The Protection of General Interests in Contemporary International Law

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
International Law ◽  
Global Public Goods ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Global Commons ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Legal Foundation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fundamental Values ◽  
Multiple Actors

This book is aimed at analysing the notions of global public goods, global commons, and fundamental values as conceptual tools geared towards the protection of the general interests of the international community. After having provided the readers with a general overview of the abovementioned concepts, the book examines how international law has responded to what qualifies as global public goods, global commons, and fundamental values in a wide range of fields. Moreover, the work also investigates how global governance has improved (or worsened) this response. Authors have discussed which general interests have or have not been deemed to deserve the protection of international law in one or more of the categories under scrutiny, and why; they have also explored the legal foundation of such interests in international law. In addition, they have focused on whether and how it is appropriate that international law intervenes to regulate such interests, taking into account the interplay between the multiple actors of international law, ranging from states, international and regional organizations, and non-state actors. They have further explored how states and other actors have used international law to protect general interests, what lessons can be learned from these efforts, and what main challenges still need to be addressed. Looking at international law through the prism of global public goods, global commons, and fundamental values has also implied an in-depth examination of different substantive regimes, such as, e.g. those regulating human rights, the protection of the environment, and international economic law.

The Protection of General Interests in Contemporary International Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Massimo Iovane ◽  
Fulvio M. Palombino ◽  
Daniele Amoroso ◽  
Giovanni Zarra
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
International Law ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
International Community ◽  
Global Public Goods ◽  
Global Commons ◽  
Fundamental Values

This introductory chapter expounds on the characterization of the notions of global public goods (GPGs), global commons, and fundamental values (the objects of this book) as conceptual tools geared towards the protection of the general interests of the international community, with a view to providing a unifying perspective to read the contributions collected in this volume. In addition, this chapter explains why the notion of global governance is equally essential for the purposes of this inquiry.

The Decay of Consent: International Law in an Age of Global Public Goods

2014 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Krisch
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Global Public Goods ◽  
Community Values ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
The Face ◽  
Common Policies ◽  
The Cost

The consensual structure of the international legal order, with its strong emphasis on the sovereign equality of states, has always been somewhat precarious. In different waves over the centuries, it has been attacked for its incongruence with the realities of inequality in international politics, for its tension with ideals of democracy and human rights, and for standing in the way of more effective problem solving in the international community. While surprisingly resilient in the face of such challenges, the consensual structure has seen renewed attacks in recent years. In the 1990s, those attacks were mainly “moral” in character. They were related to the liberal turn in international law, and some of them, under the banner of human rights, aimed at weakening principles of nonintervention and immunity. Others, starting from the idea of an emerging “international community,” questioned the prevailing contractual models of international law and emphasized the rise of norms and processes reflecting community values rather than individual state interests. Since the beginning of the new millennium, the focus has shifted, and attacks are more often framed in terms of effectiveness or global public goods. Classical international law is regarded as increasingly incapable of providing much-needed solutions for the challenges of a globalized world; as countries become ever more interdependent and vulnerable to global challenges, an order that safeguards states’ freedoms at the cost of common policies is often seen as anachronistic. According to this view, what is needed—and what we are likely to see—is a turn to nonconsensual lawmaking mechanisms, especially through powerful international institutions with majoritarian voting rules.

8. The future of development

2018 ◽  
pp. 137-152
Author(s):  
Ian Goldin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
International Community ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Global Public Goods ◽  
Global Commons ◽  
The Future

‘The future of development’ considers some of the key challenges facing all countries: the sequencing of different policy reforms and investment efforts; the role of private investment and foreign aid; the coherence of aid policies; the provision of global public goods; and the role of the international community in the protection and restoration of the global commons. As individuals get wealthier and escape poverty, the choices they make increasingly impact other people. More than ever the futures of advanced and developing countries are intertwined. The term ‘development’ is less and less about a geographic place and more and more about our collective ability to cooperate in harvesting global opportunities and managing the associated global risks.

9. The Individual and the International Legal System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert McCorquodale
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal System ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
System P ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
International Legal System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Degree Of Participation

This chapter examines the role of the individual in the international legal system. It considers the direct rights and responsibilities of individuals under the international legal system; their capacity to bring international claims; and their ability to participate in the creation, development, and enforcement of international law. Particular examples from a wide range of areas of international law, including international human rights law, international criminal law, and international economic law, are used to illustrate the conceptual and practical participation of individuals in the international legal system. It is argued that individuals are participants in that system, and are not solely objects that are subject to States’ consent, though their degree of participation varies depending on the changing nature of the international legal system.

Enhancing ICJ Procedures in Order to Promote Fundamental Values

2021 ◽  
pp. 241-263
Author(s):  
Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Global Public Goods ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Effective Application ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The World ◽  
Substantive Law ◽  
Fundamental Values

By developing international law, international courts – ‘intermediate Global Public Goods (GPG)’ – can also contribute to the protection and promotion of final GPG. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in particular, is capable of promoting GPG by adjudicating inter-state claims. However, one of the main obstacles faced by the World Court relates to the existing tension between the bilateral nature of its own proceedings and the multilateral nature of the conflicting substantive law. Considering that procedure may guide and shape the application of substantive law, it will be argued that it should itself be interpreted and developed in a manner to ensure community interests. This chapter argues that the Court should assume expanded procedural powers in order to ensure the effective application of substantive law whenever GPG are at issue. Most procedural rules can be adjusted and tailored for multiparty aspects with the aim of protecting community interests and enhancing the international court’s legitimacy.

Behavioral Aspects of the International Law of Global Public Goods and Common Pool Resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne van Aaken
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
International Law ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
Global Public Goods ◽  
Common Pool ◽  
Public Goods Games ◽  
Collective Action Problems

AbstractCollective action problems with public good characteristics such as climate change have important implications for international law. This note argues that behavioral insights from laboratory experiments, in which individuals engage in public goods games, can contribute to our understanding of how best to optimize the design of international legal regimes dealing with global public goods and common pool resources. Behavioral economics, to the extent it supplements or displaces rational-choice models in institutional design, may enable deeper and more sustained forms of international cooperation.

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