Book Review of Re-Imagining the International Legal Order

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The book aims to address the emerging contemporary challenges associated with the international legal system and its ineffectiveness in handling the rapid changes.

How can these emerging challenges be understood and the solutions provided therefor normatively and institutionally at different levels of international law-making, implementation, and adjudicatory processes led by concerned states, international organisations (IOs), courts, tribunals, individuals, and non-state actors (NSAs), are the key features of this book. In other words, the book inquires whether the existing 1Os (most importantly, the United Nations or the UN), courts, conventions, and other legal instruments of like nature (including soft-law instruments) serve their intended purposes, functions, and meet the standards to which they have been commended. These are critical questions this book attempts to respond to through rigorous discussion and analysis by leading scholars of international law in their respective fields. In sum, the beauty of this book lies in its intended constructive approach to sharply delve into logical thinking in addressing the contemporary challenges associated with international law and IOs, including international adjudicatory institutions.

The book is summed up in six parts. The part first introduces the core normative aspect of the book, that is, reimagining international law. It begins with John Dugard's chapter "Overcoming Disillusionment with International Law",', highlighting serious

consequences of a failure to enforce international law in its true sense and a paradigm shift towards "rules-based order" because of the fragmented nature of international law. He suggests that since the UN Security Council (UNSC) is politically [mis]-used, there is a need to shift to other organs, like the UN General Assembly, which is vested with generalised power with wider representation. In line with Dugard's comment on the fragmented nature of international law, Sir Michael Wood's chapter "Reimagining International Law: What Might Have Been, What Might Be" opinions that the new emerging courts, such as an international constitutional court or a permanent investment court, may tend to fragment international law further into separate fields, each with its own approaches, experts, enthusiasts and detractors.

He cautions that any change in international law may not necessarily be constructive, and therefore, should be carried out carefully and responsibly. Following Wood's warning on any change in international law, Arnold N. Pronto's chapter "Change in International Law" distinguishes between paradigmatic change to the structure of international law and change in the form of amendment to existing rules of international law. While discussing changes in treaty law and customary law, the chapter could have been further improved had Pronto explained what he meant by structural changes in light of contemporary theories pointing out the necessity of required structural changes in the international law-making process. One of the reasons for the required structural changes in international law could arise because of the fragmentation owed to the courts of general jurisdiction, with special courts dealing with specific areas. This brings to the fore Giuditta Cordero-Moss's next chapter, "Fragmentation and Fertilisation of International Law", inquiring whether international law can remain a unitary system of law or split into separate regimes.

To this end, he hypothesises whether cross-fertilisation is desirable among already separate self-contained regimes or even between regimes outside of international law. He concludes that an answer to this question depends on the contextual appreciation of whether fragmentation should be enhanced or cross-fertilisation should be preferred. Going a bit out of mainstream international law track, Hans van Loon's chapter discusses "The Role of Private (International) Law in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals". In particular, his references identity and family connections, contract law, tort law, and cross-border civil and commercial litigation by analysing specific objectives, all of which strongly stress the role of private international law.

After reimagining international law normatively, the second part of the book reimagines IOs, where it begins with Malcolm M. Shaw's chapter, inquiring "Does the United Nations Have a Future? If so, What May That Be?". The author believes that the UN needs to work around the inherent and growing political pressures, though politicisation is always present in the functioning of the UN. Shaw is optimistic about the UN and its role in managing global problems like climate change.

Like Shaw, Attila M. Tanzi's chapter "The Role of the UN in the Codification and Progressive Development of International Law" suggests adopting a coherent and systematic approach towards the codification and progressive development of international law. However, what constitutes a "coherent and systematic approach" for his arguments in this chapter seems to be missing in his writing. Contrary to Shaw and Tanzi, Vesselin Popovski, in "Reimagining the United Nations Security Council", suggests replacing the UN by establishing a new global organisation since it seems unrealistic that the UN Charter could be amended to abolish the veto system. However, equally unrealistic within contemporary geopolitics is to adopt a new organisation with the membership of almost all countries. Furthermore, contrary to what Tanzi suggests for a "coherent and systematic approach", Ian Johnstone's chapter "Pluralism in International Organisations" argues that since pluralism inevitably exists in international society, and as a result in international law and international order, it is challenging to deal with it systematically and constructively. The chapter does not address the lack of structural pluralism within the UNSC. Lack of pluralism in international law could be managed through encouraging multilateralism. Here, Raja Karthikeya's chapter "Glueing together the jigsaw: Multilateralism in a divided world" underscores the role of multilateralism in international law and international relations. However, the understanding of the author regarding soft-law instruments seems unclear since he treats the Paris Accord as a soft-law non-binding instrument. The book's strength lies in its formulation of international law issues within the realm of international relations. Keeping that in mind, Alan K. Henrikson's chapter "The Role of Public Diplomacy in the Modern World" examines how public diplomacy could be conducted within the international legal framework. The last chapter of the second part, "Reimagining the European Institutions" by Maria Stoicheva, points out the essence of the European identity to address the challenges the EU is currently facing.

