Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

  • Law /
  • Academic Law

Title cover of "The Use of Force against Individuals in War under International Law: A Social Ontological Approach" by Ka Lok Yip, published by Oxford University Press

Catch-22: exploring the escape routes for Gazans

Ka Lok Yip examines how the current situation in Gaza powerfully illustrates the danger of relying solely on international humanitarian law to address problems without transforming the underlying structural conditions through jus contra bellum and international human rights law.

Read More
Title cover of "Tracing Value Change in the International Legal Order: Perspectives from Legal and Political Science" co-edited and co-authored by Heike Krieger and Andrea Liese, published by Oxford University Press

Much attacked, still standing: how the international legal order is attacked and defended

The invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on 24 January 2022 is certainly not the first, but one of the most blatant attacks on the international legal order and one of the order’s foundational values, namely peace. It has enlivened widespread debates about the end of the liberal world order and, closely related to this, a crisis of international law. But what does this crisis stand for?

Read More
"The Function of Equity in International Law" by Catharine Titi, published by Oxford University Press

International law in quest for justice

One of the stated purposes of the United Nations, according to the UN Charter, is to settle international disputes or adjust situations that threaten international peace “in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.” In this blog post, Catharine Titi explores the relationship between equity, law, and justice and its importance to international dispute settlement.

Read More

Which law applies to negotiable instruments?

The law of negotiable instruments is known for its sophistication and internal complexity. For centuries it has provided an effective legal solution for the pertinent needs of domestic and international commerce, facilitating predictability, protection of parties’ justified expectations, and the elimination of the risk involved in the physical carriage of money. The internal balance of its rules, doctrines, concepts, and principles has been achieved through a slow and ongoing evolution—a Sisyphean effort of adjudication tribunals to balance of the interests of commercial actors, fairness, legal predictability, and commercial utility.

Read More

Human rights must be the foundation of any COVID-19 response

The escalating Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged global health as never before. Within months, the disease swept across every country, exposing the fragility of our globalized world. Unlike anything seen since the Influenza pandemic of 1918, health systems have faltered under the strain of this pandemic, with cascading disruptions as borders closed, businesses shuttered, […]

Read More