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the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in matters of public international law

 

In its more than 50 years of existence, the European Court of Justice has had ample opportunity to pronounce on important questions of public international law including the relationship between international and European law, recognition, State succession, the law of treaties, jurisdiction, the law of the sea, international environmental law, human rights, international economic law, powers of the Security Council, sanctions and international responsibility. An even richer source of information on public international law are the Opinions of the Advocates General which the Court has followed in many of its decisions. These Opinions often contain an extensive survey of the relevant State practice on points of customary international law and an almost textbook-like treatment of the international legal questions involved. So far, these decisions and opinions have mainly been looked at from a European law perspective, the public international law aspects of the cases often being somewhat ‘hidden’ in the dozens or sometimes hundreds of pages of the judgements and opinions.

In my research I examine the application, interpretation and development of public international law by the European Court of Justice and the Advocates General. I ask whether there is a specific European view of public international law and, if so, to what extent this view has influenced public international law in general. I seek to provide a representative survey of the European contribution to the subsidiary means for the determination of rules of public international law in the sense of Article 38(1)(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.


publications in preparation:

The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in Matters of International Law (Oxford: Hart Publishing, forthcoming)

 

 
Oxford, 08/11/2009                          © Dr Stefan Talmon                                                                ^top