Not only the IOs, the judicial functions of international, regional, domestic, and ad-hoc courts/tribunals need to be reimagined in light of fragmented international normative regimes. To begin with, the third part of the book starts with reimagining

"International Law in Indian Courts" by Gopal Subramaniam and "The Role of International Law in the United Kingdom" by Peter Goldsmith. They emphasise how Indian and UK courts have incorporated international law as part of their judicial exercises. This gives hope to better appreciate international law principles through municipal courts, when the functioning of international law is largely influenced by international politics. While examining the role of municipal courts in appreciating the importance of international law, Vasuda Sinha's chapter "The Pursuit of Domestic Remedies for Claims in International Law" examines how domestic courts can help resolve international law disputes. However, the authors seem to have failed to provide for what the "reimagination of international law" could actually mean for the municipal courts beyond their current judicial practices.

Similar to plurality in international law and IOs, Laurence Boisson's chapter "Plurality of International Legal Proceedings in an Era of Multiple Courts and Tribunals" examines how pluralism gets reflected in the judicial functions of international courts and tribunals, and how the challenges associated with such pluralism can be mitigated by developing a coherent system of international dispute settlements. Finally, Sergey Sayapin's chapter "Rethinking Humanitarian and Human Rights Institutions for Asia" analyses Asian institutional mechanisms promoting human rights and development standards and proposing Asian solutions for Asian challenges. The fourth part, "Reimagining Specific Jurisdictions", begins with Christina Voigt's chapter "Ecocide as an International Crime: Options and Choices", suggesting the ratione materiae jurisdiction of the ICC over ecocide as an international crime. Taking a larger picture, Monica Feria-Tinta's chapter "Public Interest in Investment Arbitration: The Rapid Ascent of Human Rights, Labour Law and Environmental Law" argues for a reconciliation approach in balancing "commercial", "public law" and "international law" elements in investment arbitration. Harish Salve's chapter"Re-visiting the Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: Due Process in International Law" points out a lack of due process and procedural compliance by military courts. However, it remains unclear why he mentioned military courts, where the chapter's title concerns issues of due process in international law only, rather than in domestic law. The last chapter, "Family Law: British and Indian Perspective," by William Longrigg and Anil Malhotra, highlights private international law issues concerning domestic jurisdictions on marriage, divorce, adoption, overseas succession, surrogacy, etc., in India and the UK.

The fifth part of the book, "Reimagining the Law of the Use of Force and Responsibility to Protect", begins with Upendra Baxi's chapter "Ukraine: A Sunset or a New Dawn for International Law?", concerning the rhetoric of "my international law" versus "your international law" used by states to legitimise their actions during war situations. He began the chapter by posing a similar question - whether a new international law might come out from the war in Ukraine - with which he ended up in the conclusion. Similarly, Hathaway and Shapiro's chapter, "Transformation of International Law through the Outlawry of War" , seems to provide a mere summary tracing the transformation of law on the "use of force" from the late 17th century till 1945. It does not engage with a critique of this transformation process.

Further, what authors suggest for future reforms on the use of force and self-defence in international law is not clear. Charles Sampford's chapter, "From Legal Ambiguity and Strategic Clarity to Legal Clarity and Strategic Ambiguity", highlights the role of international lawyers in determining the [il]legality of a particular situation of international character, and its impact on the peaceful settlement of disputes in international law. The last chapter, "Sovereignty as Responsibility: Understanding the Legal Parameters of the Veto"

, by Jennifer Trahan, argues that the power of the UNSC to use veto may be constrained by the application of the principle of Responsibility to Protect in situations when atrocity crimes listed under the Geneva Conventions are being committed. However, it appears convoluted how the Responsibility to Protect, if it is considered, according to the author, a soft-law obligation, can help address the problem associated with the UNSC's discretion to use veto in cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The sixth part reiterates the contribution of a few select mixed "titans of [international and domestic] law" - James Crawford, Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, and Soli J. Sorabjee. These titans of law are identified based on the"credible developments" they have made in international law. However, what the authors of this book meant by "credible development", a phrase they used to identify the titans of law, remains part of their personal prerogative, rather than a decision based on any generally accepted standard to determine whether the concerned person, specifically speaking about Soli J. Sorabjee, has contributed to the development of international law. Had the authors used a standard or threshold of

"the most highly qualified publicists" as laid down in Article 38(1)(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice to identify a titan of law from India, the selection of Prof. R P Anand could have been a better All in all, the book's comprehensive and wide-ranging approach will ensure its longevity. Located at the intersection of international law and international relations, this outstanding collection examines the fragile state of the "rules-based order" and offers original, cutting-edge ideas and solutions for the future. Thinking about the function, location, and future of IOs is undoubtedly pertinent in light of the collective security system's shortcomings. The war and peace agenda, along with the recent addition of climate change, remains a relatively higher prerogative of states and their policy concern to reformulate or reimagine international law. As a result, arguably, the international legal order is undervalued as a result of this significant systemic error since it fails to recognise the degree to which the millions of everyday cross-border exchanges occur within a trustworthy framework of regulations, protocols, and establishments. Communication, trade, investment, tourism, and diplomacy would all be impossible without a widespread belief that states will uphold international law. To this end, the book offers different perspectives on whether reimagining international law itself is a correct approach in light of the multiple languages of international law.

Finally, the vocabulary of "reimagination of international law", as opposed to or similar to "progressive development of international law", seems unfamiliar to the formal law-making process in international law. Had the authors distinguished and explained the distinct role of these two processes, the book could have been more informative to the International Law Commission (ILC) about its mandate to promote "the progressive development of international law and its codification" under Article 13(1)(a) of the United Nations Charter.