This book brings together world experts on the United Nations and international law, to examine not only the content of that legal regime but how it has been transformed since the second half of the twentieth century.

An important read for academics and policy-makers alike, Hard Choices, Soft Law asserts that voluntary standards, or 'soft' law, are an important supplement to international law in a number of areas. This key work firstly outlines the approach taken to combining soft and hard law and trade, environment and labour values in the WTO and NAFTA, and in the prospective Millennium Round. Then, using the forestry sector - a realm where formal international law remains largely absent - the book provides a detailed examination of the role of soft law in action. It demonstrates how soft and hard law can be combined to promote trade, environmental and social cohesion, in ways that also permit sustainable development. The book presents a wealth of knowledge from a range of contributors familiar with the work of the G7/G8, the OECD, the Biodiversity Convention and the Codex Alimentarius.

Building on a thorough analysis of relevant case studies, this volume systematically explores the roles of soft law in both established and emerging human rights regimes.

International Environmental Law is a new textbook written for students, practitioners, and anyone interested in the subject. The overall aim of the book is to provide a fresh understanding of international environmental law as a whole, seen in the light of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the other serious environmental challenges facing the world. The book has also been kept deliberately manageable in size by careful selection of topics and by adopting a cross-cutting synthesis of regulatory interaction in the field. This enables the reader to place international environmental law in the broader context of public international law in general, revealing at the same time that international environmental law is experimental ground for developing new legal approaches towards global governance. To this end, the authors have combined theory and practice. Apart from discussing concepts, rule-making and compliance, the book looks at options for improved coordination, harmonisation and even integration of existing multilateral environmental agreements, analysing how conflicts between various environmental regimes can be avoided or, at least, adequately managed. The authors argue that an appropriate management of international environmental relations must address the North-South divide, which continues to be a major obstacle to global environmental cooperation. Furthermore, the authors emphasise the growing human rights dimension of international environmental law. This book is an ideal 'door opener' for the further study of international environmental law. Focusing on 'international environmental governance' in a comprehensive way, it serves to explain that each institution, each actor, and each instrument is part of a multi-dimensional process in international environmental law and relations.

A legal examination of global health governance issues relating to access to essential medicines for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

This timely book explores pertinent questions around the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU agencies’ soft law, with a particular focus on the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). It examines the variety of ESMA’s existing and newly granted soft law-making powers, which were intended to deal with the lack of effectiveness of its predecessor but are now called into question due to the ‘hard’ effect of these soft laws.

Advocating Social Change through International Law explores the strategic use of hard and soft international law to advocate for social change in a variety of contexts, including for example human rights, international criminal prosecutions, environmental protection, public health, and financial regulation.