International lawyers usually disregard the vital functions that general principles of law may play in the decisions of international courts and tribunals. As far as international criminal law is concerned, general principles of law may be crucial to the outcome of an international trial, "inter alia" because the conviction of an accused in respect of a particular charge may depend on the existence of a given defence under this source. This volume examines the role that general principles of law have played in the decisions of international criminal courts and tribunals. In particular, it analyses their alleged a ~subsidiarya (TM) nature, their process of determination, and their transposition from national legal systems into international law. It concludes that general principles of law have played a significant role in the decisions of international criminal courts and tribunals, not only by filling legal gaps, but also by being a fundamental means for the interpretation of legal rules and the enhancement of legal reasoning.

Equity is a multi-faceted subject, an authentic crossroads of problems. The perspective of this study is, as a result, a mix of focuses, which includes: the philosophy of law, general legal theory, justice theory, the history of law, comparative law, legal dogma, etc. In this book, as in various earlier studies of the author, she uses the "three-dimensional" method, which facilitates a stratified focus in agreement with three levels: facts, norms, and values. The subject of equity has never been analysed as completely as in this work. It includes a dynamic study of the different types of equity throughout history and in the different legal systems; the concept, content, limits, functions and types of equity; the relationship between equity and related ideas, and equity in all the branches of the legal order.

This volume is the sixth in the Series The Judges, which collects and synthesizes the opinions of leading international Judges of the contemporary era who have contributed significantly to the progressive development of international law. The current volume contains a selection of the Individual Opinions of Judge Antônio A. Cançado Trindade, former Judge and President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and since 2008 a Judge of the International Court of Justice. Many dwell on aspects of the increased humanization of international law. Elevating this body of norms, which have traditionally focused on purely inter-State relations, to a level where individuals and their suffering (projected in time) become a primary concern, is without doubt Antônio A. Cançado Trindade ́s major doctrinal contribution. Revisiting the traditional conceptions of the basis of State responsibility and of jurisdiction, the problems of amnesty laws, the prohibitions of jus cogens, the imperative of access to justice in the light of jus cogens, the obligations erga omnes of protection, the provisional measures of protection, locus standi in judicio and the international legal personality of the human person, jus standi and the international legal capacity of the human person, and developments in reparations, are but a few examples of the themes examined in the learned Opinions expressed by Judge Cançado Trindade at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The great achievement of Judge Cançado Trindade at the International Court of Justice has been to draw attention to this dimension, and to further its development in the international case-law, in the light of the universal juridical conscience and stressing the relevance of general principles of international law. In a significant number of cases the World Court acts today as a human rights court, dealing increasingly, albeit under the traditional umbrella of inter-State disputes, with situations that involve human suffering and lead it to find human rights violations. The volume includes a Preface by Dean Spielmann and a General Introduction by Andrew Drzemczewski. Two volume set. This title comprises volume 1 & 2. We also offer this title as part of a 3 volume set (isbn 9789004375048).