The Russian Government’s conquest of Ukrainian territory is incompatible with international law

The Russian Government’s invasion of Ukraine – an independent state – is in breach of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which reads: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations [emphasis added]”.  193 states – comprising most of the world’s territory and population – are Member States of the United Nations.  By accepting Membership thereof, Russia has already agreed to observe the provisions of the United Nations Charter – which, by virtue of their acceptance and observance by almost all the world’s independent states, are also a constituent part of customary international law.  From the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the morning of Thursday 24th February 2022 until the present time (i.e., Monday 18th April 2022), the Ukrainian Government – whose state (i.e., Ukraine) is also a Member State of the United Nations – has been acting in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which reads “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security [emphasis added].” By defending itself and its people with proportional force against the incursions of the Russian military on Ukrainian territory, the Ukrainian Government has been acting in accordance with the United Nations Charter.  Given the above reasoning, the Russian Government is legally obliged to: (1) promptly halt its military activities in Ukraine, (2) withdraw all Russian forces from the territory of the latter, and (3) formally return all the land that it has conquered in Ukraine forthwith to the Ukrainian Government by means of a Russo-Ukrainian treaty, signed under the auspices of the United Nations (of which both Russia and Ukraine are Member States).

The British Judges of the International Court of Justice: An Explication? The Later Jurists

Nova Science Publishers have made my monograph entitled ‘The British Judges of the International Court of Justice: An Explication? The Later Jurists’ available on its website at a list price of USD 230.

This book is available for purchase at https://novapublishers.com/shop/the-british-judges-of-the-international-court-of-justice-an-explication-the-later-jurists/.

The monograph considers the individual and joint dissertations, separate opinions and dissenting opinions that British judges Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice, Sir Humphrey Waldock, Sir Robert Jennings, Dame Rosalyn Higgins and Sir Christopher Greenwood appended to Judgments and Advisory Opinions of the International Court of Justice. It provides information of the life of, and reviews some of the scholarship of, these judges. In the final chapter, the author endeavours to identify characteristics of the British judges of the International Court of Justice that are shared by some of all of these five jurists – together with their predecessors at the Court, Baron Arnold McNair and Sir Hersch Lauterpacht.

Further information on ‘The British Judges of the International Court of Justice: An Explication? The Later Jurists’ is available from its author’s KUDOS webpage – https://www.growkudos.com/profile/graeme_baber_1.

The British Judges of the International Court of Justice: An Explication? Overview, McNair and Lauterpacht

Nova Science Publishers have made my monograph entitled ‘The British Judges of the International Court of Justice: An Explication? Overview, McNair and Lauterpacht’ available on its website at a list price of USD 270.

This book is available for purchase at https://novapublishers.com/shop/the-british-judges-of-the-international-court-of-justice-an-explication-overview-mcnair-and-lauterpacht/.

The monograph lists the cases at the international court of the two British judges who were members of the Permanent Court of International Justice, and the five British judges who were members of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), together with a short biography of each and a sample of his/her writing. Then, academic works and the separate and dissenting opinions at the ICJ of Judge Sir Arnold McNair and Judge Sir Hersch Lauterpacht are reviewed. Finally, an attempt is made to find their common ground.

Further information about ‘British Judges of the International Court of Justice: An Explication? Overview, McNair and Lauterpacht’ is available from its author’s KUDOS webpage – https://www.growkudos.com/profile/graeme_baber_1.

Author Showcase 17th June 2021

Cambridge Scholars Publishing has uploaded to its website an Author Showcase which provides an informational perspective on each of my monographs that it has published.

Please see https://www.cambridgescholars.com/news/item/book-in-focus-graeme-baber-author-showcase .

Collected Papers: Financial Regulation in Estonia, Poland and Latvia within the Context of European Union Membership

On 15th April 2021, Nova Science Publishers published my book entitled ‘Collected Papers: Financial Regulation in Estonia, Poland and Latvia within the Context of European Union Membership’, at a list price of USD 160.  It is available for purchase at https://novapublishers.com/shop/collected-papers-financial-regulation-in-estonia-poland-and-latvia-within-the-context-of-european-union-membership/ , which also provides details of the contents of the book.

Achieving the Sustainable Goals Punctually: An Impossible Remit? A good read and excellent value for your money.

Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP) has made my ninth monograph, i.e., ‘Achieving the Sustainable Goals Punctually: An Impossible Remit?’, available to the public on Friday 4th December 2020.  This is within 65 days of submission of the completed manuscript, which, even for CSP, must be a record for efficient publication!

