This volume offers a systematic overview of the different tools through which the human rights accountability of transnational corporations may be improved. The book first examines the responsibility of States in controlling transnational corporations, emphasizing both the limits imposed by the protection of the rights of investors under investment treaties and the potential of the US Alien Tort Claims Act and other similar extra-territorial legislations. It then turns to self-regulation by transnational corporations through the use of codes of conduct or international framework agreements....

This timely volume seeks to examine two of the most pertinent current challenges faced by asylum seekers in gaining access to international refugee protection: the obstacles to physical access to territory and the barriers to accessing a quality asylum procedure (access to asylum justice). To address these aims, the book brings together leading commentators from a range of backgrounds, including law, sociology, and political science. It also includes contributions from NGO practitioners. This allows the collection to offer an interdisciplinary analysis and to incorporate both theoretical and...

The jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) generally demonstrates that no rule of international law can be interpreted and applied without regard to its innate values and the basic principles of human rights. Through its case-law, the ICJ has made immense contributions to the development of human rights law, and in so doing continues to provide solutions to mounting international problems, such as terrorism and unilateral use of force. Part I of this book argues that the legislative spirit of contemporary international law lies in the doctrine of human rights and that the...

With its specific focus on human rights, this book follows and complements the previous volume Biotechnology and International Law (Hart, 2006). The book is the result of a collaborative effort with the purpose of discussing the extent to which current activities in the field of biotechnology can be regulated by existing international human rights principles and standards. It also discusses what gaps, if any, need to be identified and filled with new legislative initiatives. Instruments such as the UNESCO declarations on the human genome (1997) and on bioethics and human rights (2005) have...

The concept of 'human security' has influenced discourse and practice, and has been the subject of vigorous debate. Despite its relevance to the central questions of international law, human security has until recently received little attention from international lawyers. This well-researched and thoughtful book has two related goals: to evaluate human security as a concept that could be used in the analysis of international law, and to determine what insights about a human security approach might be gained by considering it from the perspective of international law. The first part of the...

There are believed to be about 700 million small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the world, often contributing to highly destabilizing security and other concerns in international law. SALW are the primary source of violations and abuses of humanitarian and human rights principles by states, rebels, terrorists, and criminals. Many consider them the real weapons of mass destruction of our time, causing about half a million deaths annually. The unrestricted international transfer of SALW by states - 99 states and 1000 companies involved in manufacturing and supply - is one of the major...

This work provides a forum for addressing a broad range of intellectual challenges concerning the contribution of African states and peoples to international law. As such, the volume addresses orthodox topics of international law - such as jurisdiction and intervention - but tackles them from an African perspective, and seeks to ask whether, in each case, the African perspective is unique or affirms existing arrangements of international law. The book cannot come at a more important time. While international legal discourse has been captured by the challenge of terrorism since September 11,...

The international protection regime for refugees and other forced migrants seems increasingly at risk as measures designed to enhance security - of borders, of people, of institutions, and of national identity - encroach upon human rights. This timely edited collection responds to some of the contemporary challenges faced by the international protection regime, with a particular focus on the human rights of those who are displaced. The book begins by assessing the impact of anti-terrorism laws on refugee status, both at the international and domestic levels, before turning to examine the...

In 1996, the International Court of Justice delivered an Advisory Opinion on the legality of the use of nuclear weapons in which the Court stated that 'while the existing international law relating to the protection and safeguarding of the environment does not specifically prohibit the use of nuclear weapons it indicates important environmental factors that are properly to be taken into account in the context of the implementation of the principles and rules of the law applicable in armed conflict.' The present work analyzes this conclusion, focusing on the question as to whether or not the...

International law is fragmented and complex, and at the same time increasingly capable of shaping reality in areas as diverse as human rights, trade and investment, and environmental law. The increased influences of international law and its growing institutionalization and judicialization invites reconsideration of the question on how the authority to make and interpret international law should be allocated among states, international organizations, and tribunals. In other words, 'who should decide what' in a system that formally lacks a central authority? This is not only a juridical...