Ethics and Authority in International Law

by Alfred P. Rubin

Overview

The distinguished international lawyer Alfred Rubin argues powerfully that disagreements that have existed for thousands of years among lawyers, ethicists, and political scientists are unlikely to be resolved soon. Current attempts to make "war crimes" or "terrorism" criminal under international law seem doomed to fail for the same reasons that attempts failed in the early nineteenth century to make piracy, war crimes, and the international traffic in slaves criminal under the law of nations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521046114
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/19/2007
Series:	Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law , #5
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.59(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Table of cases; Table of statutes; Table of treaties; 1. Introduction; 2. The international legal order; 3. Theory and practice come together; 4. Putting it together; 5. Implications for today; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The book is a well argued articulation of a positivist understanding of authority in international law. Its particular focus on universal criminal jurisdiction is timely in light of the expanding scope of international humanitarian law and the ad hoc and permanent criminal tribunal projects. Observations are always informed and insightful; the style is witty with engaging turns of phrase." Ralph Wilde, Yale Journal of International Law

"This book comes highly recommended for anyone who is beginning to study, or ready to test his/her perceptions of the essence on International Law." ASIL Newsletter

"This is a complex and important work. International law academics need books of this type that force us to introspection and towards a more rigorous reconcilation of ‘desirable' and ‘feasible'. Every international scholar should readEthics and Authority in International Law. It is valuable on many levels — for one example, as a review of some of the classics of international law that are often forgotten as we undertake increasingly narrow research on topics of current interest. The subject of the book is important and timeless. It is also timely.... ...we owe Professor Rubin a debt of gratitude." John King Gamble, Canadian Yearbook of International Law 1997

"Starting from a substantive analysis of universal criminal jurisdiction, Rubin presents a sustained argument against the ‘conventional wisdom' that he claims dangerously distorts our understanding of the international legal order." The American Journal of International Law

"Rubin's book is valuable because he analyzes, and encourages us to evaluate, the jurisprudential asumptions at the base of institutions like international criminal courts." Jean J. Davis, International Journal of of Legal Information

"This sobering assessment of international law argues that modern efforts to punish terrorism and war crimes will founder on the same issues that hindered attempts to stop the slave trade and piracy in the early nineteenth century..." Columbia College Today

From the Publisher