International Law
 in Namibia

This book provides readers with the knowledge
necessary to fully understand how international law carved the history
and life of Namibia. It observes that Namibia has benefited from and
contributed to international law in a way that shaped that country’s
political and socio-economic development and to an extent that few other
countries experienced.

For many a year since Namibia achieved
Independence on 21 March 1990 and established the Faculty of Law at the
University of Namibia in 1992, students and lecturers have relied on
materials from South Africa, despite the fact that Namibian law has
since then grown apart from its South African heritage. It is high time
for lecturers and students in Namibia to teach and learn with a textbook
that analyses international law from the distinct standpoint of Namibia
and that views the nation’s legal interactions with other states
through its own prism! And this textbook aims to do just that.

Through
its 19 chapters, this book informs readers about international law, its
sources, international treaties, Namibian statehood, dispute
resolution, the use of force, human rights, Namibia’s economic relations
with the outside world (including the Southern African Customs Union),
and the law of the sea.

Namibian courts have in their own way followed the rules of
international law scrupulously, but – as this book shows – international
law nonetheless remains the source of Namibian law that lawyers apply
the least. Accordingly, this book underlines the significance, the
practical utility, and the relevance of international law in the unique
Namibian context.