International dispute settlement plays a fundamental role in maintaining the fabric of the international legal order, reflecting the desire of States, and increasingly non-State actors, to resolve their differences through international dispute procedures and other legal mechanisms. This edited collection focuses upon the growth and complexity of such legal methods, which includes judicial settlement (courts and tribunals), arbitration, and other legal — or what might be termed 'extra-legal' — means (international organizations, committees, inspection panels, and ombudsmen). Such mechanisms are compared and evaluated side-by-side to provide a detailed and analytical account of the current framework. The book ranges from key conceptual issues of the proliferation of legal mechanisms and the associated risks of fragmentation, on through to innovations in dispute settlement mechanisms in many topical areas of international law, including international trade law, collective security law, and regional law. Written by leading international lawyers, it provides a major study in the ongoing trends and emerging problems in this crucial area of international law. This edited collection is published to mark the retirement of Professor John Merrills, Emeritus Professor of International Law, University of Sheffield, who has written widely on international law and human rights law, but is probably best known for his work on the settlement of international disputes, evidenced by the enduring appeal of his leading text International Dispute Settlement, now in its fourth edition.