This book explores the requirement of publicity in international lawmaking through the lens of covert and quasi-covert uses of force.

This book considers the significance of informed publics from the perspective of international law. It does so by analysing international media law frameworks and the 'mediatization' of international law in institutional settings. This approach exposes the complexity of the interrelationship between international law and the media, but also points to the dangers involved in international law's associated and increasing reliance upon the mediated techniques of communicative capitalism – such as publicity – premised upon an informed international public whose existence many now question. The book explores the ways in which traditional regulatory and analytical categories are increasingly challenged - revealed as inadequate or bypassed - but also assesses their resilience and future utility in light of significant technological change and concerns about fake news, the rise of big data and algorithmic accountability. Furthermore, it contends that analysing the imbrication of media and international law in the current digital transition is necessary to understand the nature of the problems a system such as international law faces without sufficiently informed publics. The book argues that international law depends on informed global publics to function and to address the complex global problems which we face. This draws into view the role media plays in relation to international law, but also the role of international law in regulating the media, and reveals the communicative character of international law.

This book considers the significance of informed publics from the perspective of international law. It does so by analysing international media law frameworks and the 'mediatization' of international law in institutional settings. This approach exposes the complexity of the interrelationship between international law and the media, but also points to the dangers involved in international law's associated and increasing reliance upon the mediated techniques of communicative capitalism – such as publicity – premised upon an informed international public whose existence many now question. The book explores the ways in which traditional regulatory and analytical categories are increasingly challenged - revealed as inadequate or bypassed - but also assesses their resilience and future utility in light of significant technological change and concerns about fake news, the rise of big data and algorithmic accountability. Furthermore, it contends that analysing the imbrication of media and international law in the current digital transition is necessary to understand the nature of the problems a system such as international law faces without sufficiently informed publics. The book argues that international law depends on informed global publics to function and to address the complex global problems which we face. This draws into view the role media plays in relation to international law, but also the role of international law in regulating the media, and reveals the communicative character of international law.

This is a study of the principal negotiating processes and law-making tools through which contemporary international law is made. It does not seek to give an account of the traditional - and untraditional - sources and theories of international law, but rather to identify the processes, participants and instruments employed in the making of international law. It accordingly examines some of the mechanisms and procedures whereby new rules of law are created or old rules are amended or abrogated. It concentrates on the UN, other international organisations, diplomatic conferences, codification bodies, NGOs, and courts. Every society perceives the need to differentiate between its legal norms and other norms controlling social, economic and political behaviour. But unlike domestic legal systems where this distinction is typically determined by constitutional provisions, the decentralised nature of the international legal system makes this a complex and contested issue. Moreover, contemporary international law is often the product of a subtle and evolving interplay of law-making instruments, both binding and non-binding, and of customary law and general principles. Only in this broader context can the significance of so-called 'soft law' and multilateral treaties be fully appreciated. An important question posed by any examination of international law-making structures is the extent to which we can or should make judgments about their legitimacy and coherence, and if so in what terms. Put simply, a law-making process perceived to be illegitimate or incoherent is more likely to be an ineffective process. From this perspective, the assumption of law-making power by the UN Security Council offers unique advantages of speed and universality, but it also poses a particular challenge to the development of a more open and participatory process observable in other international law-making bodies.

This is the first book to explore the concept of 'Grotian Moments'. Named for Hugo Grotius, whose masterpiece De jure belli ac pacis helped marshal in the modern system of international law, Grotian Moments are transformative developments that generate the unique conditions for accelerated formation of customary international law. In periods of fundamental change, whether by technological advances, the commission of new forms of crimes against humanity, or the development of new means of warfare or terrorism, customary international law may form much more rapidly and with less state practice than is normally the case to keep up with the pace of developments. The book examines the historic underpinnings of the Grotian Moment concept, provides a theoretical framework for testing its existence and application, and analyzes six case studies of potential Grotian Moments: Nuremberg, the continental shelf, space law, the Yugoslavia Tribunal's Tadic decision, the 1999 NATO intervention in Serbia and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In the first book-length treatment of the application of feminist theories of international law, Charlesworth and Chinkin argue that the absence of women in the development of international law has produced a narrow and inadequate jurisprudence that has legitimated the unequal position of women worldwide rather than confronting it. The boundaries of international law provides a feminist perspective on the structure, processes and substance of international law, shedding new light on treaty law, the concept of statehood and the right of self-determination, the role of international institutions and the law of human rights. Concluding with a consideration of whether the inclusion of women in the jurisdiction of international war crimes tribunals represents a significant shift in the boundaries of international law, the book encourages a dramatic rethinking of the discipline of international law. With a new introduction that reflects on the profound changes in international law since the book’s first publication in 2000, this provocative volume is essential reading for scholars, practitioners and students alike.

The emergence of transnational social movements as major actors in international politics - as witnessed in Seattle in 1999 and elsewhere - has sent shockwaves through the international system. Many questions have arisen about the legitimacy, coherence and efficiency of the international order in the light of the challenges posed by social movements. This book offers a fundamental critique of twentieth-century international law from the perspective of Third World social movements. It examines in detail the growth of two key components of modern international law - international institutions and human rights - in the context of changing historical patterns of Third World resistance. Using a historical and interdisciplinary approach, Rajagopal presents compelling evidence challenging debates on the evolution of norms and institutions, the meaning and nature of the Third World as well as the political economy of its involvement in the international system.