This chapter focuses on the rules set out in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). The chapter begins with the concept of a treaty, before discussing treatymaking, with a particular focus on the conclusion of treaties, their entry into force, and reservations to treaties. The chapter then delves into how treaties operate -- namely, their scope of application and their interpretation. Finally, this chapter looks at the invalidity, suspension, and termination of treaties.

International organizations perform activities in areas in which states can no longer operate effectively in isolation, and in which there is a common interest in cooperation within a permanent international framework. This chapter will examine international organizations primarily from a legal perspective. The chapter aims to present a general overview of the law of international organizations. It discusses the legal status, privileges, and immunities of international organizations. The chapter further deals with membership issues, powers, and institutional structures. The chapter also looks at decisions of international organizations: the way in which they are taken and the different types of decisions. The chapter will briefly examine the finances of international organizations. There has been an exponential increase in activities of international organizations over the years. Not all of these activities have been successful, however, and there have been failures and wrongdoings. In recent years, a much-debated issue is the extent to which international organizations and/or their members may be held responsible for such failures and wrongdoings.

International economic law is a field of public international law that regulates crossborder transactions in goods, services, and capital, as well as monetary relations between states. This chapter focuses on the branches of international economic law that govern international trade, international investment, and international monetary law. It sets out the historical background, fundamental rules, and dispute settlement systems in the areas of international trade law and international investment law, and it concludes by introducing international monetary law. International trade and international investment law share some fundamental principles, such as non-discrimination, although most favored nation treatment and national treatment take somewhat different forms in the two bodies of law. This chapter covers the Bretton Woods institutions, namely the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This chapter explores international law relating to the protection of the environment, a relatively new field of international law that covers a broad range of concerns. The pollution of the oceans and the seas, the extinction of animal species, deforestation, and climate change: these are all concerns addressed by international environmental law. This chapter begins by providing a brief overview of the evolution of international environmental law and explains the principal characteristics of this field of international law. It further considers the interrelationship with the concept of sustainable development, which is central to modern approaches toward protecting the environment. It then explores two of the principal concerns addressed by international environmental law: first, the conservation of flora and fauna; and, second, the prevention of pollution and related environmental harm. Furthermore, the chapter discusses compliance and enforcement mechanisms. Lastly, because environmental protection measures often have implications for international trade, it briefly deals with the interrelationship between international environmental law and trade law.

This chapter begins by introducing a number of foundational concepts, which serve as the starting point in the field of public international law. Section 1 of this chapter begins with the notion that states are sovereign equals, which must consent to be bound by nternational law. This section also introduces the critical distinction that international law makes between states and “non-state actors.” Section 2 of this chapter discusses the inevitable comparison of public international law with domestic legal systems, and the significant limitations of this analogy as a means for understanding the field of public international law. Section 3 concludes by explaining this book’s overarching structure, as well as the approach of this book to the introduction of public international law.

International law on immunities consists of a body of procedural rules that limit when a state may exercise jurisdiction within its territory. These procedural rules could prevent a domestic court from exercising jurisdiction in a case involving a foreign state, a foreign state official, or an international organization. These rules could also prevent a police officer from exercising jurisdiction by arresting and detaining a foreign diplomat or a minister of foreign affairs. International law bars the exercise of jurisdiction in such situations, either because the exercise of jurisdiction would threaten the equality of sovereign states or because the capacity of the individual or organization to carry out their functions would be compromised. This chapter begins with the law on state immunity, which has evolved over the centuries from an absolute doctrine to a more restrictive one, which permits exceptions, in particular when states engage in commercial activities. The chapter introduces the immunities that apply to all individuals who serve as state officials, whether they serve as relatively low-level civil servants or as the president or prime minister. The chapter also deals with two special regimes, one governing diplomatic and consular agents who serve abroad, and the other governing international organizations.

Learning about grammar is learning about how language works in a range of contexts and this informs the choices we make when speaking and writing. For many of us, language itself is not often the focus of the many events and encounters that make up our daily lives, as most often our exchanges, even our text messages, which are written versions of oral language, are exchanged in a familiar context with others whom we know well. Anyone speaking any language, dialect, creole or pidgin has learnt how to use the grammar of that language… and that includes you! However, for teachers it is not enough to just use the building blocks of language, the grammar, we need to be able to reflect on and talk about how language works and to help learners to do the same.

This chapter explores some of the possibilities and complexities of recognising the important communicative repertoires and resources that learners bring to the classroom, while supporting them to develop expertise in the literate practices that are embedded within schooling and other contexts. It provides an understanding of some of the perspectives, ideas and factors that may impact upon literacies learning, and that allow teachers to engage meaningfully with different options for literacies instruction and make informed decisions about their own teaching approaches. It is important to remember that there is no one way to think about literacies education and that different contexts may foreground different approaches (Freebody, 2007; Luke, 2000). In considering some of the possibilities and complexities of literacies learning, this chapter also refers to some of the related theories and approaches. This discussion is also intended to be read in connection with the other chapters of the book, which provide ideas about potential ways to implement different approaches to classroom instruction.

This chapter provides an introduction to some of the fundamental concepts of literacies, commencing with a brief exploration of changing understandings of text and what it means to be literate within the increasingly dynamic and complex communicative environments of the twenty-first century. The chapter will explore the importance of the early years in the development of literate practices, and the impact of literacies on lifelong patterns of educational inclusion and attainment, employment, and health and wellbeing. The significance of literate practices to identities and community connections will be considered, together with the need for responsive, carefully scaffolded learning experiences that value diverse literate repertoires while offering inclusion in the textual practices embedded within schooling. Overall, the chapter seeks to provide a context for the key strategies and instructional approaches presented in the remainder of the book.

This chapter will increase your knowledge and awareness of literacy as one of the seven general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum to support your understanding of the function of literacy across the curriculum areas, such as in Science and Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). The chapter explores the literacy general capability and looks at how it is designed to be incorporated into planning and teaching. It then looks at the use of strategies for writing genres, including the teaching and learning cycle, tiered vocabulary for word knowledge and vocabulary development, as well as some reading strategies for use with technical non-fiction texts. A further consideration for planning and implementation at the school and classroom level is also presented.