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Begin New Search Topic International Law Content Type Journal Article

151. Isabelle Ley. Opposition im Völkerrecht: Ein Beitrag zur Legitimation internationaler Rechtserzeugung [Opposition in International Law: A Contribution to the Legitimation of International Law-Making]

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Isabelle Ley, in her exemplary dissertation defended at Humboldt University, takes the emergence of regulatory international law as her starting point and aims to investigate how its democratic legitimacy could be enhanced. For her, democracy is not just a matter of particular institutions or practices but, rather, of open and possibly oppositional politics. Building on the work of Claude Lefort and, in particular, Hannah Arendt, she develops a framework for discussing democracy in international law conceptualized as the possibility for opposition. A democratic polity is one where every participant has the possibility of helping to take care of the common world, as Arendt might have put it, and presupposes open politics. This politics is, so to speak, politics for the sake of politics or politics in the Olympic spirit: what matters is not so much winning but taking part; what matters is not so much which policies will be adopted but the political process itself. Following Aristotle, taking part in public affairs is viewed as the most salient manifestation of human excellence: man being a political animal, he can do no better than take part in the political process – this is where individual happiness is achieved and, therewith, the ultimate justification of democracy.
Topic:
International Law, International Organization, Political Theory, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

152. Michael Fakhri. Sugar and the Making of International Trade Law

Author:
Anna Chadwick
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Michael Fakhri in his book Sugar and the Making of International Law takes inspiration from Antony Anghie, a scholar who famously disrupted prevalent conceptions of public international law. Using sugar as a ‘trace element’, Fakhri follows Anghie’s lead in retracing the historical origins of international trade law in order to challenge pervasive perceptions about this legal regime. What he is keen to demonstrate is that free trade, like state sovereignty, is not something that international institutions are merely officiating. Rather, the meaning of this concept has shifted over time as it has been applied by different institutions and actors within the international legal order to differential effect. It has been both conditioned by, and received the conditioning of, broader political, economic and social forces. Critically, it is as much the product of international institutions governing trade as it is their purpose.
Topic:
Agriculture, Imperialism, International Law, International Trade and Finance, History, World Trade Organization, and Economy
Political Geography:
Britain, Europe, and Global Focus

153. Mark Toufayan, Emmanuelle Tourme-Jouannet, Hélène Ruiz Fabri (eds). Droit international et nouvelles approches sur le tiers-monde: entre répétition et renouveau [International Law and New Approaches to the Third World: Between Repetition and Renewal]

Author:
Makane Moïse Mbengue
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The volume under review publishes the proceedings of a colloquium held at the University of Paris in July 2010. The aim of this colloquium was to fill a lacuna that characterizes the contemporary francophone international legal scholarship. Indeed, as noted by the editors in their foreword to the book, after a prolific period during the 1970s and 1980s, French and francophone scholars have gradually lost interest in Third World-related issues and ignored this topic in their research and teachings. This trend is regrettable and unfortunate because despite some progress and improvements, international relations are still marked by significant inequalities and disparities between rich and poor countries, while several regions of the world remain in a situation of extreme poverty. Therefore, there is an urgent need to renew and revive the reflection of French-speaking international lawyers on their discipline by inciting them to critically question the present existence and effects of the rules of international law relating to the Third World in the current globalized context. To achieve this goal, Mark Toufayan, Emmanuelle TourmeJouannet and Hélène Ruiz Fabri had the idea of bringing together, in Paris, francophone and anglophone scholars and prominent representatives of the critical Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL). TWAIL scholars were invited to expose their ideas and thoughts, and their French-speaking counterparts were asked to react and comment on these thoughts.
Topic:
Development, Human Rights, Imperialism, International Law, Post Colonialism, Third World, and History
Political Geography:
China, Europe, France, South Africa, and Chile

154. Evelyne Schmid. Taking Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Seriously in International Criminal Law

Author:
Mara Tignino
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Evelyne Schmid’s new book, Taking Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Seriously in International Criminal Law, aims to provide a bridge between developing practice and existing knowledge. At the heart of her book lies the question of how, or to what extent, violations of ESCR are addressed in international criminal proceedings and transitional justice mechanisms. She criticizes the current marginalization of ESCR abuses in scholarship on international criminal law and bemoans the reality that ‘efforts to address the legacy of widespread human rights abuses display a bias towards civil and political rights’. While some have argued for an expansion of international criminal law to account more directly for violations of ESCR, Schmid claims such an expansion is unnecessary; in her view, such violations already fall within the scope of international crimes.
Topic:
Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, United Nations, War Crimes, Courts, and Transitional Justice
Political Geography:
Europe, North Korea, Cambodia, United Nations, and Myanmar

155. Lauri Mälksoo. Russian Approaches to International Law

Author:
Angelika Nussberger
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Modern international law of the 21st century seems to be characterized by a farewell to the Westphalian understanding of state sovereignty, by the empowerment of the individual and by transnational solutions to common problems in a globalized world. This overview, however, is not true for Russian international law. The ‘powerful idea of Russia’s civilizational distinctness from the West’ is underlying the post-Soviet practice in international law (at 190). This is the main thesis of Lauri Mälksoo’s study on ‘Russian approaches to international law’. Russia was different, Russia is different and Russia is proud of being different.
Topic:
International Law, Sovereignty, United Nations, History, and Intellectual History
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Crimea

