The Unruly Notion of Abuse of Rights [Hardcover]

Challenges the claim to elevate the theory of abuse of rights to the status of a general principle of law.Everyone condemns the 'abuse of rights', but it is seldom applied as a rule of decision. This book concludes that except when given context as part of a lex specialis, it is too nebulous, and too likely to lead to arbitrariness, to serve as a general principle of international law.Everyone condemns the 'abuse of rights', but it is seldom applied as a rule of decision. This book concludes that except when given context as part of a lex specialis, it is too nebulous, and too likely to lead to arbitrariness, to serve as a general principle of international law.Everyone condemns what they perceive as 'abuse of rights', and some would elevate it to a general principle of law. But the notion seldom suffices to be applied as a rule of decision. When adjudicators purport to do so they expose themselves to charges of unpredictability, if not arbitrariness. After examining the dissimilar origins and justification of the notion in national and international doctrine, and the difficulty of its application in both comparative and international law, this book concludes that except when given context as part of a lex specialis, it is too nebulous to serve as a general principle of international law.1. Matters of nomenclature; 2. An idealistic but troublesome impulse; 3. A cacophony of criteria; 4. A 'principle' with no rules?; 5. The challenge of establishing universal principles; 6. The Politis/Lauterpacht quest to elevate abuse of right; 7. Rejection and retrenchment; 8. The vanishing prospect.'With precision and passion, Paulsson challenges a shibboleth of international law. W. Michael Reisman, Professor, Yale Law SchoolPaulssons characteristic insistence that - in Holmes phrase - we must think things, not words, and his willingness to puncture conventional wisdom, all make this a vital read for anyone concerned with the nature of law; characteristically, too, this is l³/