This unique book presents an in-depth analysis of the provision of legal advice at international organizations. It elucidates the dual role of legal advisers as representatives of their organization and as international civil servants acting as protectors and promoters of international law.

The Role of Legal Advisers in International Law sheds light on the position, activities and influence of legal advisers in the domain of international law. This is a novel and edifying perspective in that it surveys and appraises important undertakings of legal advisers in domestic and international legal forums and their role in the development, interpretation and application of international law. Building upon their extensive knowledge and experience, contributors to the book analyse themes such as influence of various legal traditions (including the British) on the work of legal advisers, their position in the diplomatic decision-making process, the role of ethics in providing legal advice, and their contributions – in various forms – to the development and strengthening of the international legal system. Please also see the following related titles: - British Influences on International Law, 1915-2015 - British Contributions to International Law, 1915-2015

With the rising relevance of international organizations in international affairs, and the general turn to litigation to settle disputes, international institutional law issues have increasingly become the subject of litigation, before both international and domestic courts. The judicial treatment of this field of international law is addressed in Judicial Decisions on the Law of International Organizations through commentary on excerpts of the most prominent international and domestic judicial decisions that are relevant to the law of international organizations, providing in-depth analysis of judicial decisions. The commentaries written and edited by leading experts in the field of international institutional law, they are opinionated and critically engage with the decision in question, with commentators' and stakeholders' reactions thereto, and with later decisions, codifications, and reports.

The Fluid State was cited by the High Court in Momcilovic v The Queen [2011] HCA 34 (8 September 2011)Traditional accounts of the relationship between international and national law present the interaction between the two as relatively ordered, if conflicting. This limited view of the relationship has become outmoded, as the scope of international legal regulation and the internationalised context of domestic law continue to expand. This book analyses some of the national contexts in which international law and domestic law interact and identifies the way in which attitudes to international law shift between them. Some of the questions considered are:How do perceptions of international law differ according to particular institutional vantage-points, whether that of the executive, the legislature or the judiciary? What is the impact of the perceived 'democratic deficit' in international treaty-making? What are some of the ways in which the judiciary acts as a gatekeeper between the national and international legal orders? How does national politics influence engagement with the international sphere? The contributors bring a range of different perspectives: politics, law and international relations. They include influential scholars such as Mayo Moran, Ann Capling, John Uhr, Andrew Byrnes and Janet MacLean and they discuss contemporary issues, such as the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement and the 2003 Iraq War.

International lawyers have long recognised the importance of interpretation to their academic discipline and professional practice. As new insights on interpretation abound in other fields, international law and international lawyers have largely remained wedded to a rule-based approach, focusing almost exclusively on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Such an approach neglects interpretation as a distinct and broader field of theoretical inquiry. Interpretation in International Law brings international legal scholars together to engage in sustained reflection on the theme of interpretation. The book is creatively structured around the metaphor of the game, which captures and illuminates the constituent elements of an act of interpretation. The object of the game of interpretation is to persuade the audience that one's interpretation of the law is correct. The rules of play are known and complied with by the players, even though much is left to their skills and strategies. There is also a meta-discourse about the game of interpretation - 'playing the game of game-playing' - which involves consideration of the nature of the game, its underlying stakes, and who gets to decide by what rules one should play. Through a series of diverse contributions, Interpretation in International Law reveals interpretation as an inescapable feature of all areas of international law. It will be of interest and utility to all international lawyers whose work touches upon theoretical or practical aspects of interpretation.

These specially commissioned essays by prominent lawyers and philosophers analyse a range of approaches to legal authority beyond the state.

Textbooks on international law, dicta of the International Court of Justice and the International Law Commission's 'Guiding Principles applicable to unilateral declarations of states capable of creating legal obligations' of 2006, all reflect the fact that in international law a state's unilateral declaration can create a legally binding obligation. Unilateral declarations are common, as a look at the weekly headlines of any major newspaper will reveal. Many of the declarations made at the highest level are, of course, vaguely expressed and carry no tangible legal commitment. But others deliver a very clear message: for instance the US's April 2010 declaration on its future use of nuclear weapons or Kosovo's declaration of independence and pledge to follow the Ahtisaari Plan, are two recent and prominent examples of unilateral declarations at the international level. The same sources, however, also reveal that while state promises are accepted as a means for states to create full blown legal commitments, the law governing such declarations is far from clear. This monograph fills a gap in international legal scholarship by raising and answering the question of the precise legal value of such pledges in the realm of public international law. After a brief introduction state promises in international law are defined and contrasted with other unilateral acts of states, and the history of promises in state practice and court decisions is delineated, together with scholarly opinion. The book then provides a detailed picture of the international legal framework governing promises of states, and ends with a brief assessment of the raison d'être for promises as a binding mechanism in international law, along with their advantages and disadvantages in comparison with the classical mechanism for assuming international obligations - the international treaty. This is currently the only book to present a comprehensive overview of the legal effect of promises by states in international law.