156. Humanity Considerations Cannot Reduce Wars Hazards Alone: Revitalizing the Concept of Military Necessity

Author:
Yishai Beer
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The exercise of brute force by militaries, though common, reflects professional incompetency. A well-trained military has an inherent interest in enhancing its operational effectiveness and constraining unnecessary brutality. The law of armed conflict, however, generally ignores the constraining effect of the necessity principle, originally intended to allow only the minimally necessary use of force on the battlefield. Consequently, the prevailing law places the burden of restricting the exercise of brute military force upon humanitarian considerations (and the specific norms derived from them). Humanity alone, however, cannot deliver the goods and substantially reduce war’s hazards. This article challenges the current dichotomy between the two pillars – mistakenly assumed to be polar opposites – of the law of armed conflict: necessity and humanity. It calls for the transformation of the military’s self-imposed professional constraining standards into a revised legal standard of necessity. Though the necessity principle justifies the mere use of lethal force, it should not only facilitate wielding the military sword but also function simultaneously as a shield, protecting combatants and non-combatants alike from excessive brutality. The suggested transformation would bind and restrain the prospective exercisers of excessive force, political and military alike, and restrict the potential damage that might be caused both intentionally (to combatants) and collaterally (to non-combatants). The combined effect of the current changes in war’s pattern and the law of armed conflict, in the military and social thinking of recent decades, and the new strategies available due to the development of new military technologies have all created a new war environment – one that may be ready to leverage the constraining potential of military professionalism into a binding legal standard and norms.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, International Law, Treaties and Agreements, and War
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

157. Reconceptualizing Implementation: The Judicialization of the Execution of the European Court of Human Rights Judgments

Author:
Helen Keller and Cedric Marti
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article proposes a shift of perspective concerning the implementation of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments. Acknowledging that implementation of the Court’s judgments is primarily of a political and domestic nature, the authors argue that the process has become increasingly internationalized and judicialized by the ECtHR in recent years. Taking a broad, three-tiered perspective that distinguishes between the pre-judgment stage, the judgment itself and the post-judgment stage, the authors analyse the means by which the ECtHR has engaged in implementation of its judgments and explore the benefits of judicialization in this area to secure a key aspect in guaranteeing effective protection and the long-term future of the European Convention on Human Rights system, namely full and timely judgment compliance.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Law, and Courts
Political Geography:
Europe and France

158. Bridging Comparative and International Law: Amicus Curiae Participation as a Vertical Legal Transplant

Author:
Anna Dolidze
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Legal transplants scholarship has thoroughly examined the transnational diffusion of legal institutions. Although Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice acknowledges that international law draws upon domestic legal systems, the exchange of legal institutions between states and international law has yet to receive similar treatment. This article highlights the process of vertical diffusion – that is, the borrowing of legal institutions between the nation-state and international law. Vertical diffusion takes place in two forms: downward and upward diffusion. Scholarship on the internalization and vernacularization of international law has highlighted the process of downward diffusion. This article offers a theory of internationalization of law and the emergence of internationalized legal transplants. It draws on a study of the internationalization of the amicus curiae participation procedure from the United Kingdom to the European Court of Human Rights. Three main conditions must be present for internationalization: the institution’s structural transformation that results in a law-making opportunity, norm entrepreneurs, and access to the decision-making body. The study of internationalized legal transplants is important to have a more fine-grained perspective on the making of international law. The evidence of the diffusion of legal institutions between domestic law and international law also creates a bridge between international law and comparative law scholarship.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Legal Theory, and Courts
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and France

159. Anti-Discrimination Exceptionalism: Racist Violence before the ECtHR and the Holocaust Prism

Author:
Ruth Rubio-Marín and Mathias Möschel
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Over the past years, the European Court of Human Rights has significantly developed and strengthened its Article 14 non-discrimination jurisprudence, including in a number of ground-breaking international law cases establishing increased state responsibility with regard to ethnic segregation in education and gender violence. However, in the type of cases that constitute a large part of its non-discrimination case load, namely physical violence against racial minorities, the Court has so far failed to adequately address Article 14 discrimination claims raised by the victims. We posit that this could be caused in part by what we call the ‘Holocaust Prism’. Put briefly, the experience of the Holocaust has shaped the manner in which continental European courts understand racism and race discrimination, at least (or especially) when it is combined with violence. Paradoxically, this entails that in the most heinous cases of race discrimination, the discrimination threshold is raised to the level of criminal conduct. Moreover, to the extent that it is, only the ethnic dimension of such discrimination is foregrounded even in cases that present obvious intersectional (for example, ethnicity plus gender) dimensions. We exemplify this phenomenon by discussing recent case law on forced sterilization of Roma women and argue that the Court should become aware of this issue, recognize intersectional discrimination and align its case law on racist violence with the discrimination doctrine emerging in its gender violence and educational race segregation cases, both for the sake of internal consistency and to better capture the structural nature of racial discrimination in Europe.
Topic:
International Law, Ethnicity, Gender Based Violence, Holocaust, Roma, and Discrimination
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

160. Letting Lotus Bloom

Author:
Ann Hertogen
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In an increasingly interdependent world, state sovereignty is inherently limited in order to protect the equal sovereignty of other states. However, identifying the precise constraints on states is a different and far more difficult question. The traditional answer is found in the Lotus principle, which consecrates a freedom to act unless explicitly prohibited by international law. The principle has rightly come under attack because of its incompatibility with the needs of a modern international community. This is usually followed by calls to disregard the precedential value of the Permanent Court of International Justice’s Lotus judgment on which it is based. This article defends the Lotus judgment but argues that the principle is the wrong reading of the majority opinion and that it fails to create the right conditions for interstate co-existence and cooperation, the twin goals of international law identified by the majority. The article then examines the meaning of ‘co-existence’ for contemporary international law and weighs the principle of ‘locality’ as an additional criterion that ought to be considered when resolving conflicting claims of jurisdiction.
Topic:
International Law, Sovereignty, International Affairs, and Courts
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and France

