Since the conclusion of World War II, the legacy of militarism and colonialism in areas of Asia has left many unresolved conflicts, dividing parts of the region. This legacy has also contributed to the discourse of contemporary legal issues in the region, including territorial disputes, human rights, the environment, state responsibility, and international trade among others. This volume addresses salient international legal issues that flowed from the legacy of the region's historical experience with colonialism. The book specifically addresses topics including territorial boundary disputes, the law of the sea and maritime delimitation, international law and colonialism, responsibility to protect and international dispute resolution. This volume provides perspectives on these issues from prominent Asian legal scholars who analyze and discuss various ways in which international law and the international legal process can aid the resolution of these issues relevant to the region.

The chapters in this volume address international legal issues impacted by the legacy of the Asian region’s historical experience with colonialism and its current standing in the international system. This volume provides a perspective on these issues from Asian legal scholars who have embarked on an analysis and discussion of the various ways in which international law and the international legal process can resolve these issues in a manner that is appropriate for the region. The book examines the interconnections between diverse topics, such as current territorial disputes over maritime areas (which includes disputes over maritime delimitation) and the scope of exclusive economic zones in East and Southeast Asia, both of which are aspects of some of the critical political, economic, and legal issues presently confronting the region. These territorial and maritime disputes are partially due to the geography of the region, but the editors make a convincing argument for the genesis of these disputes being rooted in the legacy of the region’s colonial past; a legacy which has confounded attempts at resolution of these disputes and still deeply influences international relations in the region. Asian Approaches to International Law and the Legacy of Colonialism will be of particular interest to academics and students of International Law, Maritime Law and Asian Studies.

In Global Constitutionalism and the Path of International Law, Surendra Bhandari succinctly offers an account of the most important growth and features of international law from the perspectives of global constitutionalism. The author examines the concept from its constitutive features and the operative standards or modus operandi. These two aspects offer a new and innovative methodology in explicating the theory of ‘global constitutionalism’. By examining three cases: international trade (WTO), human rights, and the role of Security Council, the author demonstrates how the idea of global constitutionalism is shaping and deepening the path of international law in the 21st century and elucidates the development of international law as a body of positive rules.

The Republic of Korea was colonialized in the early 20th century, achieved its independence, and rose from the ashes of the Korean War to become an Asian power. Korea’s ascent coincides neatly with the advent of globalization and growing importance of international law in managing the increasing interactions between states and other non-state entities such as multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, and international organizations like the United Nations. The Making of International Law in Korea addresses the developments of international law in Korea from human rights concerns to law of the sea issues; from maritime delimitation and access to ocean resources to other non-security matters. Offered as a textbook for academics and students, the authors demonstrate the increasingly important role of international law in shaping international relations in Northeast Asia and Korea.

This book brings together critical legal analyses of ongoing global issues in the digital age by international lawyers in Asia. Digital revolution is the key to understanding the contemporary human society. In this book, the authors critically redefine the mainstream thinking and ideas of contemporary international legal issues that the global community is facing. Given the rapidly shifting global legal landscape and framework, they shed light on the theoretical and practical questions in international law and reexamine their global context. Such independent and forward-looking approach suggests the ideas to shaping the global common good in the future human society. In both theory and practice, this book is a useful guide to Asian law, politics, economy, and business providing a fair and balanced point of view.

This book takes an unflinching look at the roles and functions played by the idea of universality in international legal discourses, as well as the narratives of progress that often accompany it. In doing so, it provides a critical appraisal of the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion attendant to international law and its universalist discursive strategies. Universality is therefore not reduced to the question of the geographical outreach of international law but is instead understood in terms of boundaries. This entails examining how the idea of universality was developed in the dominant vernaculars of international law - primarily English and French - before being universalised and imposed upon international lawyers from all traditions. This analysis simultaneously offers an opportunity to revisit the ideologies that constitute the identity of international lawyers today, as well as the socialisation and legal educational processes that international lawyers undergo. With an emphasis on the binaries that arise from the invocation of the idea of universality in international legal discourses, this book sheds new light on the idea of universality as a fraught site of contestation in international legal discourses.

The Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law aims to publish peer-reviewed scholarly articles and reviews as well as significant developments in human rights and humanitarian law. It examines international human rights and humanitarian law with a global reach, though its particular focus is on the Asian region. The focused theme of Volume 5 is Law, Culture and Human Rights in Asia and the Middle East.