The Perils of Global Legalism, Eric Posner argues that these efforts are largely futile. Can it be true that international law offers little or no assistance in response to global collective action problems? Posner grimly asserts that 'if a world government is not possible, then solving global collective action problems is also not possible' (at 8). If he is right, and given that the kind of world government he has in mind is indeed implausible, then the efforts of policy-makers and diplomats should immediately be diverted from efforts to craft international legal responses to global collective action problems, and reallocated to more productive pursuits. The implication of Posner's book: call home the diplomats and be content with the inefficiency implicit in unilateral action to address global collective action problems.

9542. Russell A. Miller and Rebecca M. Bratspies (eds). Progress in International Law

Author:
Peter Hilpold
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The title of this book must raise both interest and suspicion: on the one hand, no legal subject is so intimately related to expectations and hope for the improvement of the lot of humankind as is the case with international law. On the other hand, it is also generally known that these hopes have been disappointed in an uncountable number of cases. Most of us have a personal view of what progress means, and we are fairly convinced that this opinion more or less matches that of many other consociates. However, we are hesitant explicitly to formulate a general definition of this concept and, even in politics, this concept nowadays is used rather rarely. In international law, since the advent of deconstructivism at the latest, it has become nearly impossible to argue in such categories. To speak about progress presupposes the existence of commonly shared values; it evokes a sense of a unidirectional development of culture and human society. Progress has become one of the most abused words of the 20th century. In the East it has been used to justify repression in exchange for the promise of a mythical future to come about when true communism is achieved. The concept of 'progress' in the West was more closely associated with the hope of unprecedented technological and economic advancement. As is known, in both fields disillusionment has set in. Not only has the desirability of economic growth become overshadowed by the recognition that the associated environmental problems far exceed all previous calculations, but growth itself has become a mirage for many industrialized countries. To speak of progress before 1989 smacked of deceit, afterwards it sounded utterly naïve.

9543. Jean d'Aspremont. L'Etat Non Démocratique en Droit International. Étude Critique du Droit International Positif et de la Pratique Contemporaine.

Author:
Christian Pippan
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In 1992, shortly after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union marked the formal end point of the Cold War, Thomas Franck, who sadly passed away this year, famously proclaimed the emergence of a global 'right to democratic governance'. Against the backdrop of the dramatic political changes in Central and Eastern Europe, the progressive consolidation of democratic government in Latin America, burgeoning democratic reforms in various parts of Africa, and a rapidly increasing pro-democratic activism by the United Nations and other international organizations, he asserted that 'both textually and in practice, the international system is moving toward a clearly designated democratic entitlement, with national governance validated by international standards and systematic monitoring of compliance'.1 As is well known, Franck's thesis – which is largely grounded in the peoples' right to (internal) self-determination and a new reading of participatory norms contained in international human rights treaties – had a significant resonance in international legal scholarship and ushered in what came to be known as the 'democratic entitlement school'. Though the debate over the sweeping claim that, in the post-Cold War era, democracy is becoming – or has already become – a universal norm probably saw its heyday in the 1990s, it has, to this day, lost neither attraction nor relevance. Indeed, the claim's provocative nature (in light of international law's traditional indifference towards domestic constitutional orders), its assumptions about the kind of democracy advanced by the international system, as well as its potentially far-reaching consequences for states deemed to be in violation of the emerging norm continue to inspire scholars of international law and fuel an ongoing controversial discussion.
Political Geography:
Europe and Latin America

9544. Alexander Orakhelashvili. The Interpretation of Acts and Rules in Public International Law

Author:
Jörg Kammerhofer
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Dr Orakhelashvili, currently lecturer in law at the University of Birmingham Law School, is a prodigious writer as well as a very conscientious and thorough scholar. His latest book on interpretation in international law shows precision in scholarship and a comprehensive grasp of the subject. It comes at a time when the process of interpretation is little understood, yet often talked about by scholars, practitioners, and tribunals alike. Despite the large amount of literature already published on the topic – the bibliography printed in Orakhelashvili\'s book (at 585–591) is just the tip of the iceberg – and regardless of the countless dicta of various international tribunals, a new and fresh look at this central nexus between international legal practice and theory is highly welcome.
Topic:
International Law

9545. Eileen Denza. Diplomatic Law, Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

Author:
Lance Bartholomeusz
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Rarely is an international law reference text, let alone an article-by-article commentary on a convention, both authoritative and entertaining. Eileen Denza's third edition of Diplomatic Law is, however, an exception. Earlier editions of this text, first published in 1976 and then revised in 1998, quickly became the practitioner's standard reference. Drawing on her long and practical experience, Denza has thoroughly updated and revised the text; the third edition consolidates the reputation of Diplomatic Law, Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, as the authoritative text in its field. Since diplomacy and espionage are often (uncomfortable) bedfellows, some of the state practice reads like episodes from a spy novel.

