Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts: (International Courts and Tribunals Series)

Are international courts effective tools for international governance? Do they fulfill the expectations that led to their creation and empowerment? Why do some courts appear to be more effective than others, and do so such appearances reflect reality? Could their results have been produced by other mechanisms? This book evaluates the effectiveness of international courts and tribunals by comparing their stated goals to the actual outcomes they achieve. Using a theoretical model borrowed from social science, the book assesses their effectiveness by analysing key empirical data. Its first part is dedicated to theory and methodology, laying out the effectiveness model, explaining its different components, its promise and limits, and discussing the measurement challenges it faces. The second part analyses the role that indicators such as jurisdiction, judicial independence, legitimacy, and compliance play in achieving effectiveness. Part three applies the effectiveness model to the International Court of Justice, the WTO dispute settlement mechanisms (panels and Appellate Body), the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Court of Justice, reflecting the diversity of the field of international adjudication. Given the recent proliferation of international courts and tribunals, this book makes an important contribution towards understanding and measuring the value that these institutions provide.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part I: The Goal-Based Approach 1: The Effectiveness Model 2: The Goals of International Courts 3: Measuring Goal-Attainment Part II: Application of the Goal-Based Approach to Judicial Functions and Features 4: Jurisdictional Powers 5: Judicial Independence and Impartiality 6: Judicial Legitimacy 7: Norm Compliance 8: Contextual Factors Part III: Application of the Goal-Based Approach to Specific Courts 9: Yuval Shany and Rotem Giladi: International Court of Justice 10: Yuval Shany and Sivan Shlomo: WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism 11: Yuval Shany and Gilad Noam, Erin Gray-Goldbarsht, and Sigall Horovitz: International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda 12: Yuval Shany and Gilad Noam: European Court of Human Rights 13: Yuval Shany and Thorbjorn Bjornsson: European Court of Justice Conclusions

About the Author :
Prof. Yuval Shany is the Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in International Law at the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also serves currently as the academic director of the Minerva Center for Human Rights, a director in the International Law Forum at the Hebrew University, and the Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT) and a member of the steering committee of the DOMAC project (assessing the impact of international courts on domestic criminal procedures in mass atrocity cases). Shany has degrees in law from the Hebrew University (LL.B, 1995 cum laude), New York University (LL.M., 1997), and the University of London (Ph.D., 2001) and he has published a number of books and articles on international courts and arbitration tribunals and other international law issues such as international human rights and international humanitarian law.

Review :
In Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts, Shany proposes an analytical framework for assessing the effectiveness of international courts. A critical insight that Shany's book offers is that traditional definitions of effectiveness in the literature of internationallaw contain an "Achilles heel". Indeed, Shany exposes the weaknesses of traditional monolithiceffectiveness analyses by encouraging us to zoom in on the context and nuances that those traditional indicators hide. It will be apparent that Professor Shany's book is an extremely far-reaching and exhaustive study; and it is not possible, within the bounds of a brief review, to give more than some indication of the extensive research and carefully weighed conclusions that it contains ... For lawyers, ... particularly those concerned with the work of international courts, the great merit of the book is that it guides the reader to look beyond a courts judgments and opinions, and form a realistic picture of the actual impact beyond the courtroom that these may make in Professor Shanys apt terminology (p. 53), to look beyond the output of the court, and discern and assess the outcome.