Law and Sovereignty:
A Case Study
The controversial Libertad incident has been the focus
of many discussions regarding the effectiveness of international
law. Samuel Pang examines its true impact on state power relations.
The New Indictment
I
n Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, Mr Bumble famously utters “the
law is an ass”. His words may reflect the sentiments of the legal system’s
most strident critics.
The law has been faulted, amongst other things, for its opacity to
laymen a