On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (hereinafter: the ICC Statute) was adopted. There is no doubt about the significance of the legislation of the ICC Statute to international criminal law. The discussion at the United Nations (UN) on the idea of an international court for criminal proceedings started soon after the establishment of the UN, in the legislation of the Genocide Convention and other works, but encountered a deadlock in the 1950s. Considering how difficult it was to reach an agreement on this issue, it is astonishing to see that the ICC Statute became substantive law a half-century after the adoption of the Genocide Convention. This phenomenon demonstrates the evolution in the environment and consciousness of the international community through time.

Since 1 March 2001, family courts in the European Union (except Denmark) have been obliged to follow the rules of EC Regulation No. 1347/2000 of 29 May 2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters and in Matters of Parental Responsibility for Children of Both Spouses. The Regulation was meant to complement the Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 27 September 1968, and that is why it has come to be known as the ‘Brussels II Regulation’. The Convention covers, roughly speaking, patrimonial matters – such as property, contracts and torts – while the Regulation deals with divorce and child custody. On 1 March 2002, another Regulation entered into force, replacing the Brussels Convention and therefore aptly called the ‘Brussels I Regulation’. However, ‘Brussels I’ does not apply in Denmark, and that means that the Brussels Convention is still in force as between Denmark and the other EU member states. To complicate matters further, another Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters continues to apply in all EU member states, as well as in Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Poland: the Lugano Convention of 1988. Its text is virtually identical to that of the Brussels Convention, but there are major differences between the Lugano Convention and the Brussels I Regulation. As far as patrimonial matters are concerned, the courts in Europe now have to juggle with three different sets of rules: the Brussels I Regulation, the Brussels Convention and the Lugano Convention.

Since its adoption in 1998, the United States has criticized the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on several grounds. One of its major concerns is that its nationals, particularly officials and personnel participating in peacekeeping operations, could be brought to the Court, without US consent, on false charges advanced by enemies of the US. The US delegation unsuccessfully attempted to introduce new articles into the text of the Rome Statute before its adoption to guarantee the immunity of its nationals from the jurisdiction of the Court. Later at the meetings of the Preparatory Commission for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court (PrepCom) it failed to modify the Statute indirectly, through proposals to insert a provision into the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Court and subsequently into the Relationship Agreement to this effect.

In January 2000, a tailings pond operated at Baia Mare in Romania collapsed, spilling 120 tonnes of cyanide and heavy metals into the Lapus River. The pollution flowed into the Somes and Tisa, two Hungarian rivers, and into the Danube and then into the Black Sea. The pond was operated by AURUL, a joint-venture between Esmeralda Exploration of Australia and REMIN, a Romanian state-owned mining company. It had the dual responsibilities of extracting gold, silver and other minerals from an abandoned tailings pond, and also transferring the tailings from their existing site, which was close to a residential area, to a remote site. The tailings pond had collapsed only after seven months of operation. This accident, which has been described as ‘Europe’s worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl' caused extensive environmental damage in its wake. In particular, it was alleged that the pollution caused the death of over one million kilograms of fish in Hungary and seriously disrupted the livelihoods of people. It was feared that some endangered fish species might have been wiped out permanently. The accident also resulted in the destruction of a large number of plant and wildlife species in the river systems. In July of the same year, Hungary sought compensation of US$ 110 million from the Australian company which was responsible for operating the mine. Hungary also announced that it was considering taking legal action against Romania.

At its fifth extraordinary summit held in Sitre, Libya on 2 March 2001, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government (AHSG) of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), representing all the 53 member states, ‘solemnly and proudly’ declared the establishment of the African Union (AU). Following the deposition, by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, of the 36th instrument of ratification with the OAU General Secretariat on 26 April 2001, the Constitutive Act (the Act) of the AU formally came into force on 26 May 2001, in conformity with its Article 28.

The 1988 GATT panel decision in Canada-Import, Distribution and Sale of Alcoholic Drinks by Provincial Marketing Authorities (hereinafter: Canada Liquor) involved Canadian subcentral government regulatory objectives aimed at, among other things, discouraging over consumption of alcoholic beverages, with the particular regulatory limitations chosen falling upon foreign suppliers who regarded their GATT rights as having been violated. The 1987 decision in Japan-Customs Duties, Taxes and Labelling Practices on Imported Wines and Alcoholic Beverages (hereinafter: Japan Liquor), though not concerning measures adopted with an eye towards steering people away from drinking, nonetheless had occasion to comment on the irrelevancy of consumer traditions in ascertaining whether domestic products are to be seen as ‘like’ or different from certain imported products in the context of evaluating a claim of GATT national treatment violation. The case of Thailand-Restrictions on Importation of and Internal Taxes on Cigarettes (hereinafter: Thai Cigarette) saw a GATT panel in 1990 examine efforts by the government of Thailand to specifically address health matters relating to smoking by implementing measures affecting imports of cigarettes.

In practical terms, international conflicts relating to the flow of trade are unavoidable. Therefore, as stated in Article 3.2 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedure Governing the Settlement of Disputes (‘DSU’ or ‘Understanding’), the ‘[d]ispute settlement system of the [World Trade Organization (“WTO”)] is a central element in providing security and predictability of the multilateral trading system’.

Some three decades ago, two African international legal scholars explored, in separate essays, the impact of the newly independent African states on the development of certain areas of international law. The argument advanced in these discussions was straightforward enough: that the participation of the new African states in the international legal order, together with the unprecedented developments in international organizations and technology, had greatly circumscribed the frontiers of traditional international law; and that Africa, as a continent, had ceased to be merely an object of a Eurocentric international law, and was gradually taking up its place as a subject of, and an active participant in, contemporary universal international law.