Overview

This book offers a unique insight into the inner workings of international courts and tribunals. Combining the rigour of the essay and the creativity of the novel, Tommaso Soave narrates the invisible practices and interactions that make up the dispute settlement process, from the filing of the initial complaint to the issuance of the final decision. At each step, the book unravels the myriad activities of the legal experts running the international judiciary – judges, arbitrators, agents, counsel, advisors, bureaucrats, and specialized academics – and reveals their pervasive power in the process. The cooperation and competition among these inner circles of professionals lie at the heart of international judicial decisions. By shedding light on these social dynamics, Soave takes the reader on a journey through the lives, ambitions, and preoccupations of the everyday makers of international law.

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9781009248006

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Reviews

'Recommended.' D. P. Forsythe, Choice 'Written not as a monograph but almost in the style of a set of internal reflections-as-narratives, this book provides a seeming fly-in-the-wall contextual account to the many considerations that suffuse international judicial decisions and deliberations. To me, it was a significant reminder of what I had already seen from my own experiences of international practice at courts and tribunals - that such institutions remain very conscious of their judicial functions, while remaining quite unconscious of the complex humanity that drives all the seen and unseen players, hierarchies, and interactions within these august institutions that strive to provide international justice.' Diane Desierto, EJIL:Talk! (Blog of the European Journal of International Law) 'As Soave correctly points out, international courts are still shrouded in secrecy, which prevents outsiders from fully understanding how they operate. Soave makes the most significant contribution so far to lifting this veil, and his book provides material that will be tremendously useful not only to sociolegal scholars with an interest in international law, but also to practitioners who wish to understand how the courts before which they plead cases actually function.' Florian Grisel, Law and Social Inquiry 'Tommaso Soave's The Everyday Makers of International Law open[s] the black box of international institutional law and apply sociological as well as anthropological methods to study the people, spaces, and processes that create international law.' Silvia Steininger and Helga Molbæk-Steensig, EJIL:Talk!

'Recommended.' D. P. Forsythe, Choice 'Written not as a monograph but almost in the style of a set of internal reflections-as-narratives, this book provides a seeming fly-in-the-wall contextual account to the many considerations that suffuse international judicial decisions and deliberations. To me, it was a significant reminder of what I had already seen from my own experiences of international practice at courts and tribunals - that such institutions remain very conscious of their judicial functions, while remaining quite unconscious of the complex humanity that drives all the seen and unseen players, hierarchies, and interactions within these august institutions that strive to provide international justice.' Diane Desierto, EJIL:Talk! (Blog of the European Journal of International Law) 'As Soave correctly points out, international courts are still shrouded in secrecy, which prevents outsiders from fully understanding how they operate. Soave makes the most significant contribution so far to lifting this veil, and his book provides material that will be tremendously useful not only to sociolegal scholars with an interest in international law, but also to practitioners who wish to understand how the courts before which they plead cases actually function.' Florian Grisel, Law and Social Inquiry

Author Information

Tommaso Soave is an assistant professor of law at Central European University. Previously, he practiced international law for almost a decade, first as an attorney with Sidley Austin LLP, then as a dispute settlement lawyer at the World Trade Organization. His research focuses on the socio-professional dimensions of global governance.

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