Book Review: International Law: A South African Perspective

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Author: Annika Rudman
• Published date: 16 August 2019
• Pages: 233-237
• Citation: (2014) 25 Stell LR 233
• Date: 16 August 2019

International Law: A South African Perspective 4 ed by J Dugard.

Juta & Co Cape Town 2011. liii & 583 pp. ISBN 9780702186462. Price R

525.00 (soft cover)

When reviewing t he rst edition of International Law: A South Afr ican

Perspective by John Dugard, in 1996, Malcolm Shaw wrote:

“This is the right book at the right time from the right place.” (M Shaw “Book review, International

Law: A South African Perspective” (1996) 45 ICLQ 236 236.)

This stateme nt is equally t rue for the fourth edition even though much has

happened in South Af rica and in the inte rnational commu nity since 1994,

when the book was rst published. As expressed by Dugard himself, in

the preface to the fourt h edition, “there have bee n dramatic events on the

international sc ene and import ant developments in internat ional law since

the appearance of the last e dition” (preface). This would refer to the events

surroundi ng the Arab Spri ng, the fall of the Libyan regime under Mua mmar

al-Gadda, the increa se of inter national terror ism, the f urther development

of the doctrine of the resp onsibility to protect and t he development of the

responsibility of inter national organisations, to mention a selected few.

The much anticipated fourt h edition of International Law: A South

African Perspective by John Dugard and his co- authors Max du Plessis,

Anton Katz and Daniel Bethlehem reects on both internationa l and South

African sour ces. The book contains 26 chapt ers, presenting a wide variety of

traditional, i nternational legal topics as well as a n in-depth discu ssion on the

relationship between South Af rican domestic law and international law from

both historic and cu rrent perspectives. It presents the read er with an extensive

display of general topics of internationa l law, available in most textbooks,

including the sources of inte rnational law, statehood, recog nition, terr itory,

secession, immun ity, diplomatic protection, universal ju risdiction, the mai n

features of inter national human rig hts law, humanitarian law and ref ugee

law, the responsibility to protect, a review of Secu rity Council act ions, the

use of force and self-defence, the jurispr udence of the International Crimin al

Court, the Af rican Union and regional prot ection of human rights as well as

environmental law, law of the sea and air and sp ace law.

The book offers the reader t he same extensive insight into the relat ionship

between inter national law and South Afr ican domestic law as the previous

editions. It does not only reect on the current position of international law but

provides a deeper unders tanding of the histor ical treatment of inter national

BOOK REVIEWS / BOEKRESENSIES 233

(2014) 25 Stell LR 233

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd