If international law is derived from the consent of States, who should be in a better position to say what has been consented to than the disputing States themselves? It seems that if the doctrine of consent is taken seriously, there would be no room for an 'objective' legal answer to the question What is law?'. Furthermore, States do not necessarily employ the same criteria for determining the applicable law when engaged in dispute. And the doctrine of sovereignty is of very limited utility, since not all of substantive international law can be explained in terms of the atomic concept of...

This collection of papers addresses two main themes: firstly, whether there is a distinctively European contribution to or even leadership in the contemporary formation and evolution of international law; secondly, the extent to which non-governmental actors (e.g. NGOs, international organizations, companies, individuals) contribute decisively to the formation of international law at the present time. These issues are explored within a number of different contexts of contemporary significance, in particular: the protection of human and minority rights; protection of the environment; control...