Although the Forum Geneva, organized by the American Society of International Law and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, held in Switzerland, was designed to focus on the rules relating to the forms and procedures of multilateral treaty-making, inevitably the content of the norms themselves came to the forefront of the discussion. The participants raised crucial and timely issues relating to human rights and the environment, in recognition of the momentous impact of social change. This book addresses the complexities of questions such as the following: is multilateral treaty-making the most appropriate tool for meeting the new needs and requirements of today's world? Deep and pervasive changes in the fabric of international society compel attention to new legal issues resulting from state succession, protection of minorities, and ethnic strife. Also, is codification the best tool for giving these matters normative substance? The 50th birthday of the International Law Commission, the codification body par excellence, has also led to stock-taking over its role. Who are the decision-makers invested with the power of change and the introduction of new rules?
This concept is crucial to the substantive content of the law. It seems evident that we must transcend the state-centric Westphalian legacy in order to capture the diversity of social forces operating today. Yet, while international organizations have been formally bestowed with legal capacity to conclude treaties, other important and influential actors (such as NGOs and MNCs) continue to be relegated to the sidelines of international law-making. How does the complexity and increasingly technological orientation of the social environment affect treaty-making? Treaties can assume soft forms or include soft content, especially in relation to the impact of environmental law. Does the different nature of human rights treaties affect the rules of treaty-making, such as those on reservations? What of treaty implementation and the classic problem of the application of treaty law in the domestic order? Who speaks today in the name of the state at a time when its monolithic image is breaking down and when international treaties penetrate into every sphere of citizens' lives?