Part 1: Articles. Necessity Across International Law -- Necessity across international law - an introduction -- Necessity and the use of force: a special regime -- Necessity in the law of armed conflict and in international criminal law -- State responsibility, necessity and human rights -- A necessity paradigm of ‘necessity’ in international economic law -- Necessity in investment arbitration -- Necessity in international environmental law -- The notion of necessity in the law of the European Union --  Part 2: Documentation -- Classification Scheme -- Netherlands state practice for the parliamentary year 2008-2009 -- Treaties and other international agreements to which the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a party – Conclusions and Developments 2009 -- Netherlands municipal legislation involving questions of public international law, 2009 -- Netherlands judicial decisions involving questions of public international law, 2008-2009.

The Netherlands Yearbook of International (NYIL) Law has two main aims. It offers a forum for the publication of scholarly articles of a more general nature in the area of public international law, including the law of the European Union. In addition, each Yearbook provides an overview of the state practice of the Netherlands, including Dutch judicial decisions involving questions of public international law.   In this volume of NYIL ‘necessity’ is the focus of analysis. Necessity plays a significant role in any legal system, as unpredictable or extraordinary situations can require the adoption of measures departing from the normally applicable law in order to protect basic values and fundamental interests. International law is not an exception. The scholarly articles in this volume discuss the role of the principle of necessity in different fields of international law, namely in conflict and security law, humanitarian law, human rights law, environmental law, international trade law, and foreign investment law. Each contribution reflects on central questions of the theme of necessity, such as the nature of the necessity plea, the role of the Articles on State Responsibility and general customary law, and the use of cross-references in case law to international decisions in other, but in terms of necessity related, fields of international law.