FGV’s Rio de Janeiro Law School (Direito Rio) held a book launch event for two new publications on Latin America and the International Court of Justice on May 31. Published through a partnership with Cambridge Scholars and Routledge, the books are available in English.

The launch event of “A Latin American Guide to the International Court of Justice Case Law” and “Latin America and the International Court of Justice: Contributions to International Law” was attended by the deputy dean of Rio de Janeiro Law School, Rodrigo Vianna, international law professor Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, and students Júlia Brandão and Ananda Weingartner, who co-authored the book.

The event also gathered scholars and lawyers, as well as professors and students. Professor Paula Almeida spoke about the process and challenges involved in writing the books, justifying the relevance of focusing on Latin America and its role in international dispute resolution forums.

“These projects are innovative due to the lack of studies offering a systematic assessment of the role and contribution of Latin American states to the International Court of Justice, when it comes to jurisprudence. Just as important, Latin American states currently rank among the top contesting states at The Hague, having been involved in 29 cases brought before the court since its establishment,” said the professor.

A Latin American Guide to the International Court of Justice Case Law is the result of an Undergraduate Research Internship (PIBIC) sponsored by FGV. The book was co-written by Rio de Janeiro Law School students Júlia Brandão and Ananda Weingartner, and consists of a thorough quantitative and systematic jurisprudential analysis of all cases involving Latin American states in the International Court of Justice. It seeks to explore the litigating practices of such states through a methodology that sorted the cases into overarching themes, featuring charts, tables, and general and specific bibliographies.

This quantitative assessment of cases involving Latin American countries at The Hague served as a springboard for the second book, which was published by Routledge and organized by Professor Almeida in partnership with Professor Jean-Marc Sorel (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Latin America and the International Court of Justice: Contributions to International Law is a collaborative effort by 25 international experts from the most renowned universities and research centers worldwide, featuring a qualitative analysis of rulings by the International Court of Justice on cases involving Latin American countries, as well as their contribution to the field of international law.

The book proposes an innovative, qualitative analysis of the Latin American contribution to international law before the International Court of Justice, based on a multifunctional perspective, including Latin America’s historical contribution to the field, as well as the procedural and material contribution of cases brought to the Court involving Latin American states.

“We hope that both books contribute towards developing a qualified assessment of Latin America’s involvement in global dispute resolution proceedings, in addition to becoming a useful resource among international scholars, lawyers, diplomats and judges,” said Professor Almeida.