As what has been called the "century of violence" ended, humanitarian intervention was once more at the centre of legal, political and ethical discourse. Increasing recourse to such a doctrine was occasioning widespread reflection on the big questions of how and why states behave, whether there is a meaningful concept of an international community, how fundamental values are determined and how they relate to each other. Jurisprudence of International Law is a challenging examination of the jurisprudence of international law on humanitarian intervention. It poses challenges to thinking and argumentation and proposes a redescription of humanitarian intervention.
Jurisprudence of International Law contains an original analysis of the philosophical and legal sources underpinning the concept of humanitarian intervention. The book presents and evaluates the bearing of legal theories - natural law, positivism, realism and critical theory - on humanitarian intervention and how the legal framework, in particular Articles 2(4) and 51 of the United Nations Charter, is molded by theoretical arguments and influences state practice.
The author goes on to develop a discursive model where the value of human dignity is attained through dialogue, reflection, and projection embedded in a sense of responsibility and human solidarity. The book thus revisits humanitarian intervention from the perspective of human dignity by re-combining theory, doctrine and practice within a discursive process.
This book is written for theorists and practitioners of both international law and international relations.
Nikolaos K. Tsagourias is Lecturer in Law at the University of Derby. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Conflict and Security Law and has published articles in various legal journals.
"The book is written with great scholarship which makes it stand out when compared with many of the more doctrinal studies on humanitarian intervention."
— Leiden Journal on International Law
