The United Nations Charter as the Constitution of the International Community

Fassbender (international law, Bundeswehr U. Munich, Germany) argues that there exists an international constitutional order that is built on and around the Charter of the United Nations. He examines the different concepts of constitution in modern legal theory; reviews the ideas of earlier scholars who have argued for and against the constitutional character of the Charter; describes the confirmation and strengthening of the constitutional quality of the Charter during the past sixty years of UN history; addresses the relationship between the Charter as the normative constitution of the international community and "general international law;" and considers the consequences arising from a constitutional perception of the Charter for its interpretation and amendment (in particular with regard to a reform of the Security Council), for the position of non-member states as well as subjects of international law other than states, and for the admission and expulsion of UN member states. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Bardo Fassbender, LL.M. (1992), Yale Law School, Dr. iur. (1997) and Dr. iur. habil. (2004), Humboldt University Berlin, is Professor of International Law at the Bundeswehr University Munich, Germany. He taught at the universities of Berlin, Munich and St. Gallen. Among his many publications on international law and the United Nations is UN Security Council Reform and the Right of Veto: A Constitutional Perspective (Kluwer Law International, 1998).