Introduction

The word “sanctions” is currently used more than ever before, not only in the media and political statements, but also in legal discourse. Apart from this very widely cited term, European Union documents tend to refer also to “restrictive measures” while international law parlance embraces the concept of “countermeasures”. The book aims at explaining these concepts from the point of view of the legal theory, international law, and EU law. Based on the brief presentation of individual chapters, the Introduction shows several contradictions. These contradictions can be divided into those that arise from the unclear concept of “sanctions” in legal theory, international law, and EU law, those that result from the pluralistic legal basis of these measures in several legal systems. They also include contradictions between sanctions, human rights, and other interests, and those between politics and law in relation to international sanctions.