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The central theme of this book is the strengthening of the legitimacy and integrity of international law in the post-Cold War, interdependent international community. The investigation focuses on the relationship between international decision-making procedures, in particular compulsory third party dispute settlement, and legitimacy and integrity as perceived by states and other international actors. It starts with a description of recent developments with regard to dispute settlement in the law of the sea, GATT/WTO, Antarctica, and global environmental protection. Compulsory third-party dispute settlement has been accepted in treaty regimes in these fields as it is indispensable in safeguarding the legitimacy and integrity of such regimes. The focus then shifts to an extensive analysis of changes in the international community in general, and their consequences for the international legal system. By focusing on legitimacy and integrity, and by providing a theoretical framework in which these concepts can be applied, this book contributes significantly to the discussion of the theoretical foundations of international law.
The author is winner of the 1995 Award of the Foundation Praemium Erasmianum, Amsterdam.

In its forty-fourth session the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as the Decade of International Law. One of the main purposes of the decade is the promotion of effective means for peaceful international dispute settlement, and, especially, strenghtening the role of and respect for the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
The editors of this book contribute to this aim by bringing together a variety of opinions by international legal experts on peaceful dispute settlement. The subject is approached from different angles, ranging from the role of the International Law Commission and the Non-Aligned Movement to human rights and space law disputes, in order to identify areas of international law where room exists for further development of existing means for peaceful settlement of international disputes.
A general conclusion which can be drawn from this survey is that the focus of attention should not be aimed primarily at strenghtening the role of the International Court of Justice, e.g. by amending some of its rules or by trying to increase its political acceptability through diplomatic efforts. Instead, the focus should be on small scale improvements within specific areas of international law with an emphasis on the relation between dispute settlement and supervision. Furthermore, it seems essential for a real improvement to give non-governmental organisations or private persons a greater role in upholding the rule of international law, whether in domestic courts or in international fora.
This work has been published previously in the Leiden Journal of International Law, Special Issue (3 LJIL 90).

Currently, perhaps the most complicated and challenging undertaking in outer space is the building of the International Space Station, the ISS. The recent decision to use the ISS also as a facility for pre-commercial research and development in a microgravity environment, inviting commercial enterprise on board, only enhanced such complications and challenges. As a consequence, the major question arises to what extent these are held in check by a sound and effective legal and regulatory regime, e.g. pertaining to criminal liability or intellectual property rights. The present book offers the first overview of applicable law and regulation which is not merely superficial, as well as some directions for future legislative and regulatory developments, written by a number of highly reputed experts in space law. The analysis, finally, is with a clear focus on the European situation in view of the particularities which increasing ESA and EU involvement in space activities bring with them.