ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates how sustainability informs universal principles used in domestic law as well as international law. The book is that sustainability has the historical, conceptual and ethical quality typical for a fundamental principle of law. Like the ideals of justice and human rights, sustainability can be seen as an ideal for civilization both at national and international level. It aims to overcome the dichotomy between international law and municipal law. In the age of globalization, the separation between both spheres is withering somewhat, but the great divide between them, the concept of state sovereignty, remains the cornerstone of the worlds legal heritage. The principle of sustainability sets jurisprudence and law-making institutions on a new path. International law can no longer be perceived as a contractual arrangement purely between states and national law no longer as a purely domestic affair.
