The second of February 1992 marked the 21 st anniversary of the adoption of the 1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat, commonly known as the Ramsar Convention after the town in Iran where it was concluded. For those more familiar with modern concepts of majority, 21 December 1993 constituted the 18th anniversary of its entry into force. The period between these two dates witnessed a significant endeavour by the international community, through the signature at the Rio Earth Summit of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, to establish a basic conceptual framework to underpin the various conservation initiatives embodied in the now substantial number of international treaties for the protection of wildlife. This framework, which was arguably already emerging in customary international law, emphasises a broad, threefold obligation regarding the conservation of ecosystems, of species and of genetic diversity within species. As each species, and indeed each individual member of that species, exists not in isolation but as a functioning unit within a wider ecosystem, it is axiomatic that the protection of natural habitats must continue to play a particularly crucial role in the global conservation effort.

On 7 July 1989 the European Court of Human Rights reached a landmark decision in the case of Jens Soering. In the case of a pending extradition, the requested State, a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, violated Article 3 of the Convention if the fugitive, after surrender, faced the real risk of being subjected to ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.

The evolution of international commercial arbitration as an alternative mechanism for the resolution of international commercial disputes has been accompanied by the gradual liberalization of national arbitration laws and the acknowledgement of the special role this institution has had to play in international trade. At present, most of the developed national arbitration laws accord substantial freedoms to parties and arbitrators in framing the arbitral procedure as they see fit and reduce the instances of possible court interference in the proceedings. These developments have been accompanied, and sometimes preceded, by the evolution of legal theories aimed at explaining the specific contractual nature of international commercial arbitration and justifying its autonomous and independent status.