The review reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the legal dilemma concept manifested in the monograph of the Swedish scientist Valentin Yetner ‘Irresistible collisions of international law: the concept of a legal dilemma’ (Oxford University Press, 2017). The reviewed monograph consists of three chapters. In the first chapter, the author introduces the concept of the legal dilemma in international law. The legal dilemma is an unavoidable and irresolvable conflict of legal norms without the possibility of the application any appropriate conflict resolution devices or norm conflict accommodation mechanisms or even measures of last resort such as LOTUS-principle. The legal dilemma is described by the list of special attributes (the state as a special subject who faces before the legal dilemma, irresolvable and unavoidable character of the legal dilemma, etc.). The author considers several typical scenarios for international law in which legal dilemmas are found. The author compares the legal dilemma with some related concepts (legal gaps, hard cases, moral dilemmas, conflict of norms, etc.). The author describes the list of factors causing the emergence of dilemmas. The second chapter reveals the limitations of the traditional tools for resolving the legal dilemma. Jeutner shows that traditional norm conflict resolution principles (like lex superior, lex posterior, lex specialis), conflict-of-laws approaches and proportionality tests could not resolve many types of conflicts of legal norms. The third chapter of the monograph is devoted to the decision of legal dilemmas. The author calls for judicial restraint when tribunals are faced with legal dilemmas. The last word in solving legal dilemmas should remain with states (as well as responsibility for decisions taken).

legal dilemma, irresolvable norm conflict, norms of international law, legal interpretation, review candidate of juridical sciences

Alexander A. Petrov

the Department of Theory and History of State and Law, Law Institute of the Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk), associate professor

candidate of legal sciences (PhD)

79 Svobodny pr., Krasnoyarsk, Russia 660041

e-mail: sfu-pravo@yandex.ru, aapetrov@sfu-kras.ru

Legal Dilemmas: Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law. The Review on Valentin Jeutner Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law: the Concept of a Legal Dilemma. Oxford University Press, 2017. 182 p. Sibirskij yuridicheskij vestnik, 2020, no 1 (88), pp. 120–125. (in Russian)

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