161. The International Legal Status of the Vatican/Holy See Complex

Author:
John R. Morss
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article offers a re-examination of the international legal status of what is here termed the Vatican/Holy See complex (VHS), focusing on claims to statehood. The problematic ‘effect’ of Vatican City, of the Holy See, of the papacy and of associated entities is interrogated at the level of international law, entering as little as possible into administrative or theological distinctions. The various grounds cited as supporting status amounting to statehood are argued to be inadequate. The continuing exchange of representatives with states by the VHS is missionary and hierarchical in character and is reflective neither of the reciprocity of peers nor of customary obligation going to law. Agreements entered into by the papacy with the Kingdom of Italy (the Lateran Pacts) in 1929, relating to the status of the geographical territory known as Vatican City, cannot be determinative of international status. Nor can membership of international agreements and organizations confer a status amounting to statehood. Events and practices since 1929 have not substantially altered international status as of 1870. The Roman Catholic Church is but one of many faith-based international movements, and since the eclipse of the papal state nearly one-and-a-half centuries ago, the status in international law of its temporal headquarters in Rome should not be privileged.
Topic:
International Law, Religion, Sovereignty, and History
Political Geography:
Europe, Italy, and Vatican city

162. Functionalism! Functionalism! Do I Look Like Functionalism?

Author:
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In his EJIL Foreword, Jan Klabbers argues that the contemporary application of functionalism, understood as organizations being assigned functions, in order both to realize the common good and to deepen inter-state cooperation, is something of a theoretical straitjacket. However, can functionalism really be described as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ concept? It is the contention of this Comment that there are, in fact, different manifestations of the concept, including neo-functionalism and formal or informal functionalism. New realities in this field also reflect an evolved conception of functionalism, such as the increasing diversity of actors affected by, and influencing, international organizations, as well as the fact that institutions have become authorities in their own right. As a consequence, we may also observe the emergence of principles, often referred to as global administrative law principles, aimed at dealing with these new realities. The article recognizes that a functional orientation in designing the mandates of international organizations has contributed to overlaps and inefficiency. However, it argues that efforts have been made in pursuance of greater efficiency.
Topic:
International Law, International Organization, and World Trade Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

163. Saving the Scarecrow

Author:
André Nollkaemper
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This brief Comment responds to Jan Klabbers’ recent article, ‘The Transformation of International Organizations Law’. It focuses on three points: the polemical style and disengagement with substance in the article; the question of whether we can do without some form of functionalism; and the further question of what it means to speak of ‘responsibility beyond functionalism’.
Topic:
International Law, International Organization, Law, and Critique
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

164. The Original Sin (and Salvation) of Functionalism

Author:
Guy Fiti Sinclair
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This Comment interrogates the central and determining role accorded to functionalism in Jan Klabbers’ account of international organizations (IOs) law in his recent article, ‘The EJIL Foreword: The Transformation of International Organizations Law’. Specifically, it expresses doubts regarding Klabbers’ designation of functionalism as the dominant, paradigmatic theory of IOs law; questions whether the article’s account of functionalism’s historical origins is persuasive; and argues that the ‘rise and fall’ narrative set forth in the article presents an overly sanitized picture of IOs law, largely free from political struggle. The development of IOs law has been more contested than Klabbers’ narrative suggests; minimizing that contestation carries the danger of closing off possibilities for reimagining IOs law today.
Topic:
International Relations, International Law, International Organization, and Critique
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

165. The Transformation of International Organizations Law: A Rejoinder

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Jan Klabbers responds to critiques by Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, André Nollkaemper and Guy Fiti Sinclair of his EJIL Foreword.
Topic:
International Relations, International Law, International Organization, and Critique
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

166. The Modern Practice of Intervention by Invitation in Africa and Its Implications for the Prohibition of the Use of Force

Author:
Erika de Wet
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article examines how two prominent criteria for permissible military intervention by invitation as developed in doctrine are currently implemented by states as well as how this impacts the prohibition of the use of force. Controversies concern, in particular, the determination of the authority entitled to extend the invitation, as recently illustrated by the Russian claim that its military intervention in the Crimea was based on the invitation of (former) President Yanukovych. Does the inviting authority need to enjoy democratic legitimacy and/or be in de facto control of a state’s territory? Furthermore, it remains highly contentious whether an invitation for forcible intervention may be extended during a civil war. By analysing modern state practice in Africa – where most of the contemporary invitations for military assistance occur – and comparing it with recent developments in other regions, the author concludes that effective control rather than democratic legitimacy is (still) the point of departure for determining the legitimate government of a state. Once recognized, incumbent governments enjoy a large discretion when inviting military assistance from foreign governments. They seem to retain the right to military assistance even in situations of civil war and while exercising limited control over the territory.
Topic:
International Law, Sovereignty, United Nations, and Military Intervention
Political Geography:
Africa, Russia, Europe, and Crimea

167. Interrogations of Consent: A Reply to Erika de Wet

Author:
Dino Kritsiotis
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article presents a critical engagement with the issue of force and intervention undertaken with the consent of the state in whose territory it ultimately occurs and offers a critical assessment of Erika de Wet’s article ‘The Modern Practice of Intervention by Invitation in Africa and Its Implication for the Prohibition of the Use of Force’. It considers the different interpretative approaches suggested for consent and the Charter of the United Nations’ prohibition of force as well as the principle or principles that have come to govern the issuing of valid consent in international law. The contribution turns to some of the methodological positions taken in exploring the continuing validity of the so-called ‘effective control principle’ in modern African practice, and, as it does so, it probes the utility of questions for the jus ad bellum of ‘other’ international law (such as developments within the jus in bello and the law on self-determination).
Topic:
International Law, Sovereignty, United Nations, and Military Intervention
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

168. Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Issue: Rumor v. Italy

Author:
Ronagh J.A. McQuigg
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article focuses on the recent developments concerning domestic violence within the context of the Council of Europe. Since 2007, the European Court of Human Rights has issued a series of important judgments in cases involving domestic violence. The most recent of these is Rumor v. Italy, in which the Court issued its judgment on 27 May 2014. The article analyses this case in the context of the Court’s previous jurisprudence on domestic violence. In addition, on 1 August 2014, the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence entered into force, and the article will include a number of reflections on the potential held by this Convention. No violation of the European Convention on Human Rights was found in Rumor; however, the question of whether Italy would have been in breach of the provisions of the new Convention, to which it is a party, had this Convention been in force at the time of the relevant events, will be examined.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Women, Gender Based Violence, and Courts
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

169. EJIL Editors’ Choice of Books 2015

Author:
Sarah Nouwen, Christian Tams, Jan Klabbers, and Jean d'Aspremont
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
At the end of 2014, we invited the EJIL Board members to reflect on the books that had had a significant impact on them during the year. Their contributions, posted on EJIL: Talk!, were met with great interest and curiosity. As the end of another year approaches, we decided once more to invite our Board members to look back on their reading in 2015. In the following pieces Sarah Nouwen, Christian Tams, Jan Klabbers and Jean d’Aspremont write about the books they read or re-read this year and which they found inspiring, enjoyable or even ‘must reads’ for their own work or international law scholarship in general.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, History, and Courts
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and South Sudan

170. Surabhi Ranganathan. Strategically Created Treaty Conflicts and the Politics of International Law

Author:
Sabrina Safrin
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Treaty conflicts may be inevitable, but what do we make of conflict by design? In Strategically Created Treaty Conflicts and the Politics of International Law, Surabhi Ranganathan thoughtfully explores nations’ purposeful creation of conflicts between treaties to advance their political goals and to restrict the impact of treaties to which they object. Essentially, states fight legal fire with legal fire. If they object to a multilateral treaty regime, they create another regime that effectively conflicts with, or cabins, the treaty regime that they object to rather than simply walking away.
Topic:
International Law, Treaties and Agreements, Book Review, and Law of the Sea
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

171. M. Sornarajah. Resistance and Change in the International Law on Foreign Investment

Author:
Harm Schepel
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In 1994, Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah published the first edition of his treatise, The International Law on Foreign Investment. There, he sought to demonstrate that investment law as a separate branch of international law was ‘in the process of development’ and could and should be isolated for separate study. Organizing his material from the disparate sources of domestic law, contract-based arbitration and public international law along the overarching tension between the interests of developing countries and those of traditionally capital-exporting states, his stated aim was to ‘help in the identification of the nature of the disputes’, which would lead, in turn, to the ‘formulation of acceptable solutions’. The treatise was a well-timed pioneering effort that rightfully earned the author a lasting reputation as one of the founding fathers and towering figures of the academic discipline. There seems to be no one better placed, then, to ask, 20 years on, what happened or, rather, what went wrong. Investment law has developed with breathtaking speed into a (very) separate branch of international law – yes – but almost entirely on the waves of treaty-based investor–state arbitration, which has all but eclipsed contractual and domestic processes, at least in terms of academic interest. And this system has, in the eyes of Sornarajah and many others, rather spectacularly failed to lead to ‘acceptable solutions’, especially for developing countries.
Topic:
International Law, Treaties and Agreements, Foreign Direct Investment, Neoliberalism, and Book Review
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

172. A Scrap of Paper: Breaking and Making International Law during the Great War, Isabel V. Hull

Author:
Tanisha M. Fazal
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Isabel Hull's analysis of international law during World War I is a welcome and valuable contribution to an emerging body of scholarship on the laws of war. This is not to undercut its place in the historiography of World War I. Hull rightly points out that most histories of the war have tended to gloss over or even dismiss the role of international law in the war. Hull corrects this bias by delving into British, French, and particularly German archives to show that international law was very much on the minds of all parties to the conflict. Indeed, she argues that preserving the existing structure of international law was a major reason for the outbreak of war. - See more at: http://www.psqonline.org/article.cfm?IDArticle=19345#sthash.HizIRkHF.dpuf
Topic:
International Law and War
Political Geography:
France and Germany

173. Over-stating Palestine's UN Membership Bid?An Ethnographic Study on the Narratives of Statehood

Author:
Michelle Leanne Burgis-Kasthala
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This study employs a select ethnography of Palestinian workers in the field of international law and human rights to explore how an epistemic community gives content and meaning to international law in its professional and personal life. Through a series of interviews conducted in the West Bank in the wake of the Palestinian attempt to gain full United Nations membership in September 2011, the article constructs a meta-narrative about the nature of international legal discourse as spoken on the Palestinian periphery. It shows how speakers of international law are required to restate or over-state the distinction between law and politics so as to sustain their hope and desire for Palestinian statehood in the face of despair about its protracted denial. The article then is an exploration about the politics of meaning making through international law and a call for methodological hybridity within the discipline of international law.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Politics, and United Nations

174. Complexity Theory and the Horizontal and Vertical Dimensions of State Responsibility

Author:
Mark Chinen
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article argues that a gap that has always existed in the law of state responsibility is now becoming more apparent. That gap divides a state from its citizens, making it difficult to justify why state responsibility should be distributed to them. Purely legal approaches to the issue are not likely to resolve the problem, and although the literature of moral collective responsibility suggests some bases for having citizens share the costs of state responsibility, none are completely satisfying. Concepts from complexity theory show why this is so. If the theory is correct, the state is neither a legal abstraction nor reducible to the individuals who purportedly comprise it. Instead, it is an emergent phenomenon that arises from complex interactions among individuals, formal and informal subgroups, and the conceptual tools and structures that individuals and subgroups use to comprehend and respond to their physical and social environments. The theory is consistent with a basic premise of international law that the state as such is an appropriate bearer of responsibility. However, because in a complex system there is no linear connection between the emergent phenomenon and its underlying constituents, this suggests that the divide between a state and its citizens in the distribution of state responsibility may never be bridged.
Topic:
International Law

