Is International Law International?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthea Roberts ◽  
Martti Koskenniemi
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
South China ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
International Lawyer ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
The World ◽  
Anglo American

Is International Law International? takes the reader on a sweeping tour of the international legal academy to reveal some of the patterns of difference, dominance, and disruption that belie international law’s claim to universality. Both revealing and challenging, confronting and engaging, this book is a must-read for any international lawyer, particularly in a world of shifting geopolitical power. Pulling back the curtain on the “divisible college of international lawyers,” the author shows how international lawyers in different states, regions, and geopolitical groupings are often subject to differences in their incoming influences and outgoing spheres of influence in ways that affect how they understand and approach international law, including with respect to contemporary controversies like Crimea and the South China Sea. Using case studies and visual representations, the author demonstrates how actors and materials from some states and groups have come to dominate certain transnational flows and forums in ways that make them disproportionately influential in constructing the “international”—a point which holds true for Western actors, materials, and approaches in general, and Anglo-American ones in particular. But these patterns are set for disruption. As the world moves past an era of Western dominance and toward greater multipolarity, it is imperative for international lawyers to understand the perspectives of those coming from diverse backgrounds. By taking readers on a comparative tour of different international law academies and textbooks, the author encourages international lawyers to see the world through others’ eyes—an approach that is pressing in a world of rising nationalism.

Crimea and the South China Sea

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthea Roberts
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
South China ◽  
The South China Sea ◽  
Invisible College ◽  
The South ◽  
Overlapping Communities ◽  
China Sea ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Spheres Of Influence

Although we often hear reference to the “invisible college” of international lawyers, it may be better to understand international lawyers as constituting a “divisible college” whose members hail from different states and regions and often form distinct, though sometimes overlapping, communities with their own understandings and approaches, as well as their own influences and spheres of influence. This chapter draws on two recent high-profile controversies—Crimea’s annexation by, or reunification with, Russia in 2014, and the legality and legitimacy of the award in the South China Sea arbitration in 2016—to explore how the divisible college of international lawyers operates with respect to Chinese, Russian, and Western international lawyers. It looks at the extent to which international lawyers in these case studies operated in their own silos or made an effort to communicate across national and geopolitical divides.

The Rights and Obligations of States in Disputed Maritime Areas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youri van Logchem
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
South China ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Comprehensive Treatment ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The World

Disputed maritime areas exist around the world, and in many cases the affected States have not been able to reach agreement on cooperative arrangements or regulate commercial activities within the area. Where a claimant coastal State increases their level of unilateral activity, such as in the South China Sea, long-standing conflicts remain difficult to resolve. This book examines the rights and obligations States have under international law concerning disputed maritime areas in the first comprehensive treatment of this highly topical and pressing issue. It analyses conventional law, general international law, judicial decisions, State practice and academic opinions that shine light on the international legal framework applicable in disputed maritime areas. Proposing practical solutions for interpreting and applying the applicable international law, the book discusses the extent to which it currently provides clear guidance to States, and how international courts and tribunals have dealt with cases related to disputed maritime areas.

scholarly journals SENGKETA LAUT CINA SELATAN DALAM PERSPEKTIF HUKUM INTERNASIONAL

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
Edmondus Sadesto Tandungan
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
South China ◽  
The South China Sea ◽  
The South ◽  
Potential Conflict ◽  
China Sea ◽  
International Dispute ◽  
The World ◽  
Strategic Role

The South China Sea Region is one of the largest waters in the world and has a strategic role both in terms of economy, politics and security so as to make this region have great potential that can be utilized by countries around the region. The consequences of many interests in this region is potential conflict form many state. This article analyzes several disputes that occur in the South China Sea based on international law. The purpose of this article is to find out the steps taken by states to resolving these international legal disputes. Through the analysis in this article it was found that in the perspective of international law, the dispute over the South China Sea was sourced from differences of principles in determining maritime boundaries. The analysis of this article also found several steps and efforts that can be taken by the disputing countries to resolve the South China Sea dispute.Keywords : South China Sea; International Dispute; International Law

scholarly journals Treaty of Tordesillas Syndrome: Sovereignty ad Absurdum and the South China Sea Arbitration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R Rossi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
South China ◽  
The South China Sea ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Commons ◽  
China Sea ◽  
The World

