The law and politics of the Kosovo Advisory Opinion

This is an edited collection of essays on various aspects of the 2010 Kosovo Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. The main theme of the book is the interplay between law and politics regarding Kosovo's independence generally and the advisory opinion specifically. The book tells the story of the case, places it within its broader political context, and so attempts to advance our understanding of how such cases are initiated, litigated and decided, and what broader purposes they may or may not serve.

The International Court of Justice controversially found in 2010 that the Kosovo declaration of independence did not violate international law. This book assesses its context and legacy, investigating if this judgement was unique to Kosovo, or if it set a precedent.

Introduction / Marko Milanović and Michael Wood -- Explaining Serbia's decision to go to the ICJ / James Ker-Lindsay -- Arguing the Kosovo case / Marko Milanoviâc -- The practicalities of representing a client in complex multipart proceedings : the example of Kosovo / Qudsi Rasheed and Michael Wood -- The settling of a self-determination conflict? Kosovo's status process and the 2010 advisory opinion of the ICJ / Bernhard Knoll-Tudor -- Questions of jurisdiction and the discretion to decline a request for an advisory opinion / Vladimir Djeriâc -- The question question / Daniel Mèuller -- Reflections on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo : interpreting Security Council Resolution 1233 (1999) / Sean Murphy -- The UN Secretary General and the Advisory Opinion / Mathias Forteau -- The sounds of silence : making sense of the supposed gaps on the Kosovo Opinion / Marc Weller -- The Court and its multiple constituencies : three perspectives on the Kosovo Advisory Opinion / Andrâe Nollkaemper -- The political aftermath of the ICJ's Kosovo opnion / Tatjana Papiâc -- Kosovo -- the questions not asked : self-determination, secession, and recognition / Alain Pellet -- Kosovo and the criteria for statehood in international law / James Crawford -- Has the Advisory Opinion's finding that Kosovo's declaration of independence was not contrary to internationa law set an unfortunate precedent? / Anne Peters -- Some implications of the Advisory Opinion for the resolution of the Serbia-Kosovo conflict / Richard Caplan and Stefan Wolff -- Old problems, fresh frameworks : Kosovo, Serbia and the EU -- the virtue of a 'free territory' / James Gow -- Reflections on the law and politics of the Kosovo case / Harold Hongju Koh