The Law and Politics of the Kosovo Advisory Opinion

by Milanovic, Marko; Wood, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780198717515
• ISBN10: 0198717512
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-05-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This volume is an edited collection of essays on various aspects of the 2010 Kosovo Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. The main theme of the book is the interplay between law and politics regarding Kosovo's independence generally and the advisory opinion specifically. How and why did the Court become the battleground in which Kosovo's independence was to be fought out (or not)? How and why did political arguments in favour of Kosovo's independence (e.g. that Kosovo was a unique, sui generis case which set no precedent for other secessionist territories) change in the formal, legal setting of advisory proceedings before the Court? How and why did states supporting either Kosovo or Serbia choose to frame their arguments? How did the Court perceive them? What did the Court want to achieve, and did it succeed in doing so? And how was the opinion received, and what broader implications did it have so far? These are the questions that the book hopes to shed some light on. To do so, the editors assembled a stellar cast of contributors, many of whom acted as counsel or advisors in the case, as well a number of eminent scholars of politics and international relations whose pieces further enrich the book and give it an interdisciplinary angle. The book thus tells the story of the case, places it within its broader political context, and so attempts to advance our understanding of how such cases are initiated, litigated and decided, and what broader purposes they may or may not serve.

Author Biography

Marko Milanovic, Lecturer, University of Nottingham School of Law,Michael Wood, Bencher, Grey's Inn

Marko Milanovic is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Nottingham School of Law as well as a member of the Executive Board of the European Society of International Law. His first book, Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties: Law, Principles, and Policy, was published by OUP in 2011.

Sir Michael Wood, KCMG, is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission and a Bencher of Gray's Inn. He was Legal Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office between 1999 and 2006. He is the author of, inter alia, The International Law Commission 1999-2009 (with Arnold Pronto).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, Marko Milanovic and Sir Michael Wood
Part I: Alternate Realities
2. A conflict of narratives, Dubravka Stojanovic
3. War crimes and courts, Vojin Dimitrijevic and Vladimir Petrovic
4. The politics of independence, Stefan Talmon
5. Why go to the ICJ?, TBC
6. Reflections, Marc Weller
Part II: The Lawyers Take Over
7. The Road to the Advisory Opinion, Qudsi Rasheed
8. Dramatis personae, Sir Michael Wood
9. Arguing the case, Sir Michael Wood
10. Reflections, Martti Koskenniemi
Part III: The Opinion
11. Jurisdiction and discretion, Vladimir Djeric
12. The question question, Daniel Mueller
13. Things said and left unsaid: general international law, Christian Tams
14. Interpreting Resolution 1244, Sean Murphy
15. Reflections, Andreas Zimmermann
Part IV: Reaction to the Opinion
16. Back to politics, Tatjana Papic
17. Success or failure?, Elizabeth Wilmshurst
18. Reflections, Dinah Shelton; Frank Hoffmeister
Part V: Implications
19. Setting a precedent?, Concepcion Escobar Hernandez; Anne Peters
20. The questions not asked, or the question not answered?, James Crawford; Malcolm Shaw
21. Lessons learned, Bernhard Knoll
22. Reflections, Jochen Frowein; Harold Koh; Bruno Simma