Theory about the relevance of soft law abounds; empirical research on the topic does not. This study begins to even out this imbalance by not only developing a number of conjectures based on institutional economics, but also by testing them empirically. Based on all 2,289 soft laws concluded by...

Si les Européens répugnent à intégrer la Turquie à leur Union, le même projet relatif à la Russie semble hors de propos car il n’est tout simplement pas envisagé. Cependant, il y a de bonnes raisons d’intégrer également la Russie, et cela avant même la Turquie. La Russie et...

The dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization prides itself on its high degree of judicial independence and the impartiality of its adjudicators. Yet compared to other international tribunals, WTO members exert considerable political control over WTO adjudicators. Contestation...

The Order of Malta became a subject of international law with the emergence of classical international law in the 16th century and the concept of international legal personality and since that period has always been recognised as such. However, the form of its existence has undergone a number of...

The article deals with analysis of theoretical aspects of the category of “international treaties” from the point of view of their place in the hierarchical structure of the legal system of the Russian Federation and their correlation to the civil legislation. The author describes the...

The Johannesburg Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters as of 2003 is a crucial breakthrough and important legal tool for the implementation of risk analysis systems by customs authorities governed by the the World Customs Organization (WCO) around the globe. However...

In their majority, public international lawyers postulate that for a new rule of customary law to originate, two conditions must be fulfilled: there must be consistent practice, and it must be shown that this practice is motivated by the belief that such behaviour is required in law. Maurice...

This paper studies cross-border intellectual property rights (IPR) as a North-South contract using a Nash bargaining approach and distinguishes between the outcome and its actual enforcement. The absorptive capacity of the Southern country to exploit technology transfer plays a key role in the...

Over the past few decades, scholars in a variety of fields – economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and international relations, among others – have made enormous strides studying the behavioral roots of international law by exploring individual motivations, describing...

The paper looks at resolutions and operational activities of the UN as parts of processes of institutionalisation of nascent norms of CIL. It argues that institutionalisation clarifies the scope of the norm and of its application; and improves mechanisms of persuasion and compliance with the...