In Non-proliferation Law as a Special Regime: A contribution to fragmentation theory in international law (Cambridge University Press, 2012), co-editors Dan Joyner and Marco Roscini explore the conflicting rules, principles and institutions that relate to the fragmentation of international law, with emphasis on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The book aims to identify whether there are specific secondary rules applying to this area of law that depart from the general rules of international law and/or from the rules of other special regimes, in particular with regard to the law of treaties and the law of state responsibility. In providing a systematic analysis of this one substantive area of international law and applying the theory of fragmentation and special regimes, the book contributes to understanding both of nonproliferation treaties and of fragmentation theory.
About the book, Bruno Simma, former Member of the International Law Commission, former Judge at the International Court of Justice, and Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law School, said:
“Fragmentation of international law has become a favorite topic in the literature, all too often dealt with in the same worn, tired way, referring to the same few cases and usually ending up with authors making more or less solemn over-generalizations in one direction or the other. Against this background, it is a true pleasure to follow a group of experts both on non-proliferation law and the relevant international law around the Non-Proliferation Treaty on their analysis of the ways in which this treaty regime is “special” without, however, essentially detaching itself from the general law in which it remains embedded. The book thus sets an admirable example of how the ever-increasing number of specialized treaty regimes ought to be subjected to a profound dialogue between experts in the respective subject areas and international law generalists to the profit of both.”
Dan Joyner is Professor of Law at The University of Alabama School of Law. Previously, he was on the faculty of the University of Warwick School of Law in the United Kingdom, and a Senior Associate Member of St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University. He is the author of International Law and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (Oxford University Press, 2009), and Interpreting the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (Oxford University Press, 2011).
Marco Roscini is Reader in International Law at the University of Westminster. He specializes in the international law of armed conflict (both jus ad bellum and jus in bello) and WMD non-proliferation law. He is the author of Le zone denuclearizzate (Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones, 2003)