In this chapter, Massimo Lando focuses on the advisory jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals. This chapter explains that, traditionally, advisory opinions are not seen as a means of inter-State dispute settlement. However, it argues that recent developments justify re-assessing this traditional view. This chapter claims that the most significant development in this context is the judgment on preliminary objections delivered by the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the maritime dispute between Mauritius and Maldives, which gave binding effect to the determinations made by the International Court of Justice in its 2019 advisory opinion concerning the decolonisation of Chagos. This chapter evaluates the Special Chamber’s decision by considering its impact on the Eastern Carelia doctrine and the Monetary Gold principle, as well as its implications for the legal effects of advisory opinions and for the legitimacy of exercising the advisory function.

Chapter Seven focuses on China’s domestic policy imperatives and regulatory/policy support to enhance its dominance in the lithium supply chain. It examines incentive regimes designed to support EVs and the policy transition from government-led to market-oriented approaches. Given the increasing demand for EV power batteries and the supply shortage for lithium resources and products, this chapter critically analyses whether and to what extent China can achieve greater lithium supply chain sustainability. It highlights the need for sustainable material consumption through harmonised circularity standards and indicators such as recyclability, efficiency, environmental protection, carbon footprint, corporate due diligence, and accountability.

Chapter 1 sets out the aim of the research and identifies the structure of the book and the methodology that is used.

This is the account of an extraordinary year of sanctions and international trade measures imposed against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That year saw the use of economic warfare on a global scale. The coordination of national action was a remarkable feature of the 2022 sanctions, demonstrating the commitment of a large portion of the international community to the principle of territorial integrity.

Chapter 16 provides the conclusions and discusses why the book is relevant and its unique contribution to the literature on the use of force.

In this chapter, Daniel Franchini and Russell Buchan examine the status, nature, content, and scope of the obligation of peaceful dispute settlement. This chapter traces the emergence of this obligation under customary and conventional international law, analyses the conditions that trigger its engagement, and explores what measures disputants must take in order to discharge this obligation. This chapter maintains that the peaceful settlement obligation is an interstitial norm insofar as it influences the interpretation and application of other rules of international law relevant to the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Criticism is often made that the WTO Agreement has the potential to undermine human rights and accentuates the disruptive effects of globalization. Nevertheless, justice in sovereign terms is different from justice in human terms. This difference is perhaps best illustrated by means of a theory. This book puts forward such a theory. The theory posits that law does justice in order to sustain the good of the community. Justice in relation to the good can be thought about either according to the good’s distribution ex ante or its correction ex post after injury. The metric of distributive justice is equality, whereas the metric of corrective justice is fairness, or what is appropriate. This dualism is exhibited in thinking about WTO arrangements and is replicated in WTO law. In one mode WTO law is about the attainment of equality by means of obligations. In a second mode WTO law is about the attainment of fairness by means of rights. The two modes of law interact over time. Ultimately, they depend upon each other to generate a third, overarching structure in the form of interdependent obligations and rights manifested in a sui generis legal system.

Chapter 12 discusses the relationship between the principle of sovereignty and the use of force. It examines consensual intervention and the policing of territory against unauthorized entry of military aircraft, warships or military units on State territory and the basis for using force in such situations.

Chapter 3 traces the historical development of the jus ad bellum from the Peace of Versailles to the adoption of the UN Charter.

Chapter Four lays the groundwork by discussing the critical components of coal sector regulation in China, including pricing, investment approval, and capacity control. While the coal sector in China has been steered towards marketisation, government intervention, primarily through pricing regulation and investment approval, has created regulatory ambiguities and complexities for implementation. This chapter also discusses the implications of the capacity control mechanism on coal production and consumption, raising essential questions about the scope of fuel switching under the existing legal and regulatory arrangements.

In this chapter, Sir Michael Wood examines the future of the international dispute settlement system. The core claim of this chapter is that continuity is, and will continue to be, this system’s defining feature. It observes that the fundamentals of inter-State disputes have changed little since 1920. Most notably, consent to third-party dispute settlement remains at the heart of the system, as does a widespread reluctance by sovereign States to give that consent in advance of disputes arising. The Optional Clause, for example, remains unchanged after 100 years, as does States’ unwillingness to accept it or to do so without extensive reservations. That said, and reflecting on the chapters contained in this collection, this chapter accepts that there have been new and important developments in the international dispute settlement system in recent years and, providing their promise is realised, they will perform a critical function in maintaining international peace and security.

This chapter analyzes the negotiations for the 1970 Friendly Relations Declaration, the high-water mark of efforts by socialist and non-aligned states to win support for an expansive interpretation of national self-determination. Lawyers and diplomats from industrialized states typically argued that the right to self-determination could be exercised in a number of different ways, including loose association or confederation. They also maintained that self-determination, understood as a human right, could be secured through adequate recognition within states and did not necessarily require secession. By contrast, those speaking on behalf of the states and peoples of Asia, Africa, and other zones of decolonization framed self-determination in more capacious terms, as a right to ‘economic’ no less than ‘political’ sovereignty. Arguing that formal independence meant little if decolonized states remained hampered by earlier arrangements, they called for an international redistribution of rights and resources. They also stressed that the right to self-determination permitted armed struggle against colonial and occupying powers. Crafted through close engagement with such arguments, the 1970 resolution formalized an unsteady compromise between these two approaches, encouraging self-determination but never so far as to destabilize a fragile interstate system undergoing extensive reconfiguration.