International Law in Greek

by

Constantine Antonopoulos

• LAST MODIFIED: 12 January 2022
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199796953-0230

Introduction

There has been a continuous presence and contribution of Greek jurists in the discipline of international law ever since the interwar years. Undoubtedly, Nicholas Politis and Stylianos Seferiades were the most prominent Greek international lawyers of the interwar period; the former a government lawyer and diplomat with substantial contribution in almost every aspect of the development of international law both in and out of the institutional context of the League of Nations and the latter an academic who held the first Chair of Public International Law at the Faculty of Law of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. They were followed in the 1950s to 1970s by Jean Spyropoulos, professor of international law (Thessaloniki and Athens, member of the International Law Commission, and International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge; Konstantin Eustathiades, professor of international law (Thessaloniki and Athens), member of the International Law Commission, and member of the European Commission of Human Rights; and George Tenekides, professor of international law at the Panteion School of Political Science, member of the European Commission of Human Rights, and member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Following the restoration of democracy in 1974 a new cohort of international lawyers has dominated the discipline of international law to the present day: Argyrios Fatouros, Christos Rozakis, Konstantin Economides, Emmanuel Roukounas, and Krateros Ioannou. They have each in their own capacity inspired a large number of their students to specialize in international law, a lot of which succeeded them as faculty teaching this subject, and have pursued and are still pursuing distinguished careers in international law both in Greece and abroad. Most of the Greek international lawyers are prolific authors of books and articles and even though the tendency among a growing number of them is to publish their research in English or French an equally large number publish in Greek. They tend to publish textbooks and monographs. As far as the latter are concerned, they cover areas of the law of particular interest for Greece, such as the law of the sea, international environmental law, and human rights law as well as classical subjects, such as the settlement of disputes, international institutions, and the law of armed conflict.

General Works and Textbooks

There has been a steady production of general works on public international law ever since the interwar period. These books cover the core areas of international law and they constitute both an exposition of the authors’ theoretical approach to the subject and the basic texts suggested as the study material for law school undergraduates. Seferiades 1925 expresses the “peace through law” vision of the interwar years and breaks away from traditional positivism. By contrast, Spyropoulos 1940 and Eustathiades 1977 represent classical positivist thinking. Roukounas 2019 focuses on the entire spectrum of classical international law topics and approaches them from a moderate positivist aspect. Sicilianos 2010 views international law through the prism of human rights law. Antonopoulos and Magliveras 2017 adopts the edited collective contributions approach to the classical and modern topics of international law. Finally, Hadjikonstantinou, et al. 2014 focuses on a student-orientated exposition of the main topics of international law.

• Antonopoulos, Konstantinos, and Konstantinos Magliveras, eds. Το Δίκαιο της Διεθνούς Κοινωνίας. 3d ed. Αθήνα: Νομική Βιβλιοθήκη, 2017.

  (The law of the international society. Athens: Nomiki Bibliothiki). A textbook on international law that is based on contributions by authors who constitute the current teaching staff at law and politics faculties both in Greece and abroad. They are the present generation of Greek international lawyers most of whom have also attained a high degree of international reputation. Each contribution covers an area of international law.

• Eustathiades, Konstantin. Διεθνές Δίκαιον. Αθήναι, 1977.

  (International law). The author deals with all areas of the classical law of peace from a purely positivist angle.

• Hadjikonstantinou, Kostas, Charalampos Apostolides, and Miltiades Sarigiannidis. Θεμελιώδεις Έννοιες στο Διεθνές Δημόσιο Δίκαιο. 2d ed. Αθήνα-Θεσσαλονίκη: Εκδόσεις Σάκκουλα, 2014.

  (Fundamental concepts of international public law. Athens and Thessaloniki: Sakkoulas). This is a textbook specially addressed to students. It deals with the main areas of international law that commonly form part of the teaching syllabus in a law faculty. With contributions by Vassilis Pergantis.

• Roukounas, Emmanuel. Δημόσιο Διεθνές Δίκαιο. 3d ed. Αθήνα: Νομική Βιβλιοθήκη, 2019.

  (Public international law. Athens: Nomiki Bibliothiki). It constitutes one of the leading textbooks on international law currently suggested in the reading lists of law faculties in Greece. At the same time it is a treatise on international law of the highest academic standard that deals with the main areas of international law.

• Seferiades, Stylianos. Μαθήματα Διεθνούς Δημοσίου Δικαίου. 2 vols Athens: Τύποις Π.Γ. Μακρή, 1925.

  (Course on international public law. Athens: P. G. Makris). The first comprehensive work of authority on international law published in Greek. Its structure is based on the traditional division in the Law of Peace (Vol. 1) and Settlement of Disputes, War and Neutrality (Vol. 2). It departs from strict positivism and expresses the vision of a rule-of-law based international community.

• Sicilianos, Linos-Alexander. Η Ανθρώπινη Διάσταση του Διεθνούς Δικαίου. Αθήνα: Νομική Βιβλιοθήκη, 2010.

  (The human dimension of international law. Athens: Nomiki Bibliothiki). This is a pioneering and seminal approach to international law through the prism of human rights law. The basic thesis of the author is that human rights law is not merely a separate and distinct branch of international law but rather an integral component of the discipline with a permanent impact on it.

• Spyropoulos, Jean. Δημόσιον Διεθνές Δίκαιον: Σύστημα της Θεωρίας και Πρακτικής του Δημοσίου Διεθνούς Δικαίου. Αθήναι: Τύποις ‘Πυρσού, 1940.

  (Public international law: System of theory and practice of public international law. Athens: Pyrsos). This is a concise exposition of the law in a single volume. The author represents the strict positivism school of thought.