175. When Structures Become Shackles: Stagnation and Dynamics in International Lawmaking

Author:
Jan Wouters, Joost Pauwelyn, and Ramses A. Wessel
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Formal international law is stagnating in terms both of quantity and quality. It is increasingly superseded by 'informal international lawmaking' involving new actors, new processes, and new outputs, in fields ranging from finance and health to internet regulation and the environment. On many occasions, the traditional structures of formal lawmaking have become shackles. Drawing on a two-year research project involving over 40 scholars and 30 case studies, this article offers evidence in support of the stagnation hypothesis, evaluates the likely reasons for it in relation to a 'turn to informality', and weighs possible options in response. But informal structures can also become shackles and limit freedom. From practice, we deduce procedural meta-norms against which informal cooperation is increasingly checked ('thick stakeholder consensus'). Intriguingly, this benchmark may be normatively superior (rather than inferior) to the validation requirements of traditional international law ('thin state consent').
Topic:
Environment, Health, and International Law

176. The Politics of Interest in International Law

Author:
Mónica García-Salmones Rovira
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The article examines the substance and form of 20th century positivist international law; in particular the way in which each determines the other. The text describes the turn to interests in international law, which evolved slowly in scope and depth. By examining Lassa Oppenheim's focus on 'common interests' that united states and Hans Kelsen's focus on the 'struggle of interests' that constituted politics, the article studies two phenomena produced by the foundational role taken by interests during the 20th century. First, this role contributed to putting an end to the moral discussion about the treatment of native populations. Secondly, it curbed debate about a common political project for a global order, thus creating conformity characterized by abuse of power – all in the name of the neutrality of positivist law. This article suggests that the work of these two leading theoreticians in the field has contributed to the shaping of the legal theory of mainstream positivist international law, and seeks to foreground discussions about the different theories on the role of law in politics. In this manner it aims to help reconceptualize law in such a way as to bring about a situation in which discussions of a common political project for the international arena are more central.
Topic:
International Law and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

177. The Politics of Interest in International Law: A Reply to Mónica García-Salmones Rovira

Author:
Jörg Kammerhofer
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In this response to Mónica García-Salmones Rovira's article 'The Politics of Interest in International Law', the argument is developed that an interpretation of Kelsen's legal theory as founded on 'interests' or 'conflicts of interests' is not adequately supported by the primary materials, if read in their context. 'Interests' do not play a major role in Kelsen's writings, and where they are discussed, they do not form part of his legal theory, i.e., the Pure Theory of Law. This response argues that this 'context insensibility' in reading Kelsen may have its roots in the unwitting adoption of one over-arching method of scholarly cognition. It thereby implicitly discards one of the crucial axioms of Kelsen's theory of scholarship: the avoidance of a syncretism of methods through a consistent separation of scholarly enterprises and methods. Not to adopt such a separation is a legitimate stance; to foist the non-separation on an author whose theory hinges upon it is not.
Topic:
International Law

178. The Politics of Interest in International Law: A Rejoinder to Jörg Kammerhofer

Author:
Mónica García-Salmones Rovira
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
I am very grateful to Jörg Kammerhofer for his engagement with my text. Not only does he know Kelsen's main writings on legal theory very well, but he is himself a Kelsenian scholar. One is led, therefore, to speculate on the extent to which his reply comes close to what Kelsen himself would have written in respect of my article, and more generally in respect of the book on which it is based.
Topic:
International Law

179. F.F. Martens and His Time: When Russia Was an Integral Part of the European Tradition of International Law

Author:
Lauri Mälksoo
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This introductory article opens the symposium which examines the legacy of the Russian international lawyer Friedrich Fromhold von (or Fyodor Fyodorovich) Martens (1845–1909). In the first section, the article critically reviews previous research and literature on Martens and discusses the importance of the Martens diaries that are preserved in a Moscow archive. In the second section, the article offers an intellectual portrait of Martens and analyses the main elements in his international legal theory as expressed in his textbook. In particular, his claim that international law was applicable only between 'civilized states' is illuminated and discussed.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

180. F.F. Martens – Man of the Enlightenment: Drawing Parallels between Martens' Times and Today's Problems

Author:
Rein Müllerson
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article concentrates on two controversial aspects of the writings of Friedrich Fromhold Martens – his treatment of the so-called mission civilisatrice of European nations and the potential clash of the two roles an international lawyer may have to perform: in the service of international law and representing national interests of his/her country or other clients. Both of these aspects in Martens' work have not lost their topicality; it is illuminating to draw parallels between his time and today's world.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
Europe

181. A Study of Lawyers Appearing before the International Court of Justice, 1999–2012

Author:
Shashank P. Kumar and Cecily Rose
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article provides empirical support for what might strike some as a truism: oral proceedings before the International Court of Justice (the Court) are dominated by male international law professors from developed states. In order to test this claim, our study examines the composition of legal teams appearing on behalf of states before the Court in contentious proceedings between 1999 and 2012. We have focused, in particular, on counsels' gender, nationality, the development status and geographical region of their country of citizenship, and their professional status (as members of law firms, barristers or sole practitioners, professors, or other). The results of our study raise questions about the evident gender imbalance among counsel who have appeared before the Court during the timeframe of this study, as well as the apparent preference that states have shown for 'repeat players' and professors of public international law. By presenting data on the composition of legal teams, and discussing possible explanations for the patterns that we have observed, this study aims to contribute to the development of a body of scholarship on international law as a profession.
Topic:
International Law

