We are currently living in a new normal. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to millions of deaths and is changing how we live, work, socialise and move through the world. But Covid-19 is one of many epidemics to have shaped human life throughout history, causing untold suffering and death and changing how we live. Their effects are seldom limited to one country or region, and how societies prevent, manage and recover from epidemics is inevitably influenced by international law. Epidemics are regulated not only by international health law but also by international human rights law, international environmental law, international trade and investment law, international transport law, international law of peace and security and international humanitarian law. Despite this, they have received limited attention in mainstream international legal scholarship. This volume provides a comprehensive examination of epidemics and international law from the perspective of general international law. Featuring thirty-one essays by researchers from around the world and from various areas of expertise, it demonstrates how epidemics shape – and are shaped by – international legal norms across varying domains of international law.

This volume is the product of collaborative work conducted between August 2020 and April 2021 as part of the Centre for Studies and Research on Epidemics and International Law.