Stephen Neff's primary research interest is the history of public international law. He is the author of a book on the historical development of international economic law. His current focus is the history of the law of neutrality. Another major interest is international human rights law, from both the academic and the practical standpoints.
This volume is a history of war, from the standpoint of international law, from the beginning of history to the present day. Its primary focus is on legal conceptions of war as such, rather than on the substantive or technical aspects of the law of war. It tells the story, in narrative form, of the interplay, through the centuries, between, on the one hand, legal ideas about war and, on the other hand, state practice in warfare. Its coverage includes reprisals, civil wars, UN enforcement and the war on terrorism. This book will interest historians, students of international relations and international lawyers.
A study of the historical and intellectual context of the struggle for a liberal economic world order and an elucidation of the post-war world economic system and its principal institutions the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Bank and the IMF. The final chapter includes commentary on the Arab oil crisis of the 1970s.
Journal Articles
Stephen Neff 'James Stephen's 'War in Disguise': The Story of a Book' (2003) Irish Jurist Vol. 38, pp. 331-351
Stephen Neff 'Idealism on Appeal: The Lord Advocate's Reference on British Nuclear Policy' (2001) Edinburgh Law Review Vol. 5, pp. 355-61
International law does not authorise self-help action of a criminal character for the prevention of international crimes.
Stephen Neff 'Idealism in Action: Nuclear Weapons and International Law in the Greenock Sheriff Court' (2000) Edinburgh Law Review Vol.4 pp.74-86
Stephen Neff 'The Prerogatives of Violence - In Search of the Conceptual Foundations of Belligerents' Rights' (1997) German Yearbook of International Law Vol. 38 pp. 41-72
Stephen Neff 'Towards a Law of Unarmed Conflict: A Proposal for a New International Law of Hostility' (1995) Cornell International Law Journal Vol. 28, pp. 1-28
Stephen Neff 'Boycott and the Law of Nations: Economic Warfare and Modern International Law in Historical Perspective' (1988) British Year Book of International Law Vol. 59, 113-149
Stephen Neff 'Decline and Emergence: Roman Law and the Transition from Antiquity to Feudalism' (1984) Journal of Legal History Vol. 5, pp. 91-116
Stephen Neff 'Human Rights in Africa: Thoughts on the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in the Light of Case Law from Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland' (1984) International and Comparative Law Quarterly Vol. 47, pp. 331-347
Stephen Neff, Lillich 'The Promotion of Human Rights through Bilateral Treaties: The Australian Experience with Migration and Settlement Agreements' (1983) Australian Yearbook of International Law Vol. 8, pp. 142-161
Stephen Neff 'The Role of Developing Countries in the International Monetary System' (1982) Review of International Studies Vol. 8, pp. 99-115
Stephen Neff 'The Law of Economic Coercion: Lessons from the Past and Indications of the Future' (1981) Columbia Journal of Transnational Law Vol. 20, pp. 411-437
Stephen Neff 'The UN Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences' (1980) Journal of World Trade Vol. 14, pp. 398-423
Stephen Neff, Lillich 'The Treatment of Aliens and International Human Rights Norms: Overlooked Developments at the UN' (1978) German Yearbook of International Law Vol. 21, pp. 97-118
Stephen Neff 'An Evolving International Legal Norm of Religious Freedom' (1977) California Western International Law Journal Vol. 7, pp. 543-590
Chapters
Stephen Neff 'Vattel and the Laws of War: A Tale of Three Circles' in Vincent Chetail and Peter Haggenmacher (eds) Vattel's International Law in a XXIst Century Perspective (Brill, 2011) pp. 371-33
Stephen Neff 'Prisoners of War in International Law: The Nineteenth Century' in Sibylle Scheipers (eds) Prisoners in War (Oxford University Press, 2010) pp. 57-73
Stephen Neff 'International Law and the Critique of Cosmopolitan Citizenship' in Kimberly Hutchings and Roland Dannreuther (eds) Cosmopolitan Citizenship (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999) pp. 105-119
Stephen Neff Sri Lanka: The Activities of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry in Respect of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) (International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, 1991)