The list price of the book is GBP 76.99, or equivalent in USD, EUR, JPY or other currency, which is excellent value for your money.  This monograph is available from Amazon, Google Books and other well-known booksellers, and from CSP at https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-6150-2.

The statisticians at the United Nations and its partner organizations have worked – and continue to work – hard to collate and present the statistics for the Indicators and Targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  This writing of this book would not have been possible without the dedication of these professionals – for the data would otherwise have not been available on-line so soon after the official endorsement of the SDGs in September 2015.

Good luck with your reading.  I hope, and trust, that the contents of my monograph encourage the generation of some interesting points for discussion.

 

The Global Law of the Sea: Baselines and Boundary Delimitation Buy your copy – available from Nova Science Publishers today!

It is a pleasure to announce the publication on 20th May 2020 of ‘The Global Law of the Sea: Baselines and Boundary Delimitation’.  The Law of the Sea is a fascinating subject for scholars of the law, and, if I were a Master of Laws’ student today, I would wish for this subject (or aspects of it) to be offered by the relevant Faculty of Laws and would seriously consider undertaking it.

The tripartite nature of compulsory dispute resolution under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – or quadripartite if Annex VIII special arbitrations are included – contributes to this being a very dynamic topic.  What would make States Parties to the UNCLOS decide to exclude, or to select preferentially, dispute resolution according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – which represents tradition, scholarship and authority?  Why might they prefer – or dislike – the flexibility offered by pursuing settlement of their disputes by means of an arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with Annex VII to the UNCLOS?  Would the attraction of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) – with its specialist judges and chambers thereof – be strong in the eyes of these States Parties?  Chapter 2 of the monograph considers these three procedures, with the aid of a sample case for each of them.  Later in the chapter, the preclusive options of States Parties for those methods of compulsory dispute resolution are tabulated and discussed.  States Parties have exercised the optional exclusion relating to the delimitation of maritime boundaries more than they have used the other two optional exclusions.  Does this mean that they tend not to trust the ICJ, the ITLOS and/or an Annex VII arbitral tribunal to settle their thalassic boundary disputes?  The South China Sea Arbitration is a case which illustrates that regional sensitivities run high concerning the sovereignty of, and the rights conveyed by, the high-tide features of the South China Sea – and the Annex VII arbitral tribunal constituted to adjudicate the case is determined to minimize the controversy and ensure that the terms of the UNCLOS are adhered to.  Contrary to some of the reports at the time of the arbitral award, it is submitted that the tribunal has been successful in this regard.  But this is only the start – the UNCLOS is too new to have been thoroughly tested and refined as a stable component of long-run international law, even though it is an excellent, comprehensive document.  As the ITLOS gathers momentum, one expects a greater volume of maritime cases to be submitted to it – as the conclusion to Chapter 3 opines.  Chapter 3 mirrors Chapter 2 in that it selects one case that the ICJ resolves, one that an arbitral tribunal (prior to the operationalization of the UNCLOS – including its Annex VII) adjudges, and one that the ITLOS considers – all three of these legal actions concerning baselines and boundary delimitation.  The first of these is Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), in which the ICJ made a seminal judgment in relation to baselines and historic title.  I first encountered this case when teaching an International Business Law module to Master of Laws students – a module that I had revamped from scratch and written all ten Lectures and all ten Seminars – with the help on the topic of alternative dispute resolution in the first year from my amiable colleague Mr. Damian Smith.  Fortunately, my earlier Master of Laws’ degree was over the same area (i.e., International Business Law), so I had stacks of information and notes on international commercial arbitration upon which to draw!  Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway) demonstrates the capacity that judges at the ICJ are able to show to go beyond the literal interpretation of rules and customs in order to attain a fair result.  Whilst this might be seen as straying onto the ground that legal theorists call ‘pragmatism’, it is arguable that this is preferable to pursuing the adjudicatory due process to the most miniscule detail if the latter would be likely to lead to an unjust outcome.  This debate was lively when I studied jurisprudence as an External Law Student of the University of London many years ago, and, it is opined, of current relevance to international cases – where the law is only settled in part.  The UNCLOS makes a substantial contribution to settling the law, and relevant parts of it are described in Chapter 1 and compared with its predecessor conventions adopted in Geneva in 1958.  Taken together, the book ‘works’ – at least from the author’s perspective.  I hope, and trust, that, from a reader’s perspective, a similar conclusion is drawn.

Graeme Baber,

February 2020.

Further information concerning ‘The Global Law of the Sea: Baselines and Boundary Delimitation’ is available from its author’s KUDOS webpage – https://www.growkudos.com/profile/graeme_baber_1.