The Public International Law Study Guide for Students: Exercises and Answers is the result of a new and welcome initiative: to the best of this reviewer's knowledge, it is the first compilation of public international law exercises to be published. As such, anyone who teaches international law is bound to be intrigued when taking it into their hands for the first time.

The book delivers exactly what the title promises: it is a collection of hypothetical cases, waiting to be solved by applying the relevant principles and rules of public international law, along with extensive model answers provided for each of them. The focus is on general international law, spanning issues from treaty law through state responsibility to the use of force, with the last chapter dedicated to specialized fields, such as human rights.

The study guide is a response to an age-old problem: namely, that the greatest difficulty lies not in learning the rules, but in applying them, by presenting well-reasoned arguments in a clearly articulated way. Accordingly, the book serves a dual purpose: to help students learn how to apply abstract legal rules to a particular set of facts, and to improve their writing and reasoning skills in the process. Both of these aims are heavily emphasized throughout the introductory sections; it is explicitly recommended that when practicing, students should provide ‘thorough reasoning rather than just a few bullet points as an answer’ (p. 2). In line with this approach, the answers to all the exercises are given in a detailed essay format, just as they would be expected in an exam. They methodically go through the identification of applicable law, followed by its application to the concrete facts at hand (each legal problem addressed separately), and always end with a brief conclusion. In fact, the essays are so meticulous that they even come with the caveat that students may not necessarily be expected to be as detailed in their own answers; rather, the thoroughness of the solutions is meant to ensure that the line of argumentation is as clear as possible for students to follow (p. 3). The authors also stress that these answers are only suggested solutions, and they often highlight alternative ways to argue in response to the question.

In addition to the elaborate exercises and answers, the greatest asset of the book is its student-friendliness, manifested through various features. The introductory sections offer a schematic outline of how to structure answers, as well as several practical tips more generally on solving exercises. Many of these may seem obvious at first sight (such as the importance of answering the question and only the question, or providing a conclusion), but experience shows that they are often a problem for students, so their inclusion in the volume is certainly justified. Every chapter offers recommended reading, and at the end of the book, there is a list of jurisprudence used to support particular legal rules. (For some reason, though, this list is not included in the table of contents, so finding it requires a bit of inquisitiveness.) One of the best features of the book is the flowcharts at the beginning of each chapter, depicting the basic steps one needs to follow in solving cases in the particular area – such as identifying breach, attribution and circumstances precluding wrongfulness in the case of state responsibility. Within each topic, the exercises are of increasing difficulty, but since full answers are provided for every case (starting from the fundamentals), there is no need to proceed in strict order. The cases are usually similar to some extent, to allow the basic formula to be ingrained – repetitio est mater studiorum, after all. At the same time, though, they are sufficiently varied to stay interesting for the reader, each one highlighting a different legal problem. The authors were not afraid to go into unsettled areas of law, either, such as automatic reservations, an issue which has not yet been resolved by the International Court of Justice (case 5.5).

The general part culminates in a series of ‘interconnected’ cases in Chapter 7, each of which deals with multiple areas of international law in a single exercise. These are longer, more complex cases, most of them combining (i) a treaty law issue with (ii) a state responsibility problem and (iii) dispute settlement options. They are an important addition to the book, since most, if not all, real-life cases also require the application of rules from various fields of international law. The exercises in this chapter help students identify and address the legal implications across a number of areas – an essential skill for any (international) lawyer.

While most of the book focuses on general public international law, it concludes with a handful of cases on international human rights law, refugee law, humanitarian law, criminal law and environmental law. As the authors themselves acknowledge, these cases are merely meant to offer a glimpse into these fields, therefore one cannot demand exhaustiveness. Even so, it is unfortunate that all the cases in the human rights section are based exclusively on the European Convention on Human Rights, with no mention of other instruments, courts or bodies. Furthermore, the general and specialized parts are not always consistent with each other. Exercises in the general part correctly classify de facto organs as falling under Article 4 of the International Law Commission Articles on State Responsibility and determined by the ‘complete dependence’ test (cases 4.2, 4.6, 7.1, 7.3). However, the humanitarian law section uses the term ‘de facto organs’ when referring to groups whose conduct is attributable under Article 8 of the Articles on State Responsibility using the ‘effective control’ test (cases 8.7, 8.8) which causes unnecessary confusion.

Taking a step back and looking at the book as a whole, it displays a strange dichotomy: progressive in its practical approach, but ultimately traditional in its selection of topics. This traditionalism is evidenced in a number of choices made by the authors: the chapter on dispute settlement only deals with the International Court of Justice; there are no cases on trade or investment law; but at the same time, the general part of the book includes a chapter dedicated solely to diplomatic protection. Yet most of the jurisprudence in international law today comes not from the International Court of Justice, but from human rights courts, investment tribunals, and the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body. Similarly, diplomatic protection has largely been superseded by developments in human rights and investment law. Granted, the changing dynamics of international law have affected specialized fields more than general international law, causing the balance to shift from the latter to the former. Given these circumstances, the book's focus on general international law may explain the authors’ choices to some extent. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to expect a study guide published in 2013 to be more responsive to contemporary issues.

Though certainly not a concern of the same weight, it is also a pity that the publisher was not more thorough in the editing process: the volume contains a noticeable amount of typos and grammatical errors. This is not a major problem, of course, but one that could have easily been avoided – and seeing the International Court of Justice described as the ‘principle [sic] judicial organ of the UN’ (p. 228) does make one cringe a little.

All this does not detract from the fact that the book is a much-awaited and welcome addition to bookshelves in both student dorms and faculty offices. Although the authors do not indicate a particular target audience, the complexity of the exercises suggests that they are better suited for students at the master (rather than bachelor) level. The study guide can be combined with any general international law textbook, and at £20, or roughly €25, it is also affordable – an important factor when it comes to prescribing a book to students. It is primarily intended to accompany a general public international law course, but once students have bought the book, they can also make use of it in a few other classes throughout the academic year (such as a course on international human rights law or dispute settlement). The cases can be discussed in class, but the book's features – the practical tips in the introduction, and above all, the extensive answers – make it equally suitable for self-study. Furthermore, since there is a suggested timeframe for solving each case (p. 2), they can also be used for exam preparation.

All in all, exercises like those in the book have a crucial role to play in teaching. Not only do they make the learning experience more enjoyable, they also help students understand law better than any abstract explanation of the rules. However, they are certainly time-consuming to prepare, adding to the eternal challenge of trying to balance teaching and research. Unfortunately, across academia, career progress is all too often measured almost exclusively in the number of publications and research grants, while teaching is underappreciated. As one American academic put it quite harshly, ‘[p]rofessors at top research institutions are valued exclusively for the quality of their scholarly work; time spent on teaching is time lost’.Footnote ¹ This is a deep-running problem, and addressing it requires a fundamental change of mindset at universities everywhere. In the meantime, this book is of immense help to students and teachers alike, ensuring a better learning and teaching experience for all.