Kosovo and International Law—The ICJ Advisory Opinion of 22 July 2010

With over half of the United Nations member states refusing to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, the status of Kosovo's independence under international law even after the International Court of Justice issued its 2010 opinion on the "Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in respect to Kosovo" remains extremely controversial. In this work, Hilpold (international law, U. of Innsbruck, Austria) presents a translated and revised version of the proceedings of a December 2010 international conference studying the issue, originally presented in Das Kosovo-Gutachten des IGH vom 22. Juli 2010. Thirteen chapters address such topics as the impact of the Kosovo opinion on principles of secession in international law; secession, territorial integrity, and the role of the Security Council; the European Union and Kosovo in light of the territorial issue; finding the limits of validity in decisions of the UN Security Council of indefinite duration; the Kosovo opinion and issues of international responsibility; the structure and content of the Austrian statements in the ICJ advisory proceedings concerning Kosovo; and the political future of Kosovo after the ICJ opinion. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Peter Hilpold, Professor for International Law, European Law and Public Comparative Law at the University of Innsbruck. He is the author of over 150 publications in the fields mentioned. He is a co-editor of the journal “Europa Ethnica” and in the board of several law journals.