182. The Judicialization of International Law: Reflections on the Empirical Turn

Author:
Gleider I. Hernández
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The proliferation of international courts and tribunals in the last two decades has been an important new development in international law, and the three books under review are at the vanguard in substantiating the claim that the judicialization of international law reflects its deepened legalization. All three have adopted ambitious empirical frameworks through which to assess the impact of international courts, and present valuable insights with respect to the phenomenon. Whilst all seek to make intelligible the growing relevance of the various international courts, their empirical methodology and mapping exercise reflects a faith that the legalization/judicialization of international law is a positive development, one that might nevertheless be contested. With the Oxford Handbook's mapping exercise, Karen Alter's 'altered politics' model of effectiveness, and Yuval Shany's 'goal-based' method for assessing effectiveness, the three books represent the forefront of scholarly efforts to study the practice of international courts. One should be careful, however: because the empirical exercise attempted in these three books goes beyond mere description into an attempt to model future outcomes, it has the drawback of privileging certain modes of cognizing the phenomenon of the proliferation of international courts. Although an important contribution, a solely empirical approach would create the impression of a purely linear progression in the judicialization of international law, one which might not be borne out in reality.
Topic:
International Law

183. International Law for a Water-Scarce World. Fresh Water in International Law. The Right(s) to Water. The Multi-Level Governance of a Unique Human Right

Author:
Sara De Vido
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Water has been a challenging issue over the centuries. From questions of national boundaries and navigation, quite common in the past, to the development of a human right to water, this essential element for human life has always spurred debate among international lawyers, economists, political scientists, geographers, and anthropologists. The reason may be found in the scarcity of water, a phenomenon which affects both developed and developing countries. Much has been written on the topic, but the three books under review significantly contribute to a critical analysis of some pertinent legal issues related to water. The title of each monograph reflects the purpose of the respective study. Hence, International Law for a Water-Scarce World by Brown Weiss starts from the acknowledgement that 'the fresh water crisis is the new environmental crisis of the 21st century' (at 1) and provides an integrated analysis of water law, which considers climate implications, river basins, and the availability and quality of fresh water. Boisson De Chazournes' Fresh Water in International Law investigates the status of fresh water in international law. The choice of the titles of the chapters is particularly evocative. Thus, after a chapter on regulation of fresh water use, the book continues with chapters on the 'Economization' of the law applicable to fresh water, its 'Environmentalization', followed by its 'Humanization', and 'Institutionalization Trends in Fresh Water Governance', before focusing on dispute settlement mechanisms. The use of the ending '-zation' gives the immediate impression of the evolution of the law on fresh water resources, which now includes several separate but clearly interrelated aspects. The title of the third book, written by Thielbörger, deserves attention for two elements, the first being the letter 's' inside the parentheses and the second being the adjective 'unique' used for identifying the human right to water. The Right(s) to Water. The Multi-Level Governance of a Unique Human Right pursues a different purpose from the two other books under review which adopt a more comprehensive approach. Thielbörger's book (based on his doctoral dissertation) studies the human right to water from a comparative and international perspective, emphasizing the complexity of a right which is strictly linked to other rights but constitutes at the same time a right of its own.
Topic:
Development, Human Rights, and International Law

184. Emmanuelle Tourme-Jouannet. What is a Fair International Society? International Law Between Development and Recognition

Author:
Ruti Teitel
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Does international law have an answer to the question: 'what is a fair international society'? In her insightful book, Emmanuelle Tourne-Jouannet interrogates in a systematic fashion diverse areas of international law that touch upon or address, directly or indirectly, fairness, equity, or redistribution: from the law of development to minority rights to international economic law. By taking positive law as the point of departure for an inquiry about global justice, Tourme- Jouannet departs, in a refreshing way, from attempts to extrapolate from mainstream legal theory an abstract conception of global justice. '[W]hat is to be addressed here are not contemporary theories of justice and the philosophical questions that the topic raises .... [I]t is the aim to address them here from a different angle: from within legal practice, as it were .... I have opted for an approach based on existing legal practice, with a view to conceptualizing and questioning it' (at 3). For Tourme-Jouannet, the question about the fairness of international legal practice leads to a number of other legal-historical questions regarding the contemporary evolution of international law. The project is 'simply to begin by identifying the principles and legal practices relating to development and recognition' ( ibid. ). In her view, adopting a historical perspective, these practices – notwithstanding their differences – reflect a joint concern with achieving global justice over the years.
Topic:
Economics and International Law

185. The US Refugee Protection System on the 35th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980

Author:
Donald Kerwin
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
In 2013, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) initiated a project to bring concentrated academic and policy attention to the US refugee protection system, broadly understood to encompass refugees, asylum seekers and refugeelike populations in need of protection. The initiative gave rise to a series of papers published in 2014 and 2015, which CMS is releasing as a special collection in its Journal on Migration and Human Security on the 35th anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980. This introductory essay situates the papers in the collection within a broader discussion of state compliance with international law, impediments to protection, US protection programs, vulnerable populations, and due process concerns. The essay sets forth extensive policy recommendations to strengthen the system drawn from the papers, legislative proposals, and other sources.
Topic:
International Law, Refugee Issues, and Refugee Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

