This volume, edited by Professor Stefan Talmon of Bonn University together with two assistant editors and a group of students, is the first in a new series and covers the year 2019. As Talmon explains at the beginning of the volume, ‘GPIL [presents] German Government practice in the field of public international law in English and in a timely fashion.’ It also covers some significant decisions of German courts.
Digests of State practice form an essential resource for international lawyers, both in academia and in practice. State consent remains the ultimate source of international law, and it is therefore essential that the practice of States is accessible to that community. Practice has a role to play in the interpretation of treaties and more generally in understanding international rules. It feeds also into the formation of customary international law.
This volume provides this essential service, and it does so by blending the traditional mode of presenting the material, and organising it well, with stimulating commentary. The volume reaches back to other publications reporting on the practice of the Federal Republic of Germany, including Völkerrechtliche Praxis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, published (in German) from 1957 to 2018 in Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht and also the relevant section in the German Yearbook of International Law. The practice of other States is reported in a similar fashion.
It is, however, a distinctive feature of this volume that practice is presented throughout in English, ensuring a wide accessibility. It is furthermore distinct that the commentary provides context.
Practice is conveniently organised into 11 broad subject categories (with some 40 more specific sub-categories): 1. Foundations and Functions of International Law; 2. States and Their Organs; 3. Inter-State Political and Economic Relations and Transactions; 4. State Jurisdiction and Immunities; 5. State Responsibility and Liability; 6. Antarctica, Sea, Air and Space; 7. Individuals, Their Human Rights and Their International Criminal Responsibility; 8. Natural Resources and the Environment; 9. The United Nations and Other International Organisations; 10. Use of Force, Arms Control and Disarmament; and 11. International Disputes and Their Settlement. The volume includes helpful preliminary matter (tables of cases, German statutes, European legislation, treaties) and a carefully constructed and detailed index, as well as good footnotes and references. Navigation of these headings is intuitive to the international lawyer.
The volume offers an excellent overview of what Germany said or did in the field of international law in the year in question. In relation to each case study, there is lively commentary by Talmon himself and/or one or more students. The commentary turns what could otherwise be a dry reference work into a lively and interesting read. There are value judgments expressed, and quite rightly so, about the importance of certain practice in the overall positioning of Germany under international law. An example of this is the entry ‘Germany on a Mission: Putting Climate Change on the Agenda of the Security Council’. Such commentary makes this volume much more than a simple repertoire of material that may be available elsewhere.
This and by extension further annual volumes of German Practice in International Law are highly recommended to all interested in the role of international law in world affairs and the position of Germany in this role.
