Welcome to the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law

Welcome to the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) online edition, edited by Rüdiger Wolfrum. This is a fully updated online edition of the Encyclopedia of Public International Law published in print between 1991 and 2001 under the general editorship of Rudolf Bernhardt.

Latest Reviews of the Encyclopedia

"No public international law collection could attain respectability without this work"
Mary Rumsey, Foreign, Comparative & International Law Librarian, University of Minnesota Law Library

"This monumental resource will be useful for scholarly researchers and practitioners in the area of public international law"
Shannon Graff Hysell, American Reference Books Annual

"The Encyclopedia of Public International Law online will prove to be an invaluable first stop for your international law research"
Seattle University Law Library

What's New

In May 2010, 61 new articles were uploaded to www.mpepil.com, including 13 entries from the International economic law and relations subject area, with specific articles on State Bankruptcy, ICSID, NAFTA, Regional Trade, and MERCOSUR. The upload also includes a significant number of new articles on the use of force, including those on Nuclear Weapons and Warfare, and Collective Security.

The total number of articles is now 1,167.

The next upload will be in August 2010.

View a list of the most recently published articles.

View a complete list of all planned articles, including those not yet published.

View a complete list of abbreviations used in the Encyclopedia.

Find out more about the Encyclopedia and its Editors.

Links and Cross References

Cross references to other articles within the Encyclopedia are indicated by an arrow (→). All links from within articles go via the Oxford Law Citator . To find out more about this see the FAQs.

Navigation and Searching

You can browse the content by clicking on the menu above to see lists of articles arranged in alphabetical order, by author, and by subject. Full text searches can be carried out via the Quick Search or Advanced Search options.

How to Cite an Article

For guidance on citing an article in the online edition of MPEPIL see the FAQs.