Meaning in International Laws is the theoretical and practical development of international law within its historical, cultural and philosophical context, to establish the distinctive contribution of each period to the historical and dialectical continuity of 2500 years of Western Legal science. It explores how philosophers and jurists, inspired and motivated by “natural law” theories of justice attempted to constrain warring states and arbitrary rulers. Many jurists since the Second World War have tried to remove the contradiction that emerged between nation-state sovereignty and universal human rights without nullifying the former or compromising the latter.The author concludes that without a reformulated “natural law theory” modern jurisprudence will not be able to move beyond the limitations of the statist paradigm to the final objective: a “Law of Nations” respectful of the rights and independence of all nations, whilst providing a guardian of the rights and liberty of a universal humanity.

Assistant Professor Melville Thomas graduated from The University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts (History) and a Bachelor of Laws in 1996 and a Master of Laws by Research in 2002. Currently, Melville is the Program Coordinator of the Indigenous Knowledge, History and Heritage Major where he teaches Indigenous history to first and third year Bachelor of Arts students at UWA. In 2020 Melville was elected as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy for his contribution to the discipline of Indigenous studies.