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NILR 2007
THE MOSAIC OF INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES: COMPLEMENTARY OR CONTRADICTORY?
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES 361
by J.G. Merrills*
1. Introduction
2. Adjudication and negotiation2.1 Negotiation as a prerequisite of jurisdiction2.2 Negotiation and justiciability2.3 Negotiation instead of adjudication
3. Situations of overlapping and competing jurisdiction3.1 Courts and tribunals with general jurisdiction3.2 Specialised courts and tribunals3.3 Regional courts and tribunals3.4 The relation between courts and tribunals with general jurisdiction and those with specialised jurisdiction
3.5 The relation between courts and tribunals with general jurisdiction and regional courts and tribunals
3.6 The relation between specialised and regional courts and tribunals
4. Adjudication and the work of political organisations
5. Conclusion
* Edward Bramley Professor of Law, University of Sheffield (UK). Netherlands International Law Review, LIV: 361-393, 2007 2007 T.M.C. Asser Instituut and Contributorsdoi: 10.1017/S0165070X07003610
J.G. MERRILLS 362 NILR 20071. INTRODUCTION
One hundred years after the second Hague Peace Conference, a large part of which was devoted to improving the ways of handling international disputes, institutions and procedures with that objective have never been more numerous or more widely used.1 Recent years have witnessed not only the creation of a number of new courts and tribunals, but, more significantly, the emergence of new systems for dealing with disputes through the submission by states to a form of compulsory jurisdiction, most notably with regard to disputes falling within the remit of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and those concerned with the interpretation or application of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. As a result of such developments litigation, which used to be something of a rarity in international affairs, is now increasingly common, a transition which has prompted questions about both the relation between adjudication and more traditional methods of handling disputes, and the relations of international courts and tribunals with each other.
The aim of this article is to review how international disputes are handled at the start of the new millennium with a specific focus on legal disputes and the role of adjudication. Three particular issues relating to the use of litigation will be examined. First, I shall consider some of the matters that must be addressed when determining the relation between adjudication as a means of dealing with disputes and negotiation. Then, in the main...