International Law as a Profession

This collection of self-reflective essays explores the relations between international legal professions and their respective understandings of international law.

Jean d'Aspremont (Edited by), Tarcisio Gazzini (Edited by), André Nollkaemper (Edited by), Wouter Werner (Edited by)

9781316506011, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 December 2018

469 pages
23 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.68 kg

International law is not merely a set of rules or processes, but is a professional activity practised by a diversity of figures, including scholars, judges, counsel, teachers, legal advisers and activists. Individuals may, in different contexts, play more than one of these roles, and the interactions between them are illuminating of the nature of international law itself. This collection of innovative, multidisciplinary and self-reflective essays reveals a bilateral process whereby, on the one hand, the professionalisation of international law informs discourses about the law, and, on the other hand, discourses about the law inform the professionalisation of the discipline. Intended to promote a dialogue between practice and scholarship, this book is a must-read for all those engaged in the profession of international law.

Introduction Jean d'Aspremont, Tarcisio Gazzini, André Nollkaemper and Wouter Werner
Part I. Thinking of International Law as a Professional Practice: 1. The professionalisation of international law Jean d'Aspremont
2. Between commitment and cynicism: outline for a theory of international law as practice Martti Koskenniemi
3. International law as a professional practice: crafting the autonomy of international law Richard Collins and Alexandra Bohm
4. Scientific reason and the discipline of international law Anne Orford
Part II. The Practice of International Law and its Theories: 5. International legal scholarship under challenge Anne Peters
6. The responsibility of the international legal academic: situating the grammarian within the 'invisible college' Gleider Hernández
7. What is critique?: towards a sociology of disciplinary heterodoxy in contemporary international law Akbar Rasulov
8. The relationship between theory and practice in international law: affirmation versus reflexive distance Jochen von Bernstorff
9. The choice of the subject in writing histories of international law John Haskell
10. International legal theory qua practice of international law Samantha Besson
Part III. The Practice of International Law and its Professional Capacities: 11. Moving beyond interdisciplinary turf wars: towards an understanding of international law as practice Tanja Aalberts and Ingo Venzke
12. Professionals of international justice: from the shadow of state diplomacy to the pull of the market for commercial arbitration Sara Dezalay and Yves Dezalay
13. The international law bar: essence before existence? James Crawford
14. Consigliere or conscience: the role of the government legal adviser Matthew Windsor
15. International law as expert knowledge: exploring the changing role of international lawyers in national contexts René Uruena
16. Teachers of international law Pierre d'Argent
Concluding remarks: the praxis of international law Wouter Werner.

Subject Areas: Legal system: general [LNA], Public international law [LBB], International law [LB], Law as it applies to other professions [LAY], Legal profession: general [LAT], Law & society [LAQ], Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB]