The interrelationship between trade objectives and environmental concerns lies at the heart of this research. After describing different trade regimes and environmental protection agreements, and offering the general framework of international law in which the trade-environment-development debate takes place, this thesis elaborates on the structures of international institutional authority that have been created through these trade regimes, environmental protection agreements and development organizations. A review of the existing international organizations will show us their strong points, usefulness and weaknesses, and will bring us to the statement of the necessity of new institutional authority in order to more effectively address the trade-environment-development issues at stake. On the one hand, the idea of a newly created Global Environmental Institution would highly improve the institutional potential in this debate, but is likely not a realistic option in the international arena of today. On the other hand, the option of institutional improvement and betterment of the existing international structures is more realistically feasible, and possibly the only way to achieve New Institutional Authority in the area of trade and environment today.

Competition law, as it applies to the maritime industry has on a global scale been subject to a "laissez-faire"-attitude. In fact, collusion has been encouraged. Collusion in the maritime industry has its historic origin in the colonial period. The evolution within this particular industry truly is a study in industrial organizational structure. / This Thesis sets out to explain and analyze the current regulatory scheme of the European Union, as it applies to the maritime industry (European, as well as non-European). This is accomplished through an in-depth statutory interpretation of EU Council Regulation 4056/86 dated 22/12 1986, laying down detailed rules for the application of Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty of Rome to the maritime transport (Conferences), as well as the Commission Regulation 870/95 dated April 20, 1995 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty of Rome to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices between liner shipping companies (Consortia). / This Thesis concludes that the former regulatory scheme is no longer up to date and thus requires replacement. The Thesis favours current developments within the maritime industry which call for increased co-operation and concentration among the carriers and providers of services (as well as co-operation as between the carriers and shippers), counter-balanced by restrictive regulation through the application of conditions, market share-restrictions and a limited five year application of the regulatory framework. / The former regulatory scheme, Council-Regulation 4056/86, which remains in force, must therefore be interpreted restrictively, and in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Rome, in particular Articles 85 and 86. / Finally, this Thesis provides various solutions to soften the impact of full-scale application of the competition law of the European Union, as it will be applied in the maritime industry.

The 1980 and 1993 Hague Conventions focused on two very important issues concerning children: illegal kidnapping and international adoption. The Conventions' drafters, faced with the opposing realities of globalisation and balkanisation in today's world, applied concepts of international cooperation to deter abuses against children. / The Conventions' articles are original in the methods they employ to coordinate private international law systems. They encourage and permit international cooperation. Their real impact, however, lies in the legal flexibility they generate. Indeed, the Conventions' goals are notably achieved through the creation and application of informal law. / Much pertinent literature has already been written on the specific technical mechanisms of the Conventions. I have taken a more wide-ranging approach in order to underline the weaker points in the Conventions' implementation, while also noting those that have strong potential for the future.

Verification of compliance has been and will continue to be an essential component of arms control and disarmament agreements. Following a brief historical survey of verification, this study examines in detail verification provisions in all major multilateral and bilateral disarmament agreements, in force and in the drafting stage, from the perspective of monitoring compliance by satellites. The feasibility of verification from space is examined from technical and legal points of view. Important differences are noted between bilateral and multilateral agreements in terms of verification requirements. The effectiveness of, as well as confidence in, the verification process, it is suggested, will be significantly enhanced if the monitoring is carried out by an organization in which all contracting states have a say in the planning and conduct of monitoring and participate in decision-making. This study analyzes various official and private recommendations for the establishment of such an organization, with special emphasis on the proposed International Satellite Monitoring Agency (ISMA) whose constitution, structure and functions are set out in a comprehensive report prepared by a United Nations group of experts. The ISMA could play, in the opinion of the author, an important auxiliary role in monitoring compliance with many existing disarmament agreements as well as with those currently in the drafting phase.

The International System of Air Transport Regulation, consisting of ICAO's essentially technical regulation, IATA's tariff and services coordination functions and the dense network of Bilateral Agreements might be challenged and profoundly modified by recent developments in the law of the European Communities. / In the framework of the creation of the European Internal Market, to be achieved before 1993, the European civil aviation industry is submitted to an accelerated integration and liberalization process. It comprises the opening of national markets to all Community carriers, the application of a common competition regime to all EEC-related flights and the transfer of regulatory functions to the EEC institutions. The EEC might, at the end of this process, acquire exclusive competences for the regulation of interior and exterior aviation matters. / The structure of the International System of Air Transport Regulation and the European air law in place and in the planning stage have to be analyzed with the aim of exploring the compatibility of the European Integrated Air Market with global legal requirements. Where the International system as well as the EEC legal order show imbalances or come into conflict potential solutions are studied.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are a key component of the ICAO Communication Navigation Surveillance---Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system. The fact that GPS and GLONASS, currently the only systems that partially meet the requirements for ICAO's GNSS, are military systems owned, operated and controlled by the US and the Russian Federation raises several institutional and legal issues for civil aviation. / This thesis will present the institutional and legal issues of the GNSS which have been recently discussed in the framework of ICAO. The certification issue to ensure the safety of civil aviation will be considered. The possibility of the legal system for the existing GNSS will correspondingly be examined. / The thesis will also discuss the impact on developing countries in respect of utilizing the existing GNSS as a sole-means navigation system in considering whether a guarantee of quality and continuity of the services in long term is needed, and if so which alternative it is likely to take. Finally, the CNS/ATM trials and implementation plan of Thailand will be presented in order to illustrate the inclination with which the developing countries are going through.

The thesis traces the concepts of such crimes under international law as genocide and crimes against humanity, of individual and collective responsibility for these crimes, and identifies the place of crimes of former communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe among them. The thesis examines the sources of a duty to investigate and to punish human rights violations of a prior regime in international treaty and customary law which is not affected by a succession of States. An analysis of different methods by which post-communist democracies of Central and Eastern Europe come to terms with their past gives evidence of lustration (screening); condemning a previous regime and banning its ruling party as a criminal organization, and criminal proceedings against Communist Party officials. With specific reference to the example of Ukraine, where there exist valid grounds for accountability of the previous communist regime, it is argued that during the transitional period, justice could be achieved by way of outlawing the Communist Party of Ukraine. The accountability of the previous communist regime would be much facilitated by involving international law standards and international investigating bodies.

Since the 1930's several International Organizations and the State of Argentina have attempted to draft an International Convention on Air Traffic Control Liability. All such attempts, however, failed. / Although justified reasons favoured an International Agreement on the subject-matter, it seems that the reasons for the failures of these different Drafts are very understandable. Among them is that if States do ratify an Air Traffic Control Liability Convention, it will automatically infringe a part of their sovereignty. / Despite the fact that a subject as important as this one requires careful study, it cannot be said that it has not been properly addressed, and it is evident that final conclusions can now be reached. An international solution should be abandoned. Two possibilities remain, as a compromise for the unification of laws in that matter, that is either a regional agreement among the different regions of the World or a Model Agreement which States would implement in their national laws. Conflict of laws and reliance upon a specified regulation of the subject-matter may be an even better solution.

It is now common that amendments to the Chicago Convention are adopted unanimously, or almost unanimously, and at a relatively great speed by the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Unfortunately, the pace of their ratification by the member States is extremely slow and it delays considerably their entry into force. The first part of this thesis tries to identify, on the one hand, different mechanisms which could accelerate the process of ratification and therefore the entry into force of amendments and, on the other hand, describes the procedure that would maintain the unity and homogeneity of the legal framework of the Chicago Convention. / ICAO is aware that several member States fail to notify differences between their own regulations and the annexes to the Chicago Convention and do not implement in their national legislation the international standards which they did not disapprove. This failure of the quasi-legislative function of ICAO may endanger the safety of the international civil aviation. The second part of this thesis describes various mechanisms of control which ICAO could adopt in order to identify the violations of international obligations by its member States and to urge them to observe its international standards. ICAO has to secure a high degree of uniformity in regulations between its member States. Otherwise, it may lose its role as leader in international civil aviation to regional organizations.

Since the early 1960s, some scholars of international commercial law and arbitration have begun to introduce new sources of law, other than domestic law, for international transactions. This is the result of two factors: (1) the immense growth of transnational contracts; and (2) their distinctive nature. / This line of thought generated a lively battle over delocalization or domestication of transborder contract which still exists today. Scholars of different legal systems have introduced diverse theories including that of lex mercatoria which has received considerable attention. The controversy is not merely over the terminology, but also concerns the complex issue of the delocalization of substantive law in international commercial dispute resolution. A few scholars have maintained that this idea constitutes a third legal system described as a transnational legal system, in addition to the national and international systems. In turn, opponents claim that such a substantive law exists, if at all, only within the ambit of domestic jurisdiction. / The main theme of the present study is to identify the major schools of thought with respect to the theory of new lex mercatoria, and then to trace its influence and impact on scholarly writings, national and international legislation, transnational practices, and case law.