In Pursuit of Peace and Prosperity through International Law

Abstract

EtYIL 2018 comes at a time when multilateralism and its underpinning norms of international law and institutions are under siege. At the same time, in 2018, Africa stood out for upholding multilateralism and international law. From the adoption of the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) to the signing of a series of peace agreements that brought to an end two decades of hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia, 2018 was indeed a remarkable year for international law in Africa. EtYIL 2018 covers some of these issues with emphasis on the lessons learnt from the Eritrea-Ethiopia claims Commission decisions on jus ad bellum, jus in bello, evidentiary and procedural matters and the role of arbitration in upholding the international rule of law. New developments such as the lifting of United Nations Security Council sanctions against Eritrea and the aforementioned new agreements signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia have also been covered in this volume. The volume also devotes considerable attention to other legal issues including: the use and misuse of European patent law to the detriment of developing countries’ legal interests, sharing transboundary resources, production sharing agreements on extractives between African countries and multi-nationals, evolving rules governing economic relations between Africa and its traditional partners relating to Brexit, contract-farming in the African cocoa (and its derivative chocolate) industry, the international Criminal Court and the extraterritorial application of human rights law from an African perspective, and the emerging challenge of cyber-attacks and the role of international law in tackling it. Such timely and pioneering articles authored by experts from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America not only bring new and diverse voices to international law discourse, they also contribute to the EtYIL’s overarching goal of contributing to the effort to rebalance the narrative of international law.