The Changing Character of International Dispute Settlement Challenges and Prospects

The international dispute settlement system is currently facing many challenges regarding the authority, effectiveness, and legitimacy of its methods and mechanisms and their coordination. These challenges cut across different fields of international law and relations such as investment, trade, human rights, water resources, the law of the sea, the environment, international peace and security, disaster law, space, and cyberspace. New technologies also impact on the scope of existing disputes and their settlement, which lead to the emergence of new disputes and ways of settling them. This book offers insightful reflections by academics and practitioners on such challenges and how they can be addressed as well as on how the international dispute settlement system should adapt to attain its aim of maintaining peace and international legality. It deals with many contemporary issues and is wide-ranging in scope. It is suitable for students, scholars, and practitioners of international dispute settlement, international law, and international relations.

Introduction Russell Buchan, Daniel Franchini and Nicholas Tsagourias; Part I. Recent Trends and Cross-Cutting Issues in International Dispute Settlement: 1. The obligation of peaceful settlement of international disputes: status, nature, content and scope Daniel Franchini and Russell Buchan; 2. Parallel proceedings concerning investment and human rights claims Tarcisio Gazzini and Alessandra Pietrobon; 3. The mosaic of international dispute settlement: the role of domestic courts in international dispute settlement Kimberly N. Trapp and Jacob Smith; 4. Binding advisory opinions Massimo Lando; Part II. Effectiveness, Authority, And Legitimacy of the Current System of international Dispute Settlement and Possible Reforms: 5. Navigating choppy waters: UNCLOS dispute settlement coming of age? Richard Collins; 6. Legitimacy in settlement of disputes in international environmental law: from classical to non-compliance procedures Malgosia Fitzmaurice; 7. The role and legitimacy of international human rights mechanisms of dispute settlement Sir Malcolm D. Evans; 8. Settlement of water-related disputes in international law Maria A. Gwynn; 9. Coherence, consistency, and the reform of investment treaty arbitration Eric De Brabandere; 10. The WTO DSU 2.0: how can we go back to the future? Aris Georgopoulos and Petros C. Mavroidis; 11. The security council and impartiality in the peaceful settlement of disputes Nigel D. White; 12. International criminal law and the peaceful settlement of international disputes: grand aspirations and minimal impact James Mehigan; Part III. New Opportunities and the Future of International Dispute Settlement: 13. Mediation and the international law commission's draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters: a case of untapped potential Therese O'Donnell; 14. The peaceful settlement of space disputes: prospects and challenges Rossana Deplano; 15. Fact-finding and cyber attribution Nicholas Tsagourias and Fiona Middleton; 16. International dispute settlement: digital evidence and online dispute resolution Antonio Segura Serrano; 17. International dispute settlement: a bright or depressing future? Sir Michael Wood.

Russell Buchan is Professor of International Law, University of Reading. Russell has published widely in the field of public international law, including three monographs: International Law and the Construction of the Liberal Peace (Hart, 2013), Cyber Espionage and International Law (Hart, 2018) and (with Nicholas Tsagourias), Regulating the Use of Force in International Law: Stability and Change (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021). He is also a co-editor (with Nicholas Tsagourias) of the Research Handbook on International Law and Cyberspace (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) and a co-editor in chief of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies.
Daniel Franchini is Lecturer in International Law and Deputy Director of the Sheffield Centre for International and European Law at the University of Sheffield. He is the convenor of 'International Dispute Settlement' and 'International Investment Law and Arbitration' at the School of Law. His research focuses on the role of unilateral measures in the settlement of international disputes. He obtained his DPhil at the University of Oxford (2021) and has published, among others, in the Virginia Journal of International Law.
Nicholas Tsagourias is Professor of International Law at the University of Sheffield. He has published widely on international law and the use of force, humanitarian law, the law and cyberspace. Among his publications are the books International Humanitarian Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary (CUP, 2023, with Dr Alasdair Morrison); Jurisprudence of international law: The humanitarian dimension (MUP, 2022); Collective Security: Theory, Law and Practice (CUP, 2013, with Nigel White) and co-edited (with Russell Buchan) the Research Handbook on International Law and Cyberspace.