The Law and Politics of the Kosovo Advisory Opinion

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.

This volume 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. How and why did the Court become the battleground in which Kosovo''s independence was to be fought out (or not)? How and why did political arguments in favour of Kosovo''s independence (e.g. that Kosovo was a unique, sui generis case which set no precedent for other secessionist territories) change in the formal, legal setting of advisory proceedings before the Court? How and why did states supporting either Kosovo or Serbia choose to frame their arguments? How did the Court perceive them? What did the Court want to achieve, and did it succeed in doing so? And how was the opinion received, and what broader implications did it have so far? These are the questions that the book hopes to shed some light on. To do so, the editors assembled a stellar cast of contributors, many of whom acted as counsel or advisors in the case, as well a number of eminent scholars of politics and international relations whose pieces further enrich the book and give it an interdisciplinary angle. The book thus 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.