The Nature of Customary Law

The Nature of Customary Law PDF Author: Amanda Perreau-Saussine
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139463217
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Some legal rules are not laid down by a legislator but grow instead from informal social practices. In contract law, for example, the customs of merchants are used by courts to interpret the provisions of business contracts; in tort law, customs of best practice are used by courts to define professional responsibility. Nowhere are customary rules of law more prominent than in international law. The customs defining the obligations of each State to other States and, to some extent, to its own citizens, are often treated as legally binding. However, unlike natural law and positive law, customary law has received very little scholarly analysis. To remedy this neglect, a distinguished group of philosophers, historians and lawyers has been assembled to assess the nature and significance of customary law. The book offers fresh insights on this neglected and misunderstood form of law.

The Nature of Customary Law

The Nature of Customary Law PDF Author: Amanda Perreau-Saussine
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139463217
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
Some legal rules are not laid down by a legislator but grow instead from informal social practices. In contract law, for example, the customs of merchants are used by courts to interpret the provisions of business contracts; in tort law, customs of best practice are used by courts to define professional responsibility. Nowhere are customary rules of law more prominent than in international law. The customs defining the obligations of each State to other States and, to some extent, to its own citizens, are often treated as legally binding. However, unlike natural law and positive law, customary law has received very little scholarly analysis. To remedy this neglect, a distinguished group of philosophers, historians and lawyers has been assembled to assess the nature and significance of customary law. The book offers fresh insights on this neglected and misunderstood form of law.

The Theory, Practice and Interpretation of Customary International Law

The Theory, Practice and Interpretation of Customary International Law PDF Author: Panos Merkouris
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 131651689X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 647

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Book Description
Provides an in-depth study of the theory, history, practice, and interpretation of customary international law.

Customary International Law in Times of Fundamental Change

Customary International Law in Times of Fundamental Change PDF Author: Michael P. Scharf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107276764
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
This is the first book to explore the concept of 'Grotian Moments'. Named for Hugo Grotius, whose masterpiece De jure belli ac pacis helped marshal in the modern system of international law, Grotian Moments are transformative developments that generate the unique conditions for accelerated formation of customary international law. In periods of fundamental change, whether by technological advances, the commission of new forms of crimes against humanity, or the development of new means of warfare or terrorism, customary international law may form much more rapidly and with less state practice than is normally the case to keep up with the pace of developments. The book examines the historic underpinnings of the Grotian Moment concept, provides a theoretical framework for testing its existence and application, and analyzes six case studies of potential Grotian Moments: Nuremberg, the continental shelf, space law, the Yugoslavia Tribunal's Tadic decision, the 1999 NATO intervention in Serbia and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Customary International Law

Customary International Law PDF Author: Brian D. Lepard
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052119136X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
This book sets out to articulate a comprehensive theory of customary international law that can effectively resolve the conceptual and practical enigmas surrounding it. It takes a multidisciplinary approach and draws insights from international law, legal theory, political science, and game theory. It is anchored in a sophisticated ethical framework and explores the interrelationships between customary international law and ethics.

The European Union and Customary International Law

The European Union and Customary International Law PDF Author: Fernando Lusa Bordin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108832970
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
The book offers a systematic discussion of the facets of the relationship between the European Union and customary international law.

Customary Law in the Modern World

Customary Law in the Modern World PDF Author: Francis Deng
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135255873
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Customary Law in the Modern World is the study of a coherent and well-established legal system, which is now operating in the context of a modern nation-state and therefore poised between remaining relevant and the threat of marginalization. Focusing on Sudan, the author places customary law in its historical and cultural context, analyzing the fundamental and traditional values that underlie customary law and the impact of the war between the North and the South that lasted intermittently for half a century. He deals with the substance of customary law, covering a wide variety of areas: family law, property law, torts and criminal liability. Drawing on interviews conducted with judges, legislators and practicing lawyers on customary law and its future in the modern context, the book challenges the development of customary law to build on the positives of tradition and the reform of its shortcomings, particularly in the areas of human rights, gender equality and the protection of children. This book fills a gap in the literature on customary law, and will be of great interest to anyone interested in law, anthropology and politics.

