2 August 2012 | CIL Seminar
An Outline of International Law – Presentation of book by Dr Dominique De Stoop
Introduction
The topic presented was entitled An Outline of International Law. The draft book covers 27 chapters and is divided into nine parts entitled:
Part 1: The Sources and Nature of International Law, the Law of Treaties;
Part 2: States, Recognition, Sovereignty over Territory and Immunities;
Part 3: State Responsibility, Reparation and Settlement of International Disputes;
Part 4: International Human Rights and International Criminal Law;
Part 5: The United Nations, UN Specialized Agencies and Regional Organizations;
Part 6: Law of the Sea, International Shipping, International Civil Aviation and Outer Space Law;
Part 7: Protection of the Environment and Conservation;
Part 8: Laws of Armed Conflict, Disarmament and Arms Control; and
Part 9: International Economic Law and International Economic Organizations.
Some of my academic colleagues in Australia have questioned the usefulness of producing yet another book on international law. My concern, however, is that many text books written by academics are too theoretical and western-oriented. Long chapters are devoted to issues of marginal importance, such as diplomatic and consular privileges and immunities, sovereign immunity, state succession etc while important, current topics such as the law applicable to armed conflicts, international economic and financial institutions, and regional treaties and organizations (such as ASEAN), barely get a mention. Another area that tends to be generally ignored is international criminal law and the 12 major treaties, and six Protocols, that have been concluded since 1962 – dealing, first, with criminal acts aboard aircraft and, more recently, treaties dealing with broader issues of international terrorism.
My book seeks to address all these topics. By combining the reproduction of important provisions in key treaties and explaining, in general terms, each subject and relevant case law, my book combines both the traditional text book and case book approaches of works on international law. The emphasis is on treaty law rather than on customary international law and general principles of law, which are vague and controversial.
An important objective of the presentation was to ascertain to what extent there is an “Asian approach” to international legal issues – such as human rights, the protection of the environment, international trade and international criminal law. The presenter provided some tentative answers on this but relied on the audience for additional ideas on the subject before finalising the book.
About the Speaker
Dr Dominique De Stoop is a graduate from the Universities of Melbourne, London and Paris. After his admission as a Barrister and Solicitor in Melbourne, he held senior legal positions in the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department (in charge of the Human Rights Section) and the Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was subsequently posted as Political and Legal Counsellor at the Australian High Commission in London, and later as Ambassador – accredited to Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. In the course of his career with DFAT, Dr De Stoop was Senior Assistant Secretary in charge of the International and General Legal Branch, and Australian Delegation Leader at various treaty negotiating conferences on a variety of issues. He chaired international meetings in London to ban the dumping of radioactive wastes at sea and meetings at the UN (New York) to Review the Multilateral Treaty-Making Process. He was the Australian Delegate in the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the United Nations from 1981-1983. After retiring from DFAT, Dr De Stoop was appointed a Visiting Fellow and Consultant to the Faculty of Law, Melbourne University (1997-1999). Since 2000, he has been Team Leader in legal and trade reform assignments (mainly for the European Commission) in a number of developing countries, particularly in Asia. The main focus of that work has been to identify what reforms were required to facilitate accession by some of these countries to the WTO, and compliance with its rules and disciplines.
Dr De Stoop has been guest lecturer at various universities in Australia, in Asia, Europe and in Latin America. He was a part-time Lecturer for postgraduate students in international law at the ANU College of Law from 1986-88. He has also been a part-time consultant to the Australian Law Reform Commission on privacy law and sovereign immunity issues. He has had articles on the environment, human rights and legal reform published in Australian, American and British journals. He has also prepared handbooks on international law for officials in various Asian countries and is currently working on a general outline of international law.