186. Proxy wars in cyberspace: The Evolving International Law of Attribution

Author:
Michael N. Schmitt and Liis Vihul
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Fletcher Security Review
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
Cyberspace offers a relative degree of anonymity for states to conduct hostile activities against other states, as the challenges of accurate attribution remain a strong barrier to retaliation for these activities. As international law grapples with how to govern this theater of conflict, what should the international community to do if states increasingly turn to using non-state actors as proxies to further cover their tracks? Schmitt and Vihul examine the current legal landscape for such proxy operations.
Topic:
Security, International Law, Non State Actors, Cybersecurity, Conflict, International Community, and Cyberspace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

187. Relevance of the law of international organisations in resolving international disputes: A review of the AU/ICC impasse

Author:
Mba Chidi Nmaju
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
The paper examines the legal nature of the dispute between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the African Union (AU), and observes that the core issue revolves around the arrest warrant issued by the Court for Al-Bashir. Therefore, it locates this to be within a legal rather than political impasse. The paper argues that the general rules of the law of international organisations may provide the key to resolving the impasse. And that accordingly, the general principles of the regime of international law point to the interpretation of the provisions of the constitutions of the two international organisations to identify the extent to which they were empowered to make the decisions that resulted in the dispute. The provisions of the Rome Statute on immunity are identified as providing the key to the resolution. Therefore the interpretation of the Statute on the immunity of certain state officials is important. The paper argues that accordingly the ICC should change its approach to the arrest of certain officials in order to prevent facilitating the violation of the customary principles of diplomatic immunity in international law – which should have also been codified in treaties. Such an interpretation of the Rome Statute would indicate that states should exercise caution in arresting a sitting Head of State such as Sudanese President Al-Bashir until such a time that he leaves office or that Sudan waives his immunity.
Topic:
International Law, International Organization, International Criminal Court (ICC), African Union, and Omar al-Bashir
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

188. Reservations to Treaties: An Introduction

Author:
Marko Milanovic and Linos-Alexander Sicilianos
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This Symposium examines the International Law Commission's work on reservations, specifically its recently completed Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties. The topic is very technical and the Guide itself gigantic, standing, together with its commentaries, at over 600 pages. The topic of reservations to treaties has been on the ILC's agenda since 1993; its Special Rapporteur, Professor Alain Pellet, produced 17 reports with many addenda and annexes. The ILC's work was so seemingly endless that it inspired (gentle and good-natured) parody. But now it has indeed come to an end. It needs to be assessed, and the purpose of this Symposium is to initiate that debate.
Topic:
International Law

189. The ILC Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties: A General Presentation by the Special Rapporteur

Author:
Alain Pellet
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to revisit the long saga of the ILC Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties, as the Special Rapporteur has lived it for nearly 18 years and 16 reports. In its first part, the article recounts the elaboration procedure, pointing in particular to the elements of innovation and flexibility introduced in the process. The main one is the very type of instrument adopted, namely a Guide to Practice, and not a set of draft Articles that would eventually become a convention. In the second part, the main issues having retained the attention of the ILC, as well as of the other international bodies and of the academic community, are briefly recalled: the question of the unity or diversity of regimes, the permissibility of reservation and the status of the author of an impermissible reservation were among the most debated issues. Finally, the article explains the structure of the Guide to Practice.
Topic:
International Law

190. Institutional Aspects of the Guide to Practice on Reservations

Author:
Michael Wood
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The aim of the Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties is to assist practitioners of international law, who are often faced with sensitive problems concerning, in particular, the validity and effects of reservations to treaties, and interpretative declarations. The chief interest in the Guide will be in the light it shines on the many difficult substantive and procedural issues concerning reservations and declarations left open by the Vienna Conventions. But the institutional aspects are also of considerable practical interest. The present contribution considers some of the institutional or cooperative bodies that may assist practitioners: depositaries; treaty monitoring bodies; the reservations dialogue; and 'mechanisms of assistance'. The first two are well-established. The third and fourth are innovative, and it remains to be seen whether they will be adopted by states and, if so, how useful they will be. In any event, the Special Rapporteur has shown considerable foresight in proposing what became the annex to the Guide to Practice on the reservations dialogue, as well as the Commission's resolution on 'mechanisms of assistance'.
Topic:
International Law

191. Reservations and Time: Is There Only One Right Moment to Formulate and to React to Reservations?

Author:
Daniel Muller
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Time is an important element in the process of reservations to treaties and, consequently, in the legal regime established by the Vienna Conventions for reservations and reactions thereto. The very definition of reservations, embodied in Article 2(1)(d) of the 1969 and 1986 Vienna Conventions, as well as in Article 2(1)(j) of the 1978 Vienna Convention, and incorporated in the definition adopted by the International Law Commission in its Guide to Practice, includes precise indications and limits concerning the moment in time for a reservation to be formulated. In practice, however, reservations have been made before and after this peculiar moment. The work of the International Law Commission has shown that these are still reservations, even if they are not contemplated by the Vienna regime. But they can nevertheless deploy their purported effects under some additional conditions. The same holds true with regard to objections to reservations which can be formulated prematurely or late. They are still objections even if their concrete legal effects may be affected. Whereas time is important for the legal consequences attached to reservations and reactions thereto, it plays a less important role in the overall process of reservations dialogue.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
Vienna

192. Reservations to Human Rights Treaties: From Draft Guideline 3.1.12 to Guideline 3.1.5.6

Author:
Ineta Ziemele and Lasma Liede
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article addresses the issue of reservations to human rights treaties in the light of the work done by the International Law Commission and its Special Rapporteur, Mr Alain Pellet. Section 1 gives a short historical background for the topic. Section 2 provides a concise overview of the variety of arguments that have been raised in the debate on the character of human rights treaties and the permissibility of reservations to those treaties, as well as their relationship with the reservations regime established under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Section 3 gives a number of specific examples of reservations permitted under the human rights treaties and describes the approach taken by some human rights treaty bodies in that respect. It also depicts the manner in which some of these bodies have dealt with the intricate issue of the consequences of impermissible reservations. Section 4 analyses the guidelines adopted by the ILC and offers some reflection on their contribution to the development of international treaty law on this topic. Section 5 concludes by praising the comprehensive work of the ILC on the subject.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Law
Political Geography:
Vienna

