Guide to International Environmental Law addresses why and how the international system elaborates environmental obligations and monitors compliance with them. The book discusses the relationship between international obligations and national and local law, with particular reference to federal systems. It points out the influence national law has on the emergence of international law and the growing role international norms play in the development and enforcement of national and local environmental policies. It also examines the extent to which environmental protection should be and is taken into account in other regulatory frameworks, from trade law and human rights to disarmament and refugee policy.

The main aim of this book is to discuss the state of unfair competition law in the European Union. In this respect, the various efforts that have been made in the past to come to harmonization of this area of law and the reasons that they were only partially successful are reviewed. In addition, the International and European regulations that refer to unfair competition, like, e.g., the Paris Convention, the TRIPs and the recent 2004 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive are discussed. Also an overview is given of the unfair competition laws in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands with respect to the ‘problem-areas’ of slavish imitation, misleading advertising, denigrating one’s competitor, trade secrets and finally, misappropriation of valuable trade assets.

Unfair competition law is traditionally considered part of intellectual property law. Not only the relation of unfair competition law to intellectual property laws are therefore part of the discussion but also the areas of consumer protection law (since unfair competition law is partly orientated towards consumer protection) and competition (as an economic concept) is the topic of thorough review.

Modern, liberal democracies in the West living under the rule of law and protection of human rights cannot articulate the very values from which they derive their legitimacy. These pre-political and pre-legal preconditions cannot be guaranteed, let alone be enforced by the state, but constitute nevertheless its moral and spiritual infrastructure. Until recently, a common background and horizon consisted in Christianity, but due to secularisation and globalisation, society has become increasingly multicultural and multireligious. The question can and should be raised how religion relates to these sources of normative order in society, how religion, politics and law relate to each other, and how social cohesion can be attained in society, given the growing varieties of religious experiences. In this book, a philosophical account of this question is carried out, on the one hand historically from Plato to the Enlightenment, on the other hand systematically and practically.

All over Europe we witness a spectacular rise of the recourse to fundamental rights in debates on civil liability. This is part of a pervasive process of constitutionalisation, of private law in general and tort law in particular.

This publication aims at establishing a clear analysis of the nature and growth of the C-factor (C for constitutionalisation) in Germany, France, the UK and The Netherlands. This analysis will be followed by answering the questions: How are these developments to be judged? Does the C-factor seriously undermine the autonomy of private law (‘The purpose of private law is simply to be private law’, Ernest J. Weinrib, The Idea of Private Law)? And if so, does it matter? How are we to handle the C-factor? Should we embrace it wholeheartedly, or rather adopt a policy of being neglect or even try to eradicate it altogether?

Recent developments in both the EU and the global legal order call for a reassessment of the role of international law within the European Union. International Law as Law of the European Union explores how, and to what extent, international law still forms part of, and plays a role in, the current legal order of the European Union. Recent case law of the European Court of Justice prompted both scholars and practitioners to reconsider the relationship between EU law and international law. This volume reveals the practical development and consequences of this relationship, and places it in a conceptual framework by pointing to key arguments in the current debate.

International Law as Law of the European Union thus forms an essential guide for academics, students and practitioners interested in the impact of new case law and conceptual thinking on the relationship between EU and international law.

The book addresses the current issue of the applicability and application of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in times of armed conflict. Scholars chronologically argued that only international humanitarian law was applicable, that both legal regimes were applicable, and eventually that international humanitarian law was the lex specialis of human rights law. The most recent trend is to state that international humanitarian law and human rights law are merging into a single set of rules, a proposition that is the focus of the investigations carried out in this book. The book examines general issues relating to applicability and the implementation of the two legal regimes as well as provides case studies focusing on specific rights or persons. [The cover of this publication displays a patchwork symbolizing the merger between international humanitarian law and human rights. Neither the publisher nor the editors intended the design to reproduce the protected Red Cross emblem. Any resemblance to the Red Cross emblem is purely coincidental]

Introduction to Public Law is a historical and comparative introduction to public law. The book traces back the origins of the res publica to Roman law and analyzes the course of its development, first during the monarchical age in continental Europe and England, and then during the republican age that began at the end of the eighteenth century with the democratic revolutions in the United States and France. For each period and country, the book analyzes the major concepts of public law and their transformations: sovereignty, the state, the statute, the separation of powers, the public interest, and administrative justice.