Indigenous Peoples, Customary Law and Human Rights – Why Living Law Matters

Indigenous Peoples, Customary Law and Human Rights – Why Living Law Matters PDF Author: Brendan Tobin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317697545
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
This highly original work demonstrates the fundamental role of customary law for the realization of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and for sound national and international legal governance. The book reviews the legal status of customary law and its relationship with positive and natural law from the time of Plato up to the present. It examines its growing recognition in constitutional and international law and its dependence on and at times strained relationship with human rights law. The author analyzes the role of customary law in tribal, national and international governance of Indigenous peoples’ lands, resources and cultural heritage. He explores the challenges and opportunities for its recognition by courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including issues of proof of law and conflicts between customary practices and human rights. He throws light on the richness inherent in legal diversity and key principles of customary law and their influence in legal practice and on emerging notions of intercultural equity and justice. He concludes that Indigenous peoples’ rights to their customary legal regimes and states’ obligations to respect and recognize customary law, in order to secure their human rights, are principles of international customary law, and as such binding on all states. At a time when the self-determination, land, resources and cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples are increasingly under threat, this accessible book presents the key issues for both legal and non-legal scholars, practitioners, students of human rights and environmental justice, and Indigenous peoples themselves.

The Role of Customary Law in Sustainable Development

The Role of Customary Law in Sustainable Development PDF Author: Peter Orebech
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521859255
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
For many nations, a key challenge is how to achieve sustainable development without a return to centralized planning. Using case studies from Greenland, Hawaii and northern Norway, this 2006 book examines whether 'bottom-up' systems such as customary law can play a critical role in achieving viable systems for managing natural resources. Customary law consists of underlying social norms that may become the acknowledged law of the land. The key to determining whether a custom constitutes customary law is whether the public acts as if the observance of the custom is legally obligated. While the use of customary law does not always produce sustainability, the study of customary methods of resource management can produce valuable insights into methods of managing resources in a sustainable way.

Aboriginal Customary Law: A Source of Common Law Title to Land

Aboriginal Customary Law: A Source of Common Law Title to Land PDF Author: Ulla Secher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782253777
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 667

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Book Description
Described as 'ground-breaking' in Kent McNeil's Foreword, this book develops an alternative approach to conventional Aboriginal title doctrine. It explains that aboriginal customary law can be a source of common law title to land in former British colonies, whether they were acquired by settlement or by conquest or cession from another colonising power. The doctrine of Common Law Aboriginal Customary Title provides a coherent approach to the source, content, proof and protection of Aboriginal land rights which overcomes problems arising from the law as currently understood and leads to more just results. The doctrine's applicability in Australia, Canada and South Africa is specifically demonstrated. While the jurisprudential underpinnings for the doctrine are consistent with fundamental common law principles, the author explains that the Australian High Court's decision in Mabo provides a broader basis for the doctrine: a broader basis which is consistent with a re-evaluation of case-law from former British colonies in Africa, as well as from the United States, New Zealand and Canada. In this context, the book proffers a reconceptualisation of the Crown's title to land in former colonies and a reassessment of conventional doctrines, including the doctrine of tenure and the doctrine of continuity. 'With rare exceptions ... the existing literature does not probe as deeply or question fundamental assumptions as thoroughly as Dr Secher does in her research. She goes to the root of the conceptual problems around the legal nature of Indigenous land rights and their vulnerability to extinguishment in the former colonial empire of the Crown. This book is a formidable contribution that I expect will be influential in shifting legal thinking on Indigenous land rights in progressive new directions.' From the Foreword by Professor Kent McNeil (to read the Foreword please click on the 'sample chapter' link).

The Nigerian Legal System

The Nigerian Legal System PDF Author: Charles Mwalimu
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing
ISBN: 9780820471273
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 792

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Book Description
Volume 1 on public law provides an introduction to the Nigerian legal system. The various chapters deal with: introduction and sources of law; jurisprudence and Nigerian perspectives; African customary law; Islamic law; comparative constitutionalism and Nigerian perspectives; citizenship, immigration and administrative law; judicial system and legal profession; criminal law, evidence and civil procedure; statutory marriage and divorce laws; customary marriage and divorce; marriage and divorce under Islamic law; matters of children; gender and law in Nigeria with emphasis on Islamic law. Volume 2 has 25 chapters on private law that includes security of the environment and environmental law, land and property administration, commercial business and trade laws, communication, media and press laws, transportation and carrier laws, law enforcement, armed forces and military laws, investments, and intellectual property.