Promoting Peace Through International Law

Within international law there is no unified concept of peace. This book addresses this gap by considering the liberal conception of peace within Western philosophy alongside the principle of 'peaceful coexistence' supported in the East. By tracing the evolution of the international law of peace through its historical and philosophical origins, this book investigates whether there is a 'right to peace'.

The book explores how existing international law and institutions contribute to the establishment of peace, or how they fail to do so. It sets out how international law promotes the negative dimension of peace-the absence of structural violence-as well as its positive dimension: the presence of underlying conditions for peace. It also investigates whether international actors and institutions have particular obligations in relation to the establishment and maintenance of peace.

Discussions include: the relationships between the different regimes of human rights, trade, development, the environment, and regulation of arms trade with peace; the role of women, refugees, and other groups seeking equal treatment; the role of peacekeepers, transitional justice mechanisms, international courts fact-finding missions, and national constitutional frameworks in upholding peace in practice; and how civil society participates in the promotion and safeguarding of peace.

The book's comprehensive treatment of the concept of peace in international law makes it an ideal reference work for those working in the field, as well as for students.

Cecilia Marcela Bailliet, Professor of Law, Dr. jur., Department of Public & International Law, University of Oslo, Norway,Kjetil Mujezinovic Larsen,Professor of Law, PhD, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway

Cecilia Marcela Bailliet is Professor Dr. Jur., Director of the Master's Program in Public International Law and Coordinator at the PluriCourts Centre for the Study of the Legitimacy of the International Judiciary at the University of Oslo, Norway. She has a doctoral degree in law from the University of Oslo and combined JD/MA (honours) degree from the George Washington University Law School & Elliott School of International Affairs. She researches and teaches within the cross fields of international public law, human rights, refugee law, and peace. Among her publications are: 'Non-State Actors, Soft Law and Protective Regimes' (2012), 'Cosmopolitan Justice and Its Discontents' (co-edited with Katja Franko Aas, 2011), and 'Security: A Multidisciplinary Normative Approach' (2009).


Kjetil Mujezinovic Larsen is Professor of Law (PhD), Director of Research, and Deputy Director, at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo, where he does research and teaching in human rights law and international humanitarian law. He is the author of the book 'The Human Rights Treaty Obligations of Peacekeepers' (2012) and editor of the anthology 'Searching for a "Principle of Humanity" in International Humanitarian Law' (2013). He is the Norwegian editor of the Nordic Journal of Law and Justice ('Retfaerd'), member of the Editorial Board of the Forum for International Criminal and Humanitarian Law, and responsible for entries concerning the laws of war in the Norwegian encyclopedia 'Store norske leksikon'.