Cornell International Law Journal: Vol. 50 : No. 2 , Article 3. The South China Sea is the fifth largest body of water in the world. It accounts for five trillion dollars in annual commercial activity involving a third of maritime traffic worldwide. China claims wide-ranging sovereign rights over upwards of ninety percent of this Sea via a controversial U-shaped line. Its claim upsets regional stability and portends a coming conflict with the United States, the world's supreme maritime power, over the application of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China claims its sovereign authority predates UNCLOS by millennia; critics date China's claim to 1947. Already described as the most important ruling in the modem history of the international law of the sea, a Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration handed down a sweeping rebuke of China's contentions in the July 2016 Award in the South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), setting up a confrontation between emergent China and established United States. This Article discusses that Award in light of the fundamental tension within the liberal model of freedom of the seas-the unreconciled tension involving ownership interests over resources of the sea (dominium) and the decision-making power to rule over the seas (imperium). While scholarly attention dissects the Tribunal's discussion of historical and factual circumstances (effectivites) that aggregate against China's sovereignty claims, this Article notes deeper problems, too: Ambiguities in UNCLOS have allowed powerful states to historically territorialize wide swaths of the dwindling global commons, all within the compliant liberal framework. Such claims are reminiscent of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), where Spain and Portugal divided up ownership of the world. The territorializing instinct of the Treaty of Tordesillas serves as a syndromic indicator of a recurring problem involving the sea and its increasingly scarce resources. It sets up a major challenge for international law as between superpower interests in the South China Sea, and, more generally, over disputes involving the global commons and spatial regimes on the emerging frontier of technological capability.

The New Terrain of International Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

In 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. This book charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics. The book presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, the book argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. The book explains how this limited power—the power to speak the law—translates into political influence, and it considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.

scholarly journals Introduction

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-800
Author(s):  
MÓNICA GARCÍA-SALMONES ROVIRA ◽  
PAOLO AMOROSA
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
Normative Systems ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
History Of ◽  
Colonial Governance ◽  
History Of International Law

The deep relation between the colonial past and contemporary international law has been convincingly established. Scholars from diverse backgrounds, employing a variety of approaches, have shown the multifaceted ways in which the colonial enterprise occasioned the birth of doctrines and practices that are still in common use. The conference that occasioned this symposium, the last of the project History of International Law: Between Religion and Empire, directed by Martti Koskenniemi, was held in Helsinki in October 2016 and approached the issue of the colonial legacy of international law from the point of view of specific histories. The ‘techniques of empire’ raised at the conference encompassed colonial governance in the broadest sense, looking at practices, norms and normative systems, doctrines and concepts, and events. The case studies making up the articles featured in the symposium treat subjects as diverse as the experiences of colonialism have been, assuming an array of forms. Even so, from the multiplicity of techniques certain patterns and themes emerge.

China and International Adjudication

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Eder
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
South China ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
International Adjudication

China aims to become a “leader country” in international law that “guides” the international legal order. Delivering the first comprehensive analysis of case law and Chinese academic debates from 2002 to 2018, this book shows that gradually increased engagement with international adjudication is part of a broad effort to consolidate China’s economic and political gains, and regain great power status. It covers trade, investment, territorial and law of the sea matters – including the South China Sea disputes – and delineates a decades-long process between caution and ambition. Both in debate patterns and in actual engagement, this book finds remarkable similarities in all covered fields of law, merely the timetables differ.

Maritime Claims and Underwater Archaeology: When History Meets Politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-131
Author(s):  
Mariano J. Aznar
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Law ◽  
South China ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Underwater Archaeology ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Territorial Claims ◽  
Legal And Ethical Issues

Abstract Among other circumstances relevant to maritime delimitations, some States have recently used the protection of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) as grounds for advancing jurisdictional or sovereignty claims over different maritime areas. After identifying the contours of current international law governing that heritage, this book critically addresses: first, the generally limited use of archaeological heritage in territorial claims; second, the broad acceptance by States of ‘archaeological maritime zones’ that overlap with declared contiguous zones; and, third, the (mis)use of UCH and underwater archaeology in three still disputed maritime claims, namely, Canada’s claim in Arctic waters, China’s in the South China Sea, and Russia’s in Crimea and its surrounding waters. Legal and ethical issues related to underwater archaeology are also discussed.

THE LAW-MAKING EFFECTS OF THE FAO DEEP-SEA FISHERIES GUIDELINES

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-832
Author(s):  
Lene Korseberg
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
South China ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
International Community ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Law Making

AbstractThe second half of the twentieth century saw major improvements in the legal regime for fisheries management. This notwithstanding, the deep seas remain largely unregulated under international law, until recently only being covered by the general environmental and management provisions found in UNCLOS. In light of this regulatory gap, this article evaluates the potential law-making effects, if any, of the FAO Deep-Sea Fisheries Guidelines, a voluntary instrument designed to provide States with a regulatory framework for the management of their deep-sea fisheries. It considers how the Guidelines may inform, interpret and influence the content of the general high-sea obligations in UNCLOS. Despite the vagueness and generality of those provisions, some indication of their substantive content has been given in recent decisions, particularly the South China Sea Arbitration. By assessing their compatibility, and their level of acceptance by the international community, this article argues that the FAO Deep-Sea Guidelines are beginning to have a law-making effect by providing an authoritative interpretation of the general high-sea obligations found in UNCLOS relating to deep-sea fisheries.

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