This open access book examines the role of international law in Central Asian affairs and sheds new light on human rights issues in Central Asian politics. It provides various case studies on Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The book is divided into eight parts: Part I sets the context, and places the subsequent chapters in a broader context of decolonisation and development. Part II offers an overview of the role of international law in Central Asia, its relationship with domestic law, and the role of international organisations in its development in the region. Part III discusses selected issues pertaining to regional security. Part IV discusses some human rights developments in Central Asia, including social and economic, labour, digital, and family rights. Part V is devoted to international criminal law, and offers an overview of Uzbekistan´s experience in combating money laundering. Part VI on international trade and investment law discussed the WTO rules on fisheries subsidies, taxation in Central Asia, and stabilisation clauses in mining contracts. Part VII deals with international legal standards of animal welfare, and discusses several environmental case studies in Central Asia. Finally, Part VIII discusses the role of international law as an academic discipline in the region.
Part I: Context and Development.- Sergey Sayapin, International Law in
Central Asia: A Critical Overview.- Rustam Atadjanov, A Critical Reflection
on Positivist Approaches toward International Law in Central Asia.- Anja
Mihr, Transitology in Central Asia since 1991.- Sultan Sakhariyev, Shaping
Regional Order: The Role of International Organisations in the Development of
International Law in Central Asia.- Akbar Rasulov, Between the Second and the
Third Worlds: The Legal Postcoloniality of Central Asia.- Part II:
International Law as a Factor in the Central Asian Politics.- Sébastien
Lafrance, Nik Khakhar, Ayazhan Kazybekova, The Implementation and
Effectiveness of International Law in Central Asia.- Abay Abylaiuly, On the
Necessity of Responding to the Findings of the UN International Law
Commission.- Part III: International Law and Security.- Nicolas
Zambrana-Tevar, What is a Coup?: Almaty, Catalonia and the US Capitol in
Retrospect.- Part IV: Human Rights.- Muslim Khassenov, Labour Law Reforms in
Central Asian Countries within the Context of International Labour Standards:
A Comparative Analysis.- Part V: International Criminal Law.- Farkhod
Fazilov, Uzbekistan´s Experience in Combating Money Laundering.- Part VI:
International Trade and Investment Law.- Sherzod Shadikhodjaev, Fisheries
Subsidies and the WTO.- Alberto Pecoraro, Stabilization Clauses in Mining
Contracts: Economic Sovereignty, Development and International Law in Central
Asia.- Part VII: International Environmental Law.- Maria Baideldinova,
International Legal Standards of Animal Welfare.- Kamila Mateeva, Kanykei
Kasybekova and Begaiym Esenkulova, International Environmental Law in Central
Asia: Implementation Challenges and Limitations.- Part VIII: International
Law as an Academic Discipline.- Julia Emtseva, Teaching International Law in
Central Asia: Is There a Coherent Approach?.
Sergey Sayapin is Professor and Founding Director of the Center for International Law at KIMEP University (Kazakhstan). From 2000 to 2014, he held several positions at the ICRC Regional Delegation in Central Asia (Tashkent, Uzbekistan). Professor Sayapin has published extensively on international institutions, conflict and security law, human rights, international criminal law, post-Soviet and Central Asian approaches to international law, and the international legal aspects of Russia's war against Ukraine. He is co-editor for Central Asia of the Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia (Brill) and a member of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of International Law.
