Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 

About: Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): International law & Public international law. Over the lifetime, 55 publications have been published receiving 815 citations.

The Human Right to Water and Sanitation

Abstract: Ensuring access to water and sanitation as human rights constitute an important step towards making it a reality for everyone. It means that: • Access to safe water and basic sanitation is a legal entitlement, rather than a commodity or service provided on a charitable basis; • Achieving basic and improved levels of access should be accelerated; • The “least served” are better targeted and therefore inequalities decreased; • Communities and vulnerable groups will be empowered to take part in decision-making processes; • The means and mechanisms available in the United Nations human rights system will be used to monitor the progress of nations in realizing the right to water and sanitation to hold governments accountable. A/RES/64/292 Votes In Favour: 122 Against: 0 Abstentions: 41 Absent: 29

The Complementarity Regime of the International Criminal Court: International Criminal Justice between State Sovereignty and the Fight against Impunity

Abstract: Together with the provisions on jurisdiction, the principle of complementarity is the pivotal mechanism to delineate the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC from that of national authorities, including national courts. Designed to find a balance between state sovereignty and the interest of the international community in the effective prosecution of international crimes, it may well prove to be one of the most contentious features of the Statute in its application. The principle of complementarity has thus been described as essential for the acceptance of the Statute by states, and is often referred to as the underlying principle or the cornerstone of the ICC Statute. The present article seeks to contribute to the discussion on one of the most opalescent notions of the Statute. Starting with an analysis of the rationale of the complementarity principle, it examines the substantive elements contained in Article 17 ICC Statute as well as the procedural framework as set out in Articles 18 and 19 ICC Statute. The article furthermore explores the question of the impact of Security Council resolutions under Chapter VII of the Charter and the possibility of states to "waive" complementarity.

The prospects of 21st Century constitutionalism

Abstract: The main aim of this article is not to define whether different levels or layers of governance, national or international, have a 'constitution', or amount to one, and what the minimal content of the normative concept of 'constitution' should be. Rather, the authors focus on the necessary relations and functions of different and existing layers of governance, whatever their nature and quality, considered as an overall complex. Allocating powers among and between these layers, establishing adequate safeguards on different levels of governance — whether or not termed a Constitution - and defining the relationship and interaction between these layers, for example in the field of human rights protection or market access rights, is one of the main tasks constitutionalism will have to achieve in this century.