Tipping the Balance: International Courts and the Construction of International and Domestic Politics

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Karen J Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Tipping Point ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
International Courts ◽  
State Compliance ◽  
Point Argument

Abstract The proponents of international courts (ICs) expect that creating formal legal institutions will help to increase respect for international law. International relations scholars question such claims, since ICs have no tools to compel state compliance. Such views are premised on the notion that states have unique preferences that ICs must satisfy in order to be effective. The tipping point argument is premised on the notion that within each state are actors with numerous conflicting preferences. ICs can act as tipping point actors, building and giving resources to compliance constituencies—coalitions of actors within and outside of states—that favour policies that happen to also be congruent with international law.

Tipping the Balance: International Courts and the Construction of International and Domestic Politics

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Tipping Point ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
International Courts ◽  
State Compliance ◽  
Point Argument

AbstractThe proponents of international courts (ICs) expect that creating formal legal institutions will help to increase respect for international law. International relations scholars question such claims, since ICs have no tools to compel state compliance. Such views are premised on the notion that states have unique preferences that ICs must satisfy in order to be effective. The tipping point argument is premised on the notion that within each state are actors with numerous conflicting preferences. ICs can act as tipping point actors, building and giving resources to compliance constituencies—coalitions of actors within and outside of states—that favour policies that happen to also be congruent with international law.

The New International Courts

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
State Control ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Regional Trends

This chapter identifies a significant variation in which states have consented to compulsory international judicial oversight. The reach of international courts (ICs) and international law varies, but where there is international law that litigants can invoke in court, the circle of actors involved in defining what international law means, and what it means for governments to be rule of law actors, expands. This expansion brings with it a shift in international relations, away from state control in both the domestic and international realms. The chapter sketches the international judicial landscape today by presenting a bird's-eye overview of the contemporary international judiciary, revealing temporal, substantive, and regional trends in delegating authority to ICs. But the perspective is largely static, a snapshot in time that obscures how legal practice, international law, and international legal institutions evolve.

The New Terrain of International Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

In 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. This book charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics. The book presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, the book argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. The book explains how this limited power—the power to speak the law—translates into political influence, and it considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.

scholarly journals International Courts and Tribunals – the New Environmental Sentinels in International Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Bharat H. Desai ◽  
Balraj K. Sidhu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Peaceful Settlement ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Future

This study examines the role of international courts and tribunals (ICTs) as important agents for the peaceful settlement of international disputes through the instrumentality of law. The rapid upswing in the number of specialised international courts and tribunals (in areas such as trade, human rights, law of the sea, criminal justice and environment) can be perceived as an attempt by sovereign States to maintain the viability of ICTs in light of perplexity in international relations, growing recognition of peaceful co-existence, quest for institutionalised cooperation and emergence of some of the “common concerns of humankind”, as well as the “duty to cooperate”. The article has sought to make sense of the emergence of ICTs as the “New Environmental Sentinels” and what it portends for our common future. Do we need a specialised international environmental court?

Prevalence of Soft Law in the Arctic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-307
Author(s):  
Hema Nadarajah
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Binding Forms ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Definition Of

Soft law has been observed to be increasing within the frontiers – regions and issue-areas that extend beyond national jurisdiction, and where governance substantively integrates scientific and technological knowledge. The often-used assumption for the prevalence of such instruments has been the uncertainty of scientific knowledge. This paper takes this facile analysis further by examining the dynamic changes to the number and diversity of state and non-state actors as well as their relative influence. Using a revised definition of soft law which encompasses both binding and non-binding forms, this article shows that this has not been the case. Through analysis of the legal framework within which the region is governed and a mixed methodology drawing from the fields of international relations and international law, this research confirms that soft law is prevalent within the Arctic and that it is an outcome of domestic politics, as well as geopolitical tensions among the relevant states.

scholarly journals More than meets the eye – and less: Comments on The Internationalists

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-341
Author(s):  
ANDREAS FOLLESDAL
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
New World ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Great Contribution ◽  
Old World ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Assurance Game

Abstract:These comments address three themes concerning Oona A Hathaway’s and Scott J Shapiro’s The Internationalists (Hathaway and Shapiro 2017), a great contribution to scholarship about international relations, international law and international legal theory. I first explore further some game theoretical themes, how the Peace Pact arguably contributed to avoid war by creating institutions – such as international courts – that helped stabilise an assurance game among states by providing trustworthy information and commitments, in turn influencing practices and beliefs concerning mutual non-aggression. Second, I suggest that the authors should not claim more than that the Peace Pact was one cause of the massive shift in reduced warfare. Further arguments are needed to show that this treaty was the trigger that ‘began a cascade’. Third, I suggest that the lessons for the future are limited, as we explore how to preserve and improve on the New World Order of the Pact, rather than backsliding into the Old World Order.

scholarly journals INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS AS A PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY

2021 ◽  
pp. 182-196
Author(s):  
Ya. S. KOZHEUROV
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Invisible College ◽  
Creative Potential ◽  
National Interests ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Legal Traditions

Even though international lawyers represent a variety of countries with diff erent cultures and legal traditions, with diff erent levels of economic development and political goals, they constitute a unique professional community ("a kind of invisible college dedicated to a common intellectual enterprise", according to O. Schachter) speaking one language — the language of international law. In international relations, in the absence of a higher (supranational) authority, lawyers sometimes become the only ones who "civilize" the protection of national interests, according to M. Koskenniemi; it causes specifi c ethical professional problems, which are considered on the example of the work of a lawyer in foreign policy departments, in international organizations and in international courts. The article substantiates the idea that international lawyers, due to the huge creative potential of their profession, are, in fact, the "architects" of international law and the system in which it exists.

Saving the International Justice Regime

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Hillebrecht
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
International Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Courts ◽  
International Human

While resistance to international courts is not new, what is new, or at least newly conceptualized, is the politics of backlash against these institutions. Saving the International Justice Regime: Beyond Backlash against International Courts is at the forefront of this new conceptualization of backlash politics. It brings together theories, concepts and methods from the fields of international law, international relations, human rights and political science and case studies from around the globe to pose - and answer - three questions related to backlash against international courts: What is backlash and what forms does it take? Why do states and elites engage in backlash against international human rights and criminal courts? What can stakeholders and supporters of international justice do to meet these contemporary challenges?

The Judicialization of International Law

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Courts ◽  
General Frame ◽  
Future Potential ◽  
The One ◽  
Law Making

International relations are increasingly judicialized by the increasing number of international courts and tribunals. On the one hand this judicialization of international law is hailed as a glimmer of more effective and legitimate world governance promoting human rights, justice, and peace. On the other hand critics highlight how sovereignty is increasingly constrained by international courts, and question the effectiveness, legitimacy, and future potential of these courts and tribunals. This book maps and assesses this development and the mixed reactions thereto, presenting the aspirations which international courts and tribunals (ICs) are living up to, and where they fall short. The first Part provides a general frame for these legitimacy concerns. It discusses the general functions of ICs; how they are governed; and possible alternatives to ICs. The second Part considers how the ICs appear to present their judgments in ways that legitimize them vis-à-vis states and other stakeholders; their inner workings; as well as their law-making role. The following Parts consider the various forms of backlash several of the ICs experience, and how the ICs, states, and civil society seek to respond to these challenges. The last Part deals with the fragmentary character of the international judiciary. An epilogue looks to the future of international judicialization.

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