The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in Matters of International Law

In its more than 50 years of existence, the European Court of Justice has had ample opportunity to pronounce on important questions of public international law including the relationship between international and European law, recognition, State succession, the law of treaties, questions of extraterritorial jurisdiction, the law of the sea, international environmental law, human rights, and international economic law. An even richer source of information on public international law are the Opinions of the Advocates General which the Court follows in most of its decisions. These Opinions often contain an extensive survey of the relevant State practice on points of customary international law and an almost textbook-like treatment of the international legal questions involved. This book, the first of its kind in any language, reveals the full richness of the international law aspects of the many decisions of the ECJ. Starting with an introductory essay on the application, interpretation and development of public international law by the European Courts and Advocates General, it then reproduces essential extracts from the decisions and opinions concerning questions of international law. The extracts from decisions and opinions are preceded by a set of keywords indicating the public international law questions dealt with in the case and an introduction giving a short summary of the facts and the European law background in which the questions arose. The cases are arranged according to subjects in nine main categories, and the whole book is supplemented by a comprehensive index and lists of cases.