1. Premise International law and comparative law are traditionally concerned not only with two different fields of legal studies but they are also characterised by two divergent ways of looking at legal phenomena. Indeed, international law presupposes the idea of the universality of law, a uniform law that is not upset by the fragmentation of...

1. Introduction The cue to start reflecting on the connections between comparative law and international law comes from the renewed interest in a `comparative’ approach to international law. Indeed, since the end of the last century, more and more international law scholars have become engaged in shaping ‘Comparative International Law’ as a new field of...

1. The question In a recent monograph[1] and in a subsequent edited volume,[2] Anthea Roberts makes the case for the adoption of a comparative international law (CIL)[3] approach in the study and practice of international law.[4] CIL is a project addressed primarily to international lawyers rather than States.[5] It offers a vision of what international...

1. Introduction Is International Law International? The title of the celebrated book authored by Anthea Roberts[1] poses a prima facie straightforward, binary question. In line with Roberts’s high quality scholarship, the book raises challenging questions that go deep to issues, such as the source of international law’s authority and the structure of the international order....