In its forty-fourth session the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as the Decade of International Law . One of the main purposes of the decade is the promotion of effective means for peaceful international dispute settlement, and, especially, strenghtening the role of & respect for the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The editors of this book contribute to this aim by bringing together a variety of opinions by international legal experts on peaceful dispute settlement. The subject is approached from different angles, ranging from the role of the International Law Commission & the Non-Aligned Movement to human rights & space law disputes, in order to identify areas of international law where room exists for further development of existing means for peaceful settlement of international disputes. A general conclusion which can be drawn from this survey is that the focus of attention should not be aimed primarily at strenghtening the role of the International Court of Justice, e.g. by amending some of its rules or by trying to increase its political acceptability through diplomatic efforts. Instead, the focus should be on small scale improvements within specific areas of international law with an emphasis on the relation between dispute settlement & supervision. Furthermore, it seems essential for a real improvement to give non-governmental organisations or private persons a greater role in upholding the rule of international law, whether in domestic courts or in international fora. This work has been published previously in the Leiden Journal of International Law, Special Issue (3 LJIL 90).

The Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945 by 51 countries representing all continents, paving the way for the creation of the United Nations on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice forms part of the Charter. The aim of the Charter is to save humanity from war; to reaffirm human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person; to proclaim the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small; and to promote the prosperity of all humankind. The Charter is the foundation of international peace and security.

"This publication contains the 'Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework', which were developed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The Special Representative annexed the Guiding Principles to his final report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/17/31), which also includes an introduction to the Guiding Principles and an overview of the process that led to their development. The Human Rights Council endorsed the Guiding Principles in its resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011."--P. iv.

Now in its third edition, this book is the authoritative text on one of the world's most important human rights treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Covenant is of universal relevance. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and in force from 1976, it commits the signatories and parties to respect the civil and political freedoms and rights of individuals. Monitored by the UN Human Rights Committee, the Covenant ratified by the majority of UN member states. The book meticulously extracts and analyzes the jurisprudence over nearly forty years of the UN Human Rights Committee, on each of the various ICCPR rights, including the right to life, the right to freedom from torture, the right of freedom of religion, the right of freedom of expression, and the right to privacy, as well as admissibility criteria under the First Optional Protocol. Key miscellaneous issues, such as reservations, derogations, and denunciations, are also thoroughly assessed. Comprehensively indexed and cross-referenced, this book offers elegant and straight-forward access to the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee and other UN human rights treaty bodies. Presented in a clear and illuminating manner, it will be of use to the judiciary, human rights practitioners, human rights activists, government institutions, academics, and students alike.