About Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law
The Max Planck Encylocpedia of Public International Law is a comprehensive online resource containing peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of public international law. Written and edited by an incomparable team of over 800 scholars and practitioners, published in partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, and updated throughout the year, this major reference work is essential for anyone researching or teaching international law.
Each of the 1,700 articles selected for publication within the Encyclopedia has been chosen to reflect not only the history of public international law, but also recent growth areas such as criminal law, human rights law, economic law, and environmental law. Every article published undergoes a rigorous review process, which includes peer-review by at least two members of the MPEPIL Advisory Board, led by Rüdiger Wolfrum, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.
Articles within the Encyclopedia can be searched by title, full text, author, bibliography, and more; the collection can be browsed by name, subject, or author. Print friendly PDFs of each article are available. The Encyclopedia also features the Oxford Law Citator, which provides links between related cases, articles, and additional materials within the Encyclopedia, other online resources from OUP, and selected third party websites.
New content is added to the Encyclopedia three to four times a year, and existing content is continuously revised, with the resouce homepage displaying the current content level. The complete collection of 1,700 articles will be available by 2012, after which new articles will be published, and old articles revised when relevant. Email alerts which announce the publication of new and updated content are available.
Visit the 'Contact Us' page for information on subscription and free trials to this resource.
Under the auspices of Professor Dr. Rüdiger Wolfrum, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Institute), an initiative was launched in 2004 to compile the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL). This work represents a new edition of the
Encyclopedia of Public International Law that was published between 1991 and 2001 under Professor Dr. Rudolf Bernhardt. The MPEPIL was made available in electronic and print form by Oxford University Press in September 2008. The online publication will be steadily expanded until there are around 1700 articles, at which point a small number of new articles will be added while existing articles are regularly updated. A print version will be published at the end of 2011.
MPEPIL represents an updated, comprehensive work covering the central and essential topics in international law. It is much more than a revision of the earlier edition. Nearly all topics have been rewritten and many new topics included in order to capture the latest developments in international law. To do justice to the changing nature of international law, an increased emphasis has been placed on the relevance of each keyword for contemporary international law. Particular attention has been paid to the contextualization of each topic within international law as well as the presentation of current trends while maintaining a focus on the mainstream/majority view. The goal is to avoid a purely Eurocentric perspective and this has been achieved with the assistance of academics and practitioners from various legal backgrounds and perspectives. The intention is that the MPEPIL will be a work that reflects international law from a global perspective while taking into account regional perspectives.
The authors of the articles are legal scholars and practitioners from all over the world. The authors speak in their personal capacity only. Any views they express or information they provide cannot be attributed to the institutions with which they are currently, or have previously been, affiliated.
All articles were reviewed by the Members of the MPEPIL Advisory Board consisting of leading experts on international law who ensure the high level of quality for each article.
A number of persons are currently, or have been, involved in the MPEPIL. Its General Editor is Rüdiger Wolfrum, assisted by the previous and current Managing Editors Alexandra Guhr, Daniel Heilmann, Karen Kaiser, Frauke Lachenmann, Monika Pohlmann, and Matthias Reuss.
The MPEPIL Advisory Board providing the peer review of all entries consists of Armin von Bogdandy, Edith Brown Weiss, Jean-Pierre Cot, Yoram Dinstein, Thomas M. Franck (deceased), Jochen Abr. Frowein, Meinhard Hilf, Rahmatullah Khan, Martti Koskenniemi, Thomas Läufer, Thomas A. Mensah, Hanspeter Neuhold, Francisco Orrego Vicuña, W. Michael Reisman, Bruno Simma, Daniel Thürer, Christian Tomuschat, Tullio Treves, and Sir Michael Wood. At the Max Planck Institute, the MPEPIL is supported by the Internal Legal Advisors: Ulrich Beyerlin, Isabel Feichtner, Clemens Feinäugle, Rainer Grote, Holger Hestermeyer, Marc Jacob, Michael Köbele, Nele Matz-Lück, Christiane Philipp, Stephan Schill, Anja Seibert-Fohr, Volker Röben, Nicola Wenzel, and Silja Vöneky.
Past and present Legal Editors are: Sange Addison-Agyei, Freya Baetens, Antje Berger, Monique Bianchi, Ana Paula Costa Barbosa, Olivia Danai, John Dingfelder Stone, Angela Doul, Seth Ericsson, Ina Gätzschmann, Julia Gebhard, Katja Göcke, Petra Hardraht, Moritz Holm-Hadulla, Timo Knäbe, Judith Köbler, Chie Kojima,
Maike Kuhn, Gilbert Leung, Emmanuelle Mantlik, Jakob Pichon, Isabel Röcker, Mylin Sapiera-Köbele, Charlotte Steinorth,
Bijan Tavakoli,
Katrin Tiroch, Sina van den Bogaert, Johann-Christoph Woltag, and Dominik Zimmermann.
The MPEPIL relies on the support provided by the Secretaries Birgit Bürgy, Iris Füll and Margot Lintaller, Librarians Inge Bangert and Petra Weiler, and on the work of the Student Assistants:
Sanja von Beauvais, Daniela Fietze,
Alexander Foff, Miriam Freier, Ina Gätzschmann,
Christian Gerber, Lena Hagemann,
Anja Höfelmeier, Judith Junk, Frederik Just, Sophie Kiladze, Carolin Kley, Katrin Kohoutek,
Lisa Kölsch, Jana Lohmann, Aleksandra Mazurek, Harald Niederstraßer, Ian Innocent Ogutu, Jan Polzer, Victoria Reuter, Herbert Rosenfeldt,
Eva Saarmann, Katharina Schaub, Alexander Schwarz, Katja Stockburger, Vanessa van Weelden,
Nele Linn Yang, and Patrik Zamorano-Martinez.