9546. Anna-Karin Lindblom. Non-Governmental Organizations in International Law • Sergey Ripinsky and Peter Van den Bossche. NGO Involvement in International Organizations • Anton Vedder (ed.). NGO Involvement in International Governance and Policy: Sources of Legitimacy • Pierre-Marie Dupuy and Luisa Vierucci (eds). NGOs in International Law: Efficiency in Flexibility?

Author:
Zoe Pearson
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
There is little doubt that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are an enduring phenomenon in international law. While the formal involvement of NGOs with the United Nations (UN) system has longevity, tracing back to provisions in Article 71 of the UN Charter, discourses of globalization have given added impetus to their presence in international law under the broad church of 'global civil society'. The Chair of the recent Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations– Civil Society Relations set up to examine the relationship of NGOs with the UN system characterized the rise of civil society as one of the 'landmark events of our times'. 2 This visibility has meant that NGOs have increasingly become a source of debate amongst international legal scholars. Some commentators welcome the participation of NGOs in inter - national legal and political processes, while others express unease about the involvement of NGOs within the international system and question the legitimacy of this presence. The involvement of NGOs in international law therefore remains contested, and key issues about the extent and nature of their participation, their legal status and legitimacy as actors in international law are unresolved. The four volumes under review take us some steps further along in understanding the present and potential participation of NGOs in international law in a number of ways. First, these volumes provide a comprehensive picture of how the presence of NGOs in the international legal and political systems has evolved into the many varying arrangements that NGOs have with international organizations. Second, the volumes seek to engage with some of the more intractable issues; in particular, these volumes explore the challenging questions about the legitimacy of NGOs as actors in international law. Finally, these volumes highlight that this inquiry is a fundamentally inter-disciplinary exercise; going beyond legal analysis, it is important to consider the basis on which the legal status of NGOs rests.
Political Geography:
United Nations

9547. Yuval Shany. Regulating Jurisdictional Relations between National and International Courts

Author:
Filippo Fontanelli
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The vertical relationship between national and international courts is the core subject of this book, in which Shany develops and integratesthe findings of his previous 2003 work, by enlarging the analysis thereof to the 'vertical' relations between domestic and international courts. In this work he puts forward some suggestions on how to restrain the chaotic trend of fragmentation of the global legal order, making use of some procedural principles which are traditionally rooted in the field of private international law (lis alibi pendens, ne bis in idem, estoppel, res judicata, electa una via).

9548. Carlos Jimenez Piernas (ed.) The Legal Practice in International Law and European Community Law – A Spanish Perspective.

Author:
Jaume Ferrer Lloret
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article reviews the book edited by Professor Carlos Jiménez Piernas entitled The Legal Practice in International Law and European Community Law – A Spanish Perspective. As the editor points out in his prologue, this publication is an updated and revised English edition of a volume published in 2003 in Spanish. The new publication retains the Spanish edition's general structure of five substantive parts, plus indexes, which deal with legal practice before International Tribunals in International Organizations and in the European Union, national legal practice in international law, as well as with some legal tools for international lawyers, in particular to determine evidence of state practice and concerning sources of knowledge of international law on the internet. The title of the book is suggestive and confusing at the same time. It is suggestive in that it apparently deals with a topic which is seldom addressed in the literature on international law, i.e., 'legal practice'. Indeed, the book covers innovative topics which, in the near future, may become very relevant both for states and international organizations, as well as individuals and private companies.
Political Geography:
Europe

9549. Adineh Abghari. Introduction to the Iranian Legal System and the Protection of Human Rights in Iran

Author:
Ramin S. Moschtaghi
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The book is one of two volumes1 published by the 'Human Rights in International Law and Iran' project of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. This project primarily aims at fostering the dialogue on human rights between international and Iranian legal scholars, practitioners, and intellectuals. Although this is a worthwhile aim and the book is the first comprehensive introduction to the Iranian legal system written in English by a jurist, the book unfortunately falls short of expectations. The author is an Iranian lawyer and has been a research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. It is widely uncritical, partly faulty, and sometimes the English version is hard to comprehend without reference to the Farsi text or prior knowledge. For instance the term Imām-e djome is translated by the English word Friday. Thus, a reader of the English version might get the impression that Imām-e djome is the Persian equivalent of Friday, the famous companion of Robinson Crusoe, whereas, in fact, the term refers to Muslim preachers of the Friday sermon. Due to mistakes and shortcomings like this, the book gives the impression rather of a working paper than £50 worth of final work.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Iran

9550. Jan Klabbers. Treaty Conflict and the European Union

Author:
Maja Smrkolj
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This volume aims to contribute to an understanding of the relationship and conflict between the obligations of EU Member States arising under international treaties and their obligations under EU law. In the preface the author, Jan Klabbers, admits that at the outset he did not have a thesis but rather 'an intuition: the intuition that the EC Court usually makes things too simple for itself by ignoring the international law aspects'. When reading these lines, some of the more recent instances confirming such uneasiness, including the 2008 Kadi, Interanko and FIAM cases, immediately come to mind.
Political Geography:
Europe