Critical Scholarship and Responsible Practice of International Law. How Can the Two be Reconciled?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 979-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
ISABEL FEICHTNER
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Legal Expert ◽  
Theory Of Law ◽  
Work First

AbstractHow can I as an international lawyer, conscious that international law is deeply implicated in today's global injustices and that the course of history will not be changed by any grand legal design, practice law responsibly? Taking as a point of departure my own desire not to seek comfort in the formulation of a critique of law, but to aspire to a responsible practice, I consult two quite different bodies of work: first, critical theory of law and second, recent scholarship on international law that argues a practice guided by ethics may enhance the legitimacy of international law. I turn then to my own practice of international economic law focusing on my occasional role as legal expert on the so-called megaregionals the EU aims to conclude with Canada and the United States. I propose that the debate on international economic law lacks an investigation into the role of law in shaping political economy; that this lack can be explained by the compartmentalization of expertise which leads to justification gaps with respect to projects such as the megaregionals. One way lawyers can assume responsibility is to work on closing these gaps even if it means leaving the ‘inside’ of the legal discipline. Finally, I suggest that a responsible legal practice of social change might follow Roberto Unger's call for institutional imagination. Maybe I can satisfy my wish for a transformative practice by joining forces with friends in experimenting with institutions, hoping to build an alternative political economy.

The Diminishing Acts of the State. Or, Is It?

2012 ◽  
pp. 687-717
Author(s):  
Francis N. Botchway
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
International Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Police Powers ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
The Us

The Act of state doctrine essentially serves to truncate or end proceedings against a state in the court of another state for actions attributed to or owned by the first state. Originally, the actions against which the defense could be raised were wide and all encompassing. It included exercise of police powers, takings, maritime and commercial acts. However, starting with cases such as Bernstein, Dunhill and others, and goaded in part by legislation such as the second Hickenlooper Amendment in the US, a number of exceptions have been carved into the doctrine. It is such that some academics have called for the end of the doctrine. This paper argues that although the doctrine is now limited, compared to its original compass, it is resilient. That resilience, this paper contends, is predicated on its International law pedigree. It is further argued that the swings in the role of the state in economic matters accounts for the growth, downturn and upturn in the viability of the doctrine as a defense in international economic law.

Indo-Pacific Legal Infrastructure: A China Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 374-378
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Erie
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Region I ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
Legal Infrastructure

The Indo-Pacific, given its economic and geopolitical significance as exemplified by the growing multilateralism in the region, is an incubatory space for innovative legal infrastructure. Against the backdrop of growing tension between the United States and China in the region, I emphasize China's expanding footprint through the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) and its capacity to shape institutions, practices, and norms of international economic law. I begin by providing context and then suggest six ways in which the BRI may offer a novel approach to international economic law, with particular salience for the Indo-Pacific region.

International Business and Commerce

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Z. Cass
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
International Law ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Rule Making

This article analyzes some recurrent themes in that portion of the field which is sometimes referred to as international economic law, namely public international law structures that regulate economic relations and exchange between states, with a primary emphasis upon trade. It suggests that six features characterize current legal scholarship on international economic law relating to business and commerce: a focus on institutions and on constitutions as a means to enhance the authority and legitimacy of the rule-making order; an interdependence with wider scholarship about globalization; a general consensus about the benefits of liberalization and the international economic law framework which supports it, punctuated by occasional critique; a concentration on regulation rather than ‘law’ in the traditional sense; a fixation with the problem of definition of its own scope; and a belief in its transformative nature capable of facilitating improvements in the legal order generally. The aim of this article is to describe and analyse the broad contours of each of these features before critiquing them and suggesting some possible avenues of future research.

scholarly journals International economic law and the quest for universality

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
International Law ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Enabling Clause ◽  
Trade And Investment

AbstractThe quest for universality in international economic law has met many obstacles. This article begins from the proposition that there are various ways to conceive of universality in international law, for example whether the rules are accepted widely among states (omnipresence) or whether they are broadly coherent (generality). Homing in on trade and investment law, the article assesses how each of these areas has functioned as a testing ground for these different conceptions. An in-built quasi-universality characterizes international trade law with the WTO as a seemingly centralized universal institution. Such universality, however, has often been achieved through differentiation of rights and obligations (e.g., the Enabling Clause and regional trade agreements). In investment law, attempts at universalization through the construction of centralized institutions have failed. Nevertheless, certain common standards have emerged in this fragmented regime. There is also a debate around the use of the MFN clause as a universalizing tool and renewed efforts to universalize investment law are afoot. More generally, it is clear that there is little appetite for codification of international economic law, and that states wish to control its content through the conclusion of treaties. In the final analysis, this article asks whether it is time to conceive of universality differently, and particularly whether equity and collective preferences should be a more central part of the quest.

New Asian Regionalism in International Economic Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasha L. Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Asian Regionalism

This book provides the first systematic analysis of new Asian regionalism as a paradigm shift in international economic law. It argues that new Asian regionalism has emerged amid the Third Regionalism and contributed to the New Regional Economic Order, which reinvigorates the role of developing countries in shaping international trade norms. To substantiate the claims, the book introduces theoretical debates and evaluates major regional economic initiatives and institutions, including the ASEAN+6 framework, APEC, the CPTPP and the RCEP. It also sheds light on legal issues involving the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as trade policies of Asian powers, the European Union and the United States. Hence, the legal analysis and case studies offer a fresh perspective of Asian integration and bridge the gap between academia and practice.

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