193. Globalization and Sovereignty. Rethinking Legality, Legitimacy and Constitutionalism

Author:
Gráinne de Búrca
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The intersection of constitutional ideas and international law has been the subject of a significant wave of scholarship in recent years. This monograph, written not by a lawyer but by a political theorist at Columbia University, addresses these themes in an engaging and rigorous way. And although it is a deeply scholarly work, it is also very much a politically engaged book, grappling with many fundamental questions of international law and governance today while trying to argue for 'realistic-utopian' reform.
Topic:
International Law

194. Sari Kuovo and Zoe Pearson (eds). Feminist Perspectives on Contemporary International Law: Between Resistance and Compliance? Gina Heathcote. The Law on the Use of Force: A Feminist Analysis

Author:
Loveday Hodson
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Her normative prescriptions, in other words, by insisting on a framework of constitutional pluralism and rejecting other forms of legal pluralism, leave aside the many other powerful global institutions and bodies that generate rules and norms, other than the UN Security Council or other UN bodies on which the book concentrates. While it is clear that the UN is the predominant global security organization, and the one with military power at its service, there are also many other organizations and bodies which have morphed or are morphing, as Cohen puts it in the book, into global governance institutions. Yet the book's focus on the need for political communities which participate in an overarching 'political community of communities' seems to leave many of these other important sites of legal and political authority out of the picture, and to reject as inadequate some of the more modest but perhaps also more currently feasible legal reform proposals which have been made.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Law

195. Pastor Paulo vs. Doctor Carlos: Professional Titles as Voting Heuristics in Brazil

Author:
Taylor Chase Boas
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In low-information elections, voters are likely to rely on heuristics when choosing candidates. Based on survey experiments conducted prior to Brazil's 2012 municipal elections, I examine the effect of candidates' professional titles, such as “doctor” and “pastor,” on voting behavior. Using the “pastor” title in one's electoral name tends to decrease vote intention, although evangelical Christians respond positively while members of other religious groups are repelled. The broader at-mosphere of political competition between Brazilian evangelicals and Catholics helps explain the presence of both out-group and in-group cueing effects. The “doctor” title has a positive effect on vote intention that appears to be mediated by the positive stereotypes, such as intelligence and competence, associated with members of this profession.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
Brazil

196. Contradiction in International Law

Author:
Angela Bunch
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Americas Quarterly
Institution:
Council of the Americas
Abstract:
Indigenous peoples' control over natural resources continues to be one of the most controversial issues in international law. Numerous international human rights treaties recognize Indigenous communities' right to be consulted over the use of resources on or beneath their communal lands. But international law tends to consider third parties' exploitation of natural resources on Indigenous land to be legal—as long as Indigenous rights to consultation, participation and redress, among other rights, are met.
Topic:
International Law and Natural Resources

197. The Worlds of European Constitutionalism, Gráinne de Búrca and J.H.H. Weile

Author:
Bertil Emrah Oder
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This edited volume on European constitutionalism is a compendium of essays with different interpretations on the constitutional authority and nature of the European Union (EU). This issue has faced various challenges in the last decade not only by national courts and referenda, but also vis-à-vis other international and regional actors, such as United Nations (UN) and European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe

198. The End of Geography: The Changing Nature of the International System and the Challenge to International Law

Author:
Daniel Bethlehem
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This lecture, inaugurating a lecture series in honour of Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, looks at the changing place of geography in the international system and the challenges that this poses to international law, from the central place of geography in the Westphalian legal order to its less certain place in the rapidly globalizing and diffuse international society of the present day. Examining these issues through the contrasting prisms of the principal political organs of the United Nations in New York, on the one hand, and the UN Specialized Agencies centred in Geneva, on the other, the lecture also explores these issues by reference to Thomas Friedman's thesis that The World Is Flat. The lecture concludes by identifying a number of areas of international law, and the international legal system, that will require creative thinking in the period to come to reflect the diminishing importance of geography.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
New York

199. The End of Geography: The Changing Nature of the International System and the Challenge to International Law: A Reply to Daniel Bethlehem

Author:
David S. Koller
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article responds to Daniel Bethlehem's assertions that globalization is diminishing the importance of geography, and thereby challenging the Westphalian order on which international law is constructed. It contends that international law does not take geography as it is but actively creates and sustains a state-based geography. It argues that the challenges Bethlehem identifies are not new but are inherent in international law's efforts to impose a state-based order on a global world. The question is not whether international lawyers will respond to these challenges, but how they will respond. Will they follow Bethlehem in reinforcing a statist order, or will they place sovereignty of states in the service of the global human community?
Topic:
Globalization and International Law
Political Geography:
New York and Europe

200. The Ever-Ending Geography of International Law: The Changing Nature of the International System and the Challenge to International Law: A Reply to Daniel Bethlehem

Author:
Carl Landauer
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Daniel Bethlehem makes a convincing case in 'The End of Geography' that the growing challenges of our contemporary world require a move from our state-centred international legal system. This reply places Bethlehem's voice among a growing list of those who either describe or prescribe a move from the traditional Westphalian state system. It argues, however, that the challenges have always been transboundary and that the Westphalian state system has never been as strong or as long-lived as envisaged by its critics.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
New York and Europe