Oppenheim’s International Law: United Nations

Dame Rosalyn Higgins DBE QC was a Judge at the International Court of Justice from 1995 to 2009, and served as its President from 2006-2009. Before being elected to the Court, she was Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics.


Dr Philippa Webb is Reader in Public International Law at King's College London. She is also a practising barrister at 20 Essex Street.

Professor Dapo Akande is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict and the Oxford Martin Programme on Human Rights for Future Generations.

Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Nottingham and a non-resident research fellow at the United States Naval War College Stockton Center for International Law.

Professor James Sloan is a Member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, formerly Professor of International Law, University of Glasgow.

The United Nations, whose specialized agencies were the subject of an Appendix to the 1958 edition of Oppenheim's International Law: Peace, has expanded beyond all recognition since its founding in 1945.This volume represents a study that is entirely new, but prepared in the way that has become so familiar over succeeding editions of Oppenheim.

An authoritative and comprehensive study of the United Nations' legal practice, this volume covers the formal structures of the UN as it has expanded over the years, and all that this complex organization does. All substantive issues are addressed in separate sections, including among others, the responsibilities of the UN, financing, immunities, human rights, preventing armed conflicts and peacekeeping, and judicial matters.

In examining the evolving structures and ever expanding work of the United Nations, this volume follows the long-held tradition of Oppenheim by presenting facts uncoloured by personal opinion, in a succinct text that also offers in the footnotes a wealth of information and ideas to be explored. It is book that, while making all necessary reference to the Charter, the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and other legal instruments, tells of the realities of the legal issues as they arise in the day to day practice of the United Nations.

Missions to the UN, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, practitioners of international law, academics, and students will all find this book to be vital in their understanding of the workings of the legal practice of the UN.

Research for this publication was made possible by The Balzan Prize, which was awarded to Rosalyn Higgins in 2007 by the International Balzan Foundation.

The leading treatise in international law here addresses the legal practice of the United Nations. It provides a wealth of detailed information in a succinct fashion on the evolving structures and ever-expanding work of the UN. Written by an incomparable team of experts, this is an indispensable volume for all working in international law.