The Universal Rule of Law in the Thought of the Late Medieval Jurists of Roman and Canon Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Canning
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
Vertical Relationship ◽  
New Research ◽  
Universal Rule ◽  
Universal Application

Late medieval Roman and canon law jurisprudence provided the origins of European notions of a universal rule of law in two senses: a legal order of universal extent and a structure of higher norms of universal application. Whereas modern international law is primarily concerned with the horizontal relationship between states, medieval jurists mainly considered the vertical relationship between universal and territorial powers. They developed de iure–de facto arguments to justify a plurality of sovereign states within an overall universal legal structure. Contributions to the elaboration of theories of just war were also made. We must be cautious about claiming that late medieval jurists contributed to the development of early international law as normally understood. Nevertheless, early-modern theorists of international law referred back to the work of their medieval juristic predecessors. A new research question is emerging about the usefulness of using the term ‘international’ in interpreting medieval jurists.

‘The Law of Nations Is Common to All Mankind’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Longfield Karr
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The Common ◽  
Fundamental Categories ◽  
Ius Gentium ◽  
Universal Rule

For humanist sixteenth-century jurists such as Guillaume Budé, Ulrich Zasius, Andrea Alciati the ‘rule of law’ was central. In response to the use of law and legal theory to legitimize arbitrary forms of authority, they called for substantive reforms in legal education and practice, which could alleviate the dangers of masking the arbitrary will of rulers with the language of security, utility, and the common good. By focusing on fundamental categories such as ius, natural law, and ius gentium they effectively argued for a universal ‘rule of law’ that could hold political and legal authorities to a higher criterion of justice. In so doing, they redefined fundamental legal categories, ideas, and terms that continue to underpin and structure modern understandings of universal jurisprudence and international law to this day.

scholarly journals RULE OF LAW, STATELESS INDIANS AND EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 51-73
Author(s):  
Tamara Joan Duraisingam
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Indian Community ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Employment Rights

This paper focuses on the Rule of Law and it’s reach in terms of the stateless Indian in Malaysia. The term rule of law has been a term used by politicians to secure political mileage during election campaign periods and continues to be used upon formation of a new government. Regardless of its transcendent nature and noble assurance of a government of laws and not men, there would be gaps in the usage of the term rule of law as it does not reach all levels of community. As beneficent as the concept maybe, it does not serve to assist the stateless Indian community in securing employment in the state. Hence the significance of the research is to identify the gaps in the application of Rule of Law in Malaysia towards the stateless Indian. This study is a purely conceptual one which evaluates the constitutional concept of rule of law and its limitations in providing employment rights for Stateless Indians. The predominant research question is whether the Rule of Law as understood by constitutional philosophers helps mitigate the plight of the stateless Indian. It investigates that notion that perhaps stateless Indians are not stateless after all but have been given that categorisation so as to allow for their plight to be catapulted into the international sphere where customary international law and treaty law could in ideal circumstances apply to the stateless Indian. It proposes a thesis that regardless of how closely a State like Malaysia follows and upholds the rule of law, the stateless Indian Community in Malaysia will not necessarily enjoy second generation rights that ought to be made available to all human beings. The second generation right specifically referred to in this research is the right to employment for the stateless Indian.

Hugo Grotius and the Universal Rule of Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Stumpf
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Hugo Grotius ◽  
Universal Rule ◽  
Modern Sense ◽  
The Ideal

In this chapter, it is argued that Hugo Grotius’s system of international law is informed by a profound concept of a ‘rule of law’. While there is a strong tradition of reading Grotius’s works in a ‘liberal’ sense, as propagating a supposedly ‘modern’ sense of minimalist international law set apart from morality, this chapter follows an interpretation first put forward by Martin Wight according to which Grotius conceives of a ‘dual’ or ‘concentric’ system of international relations: hence, there is an inner circle of nations following the ideal of a society of Christian nations in the sense of the respublica Christiana following Christian law, and a wider circle of nations united by the universal fellowship among human beings governed by natural law. The chapter first analyses Grotius’s categorization of legal norms, then his views on the setup of States, and finally his perception of the rule of law in war.

Cardinal Richelieu between Vattel and Machiavelli

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Carty
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
God's Will ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
Rule Of Reason

The view that no form of international law existed in seventeenth-century France, and that this time was a part of ‘prehistory’, and thus irrelevant for international legal thought today is challenged. In addition, the traditional claim of Richelieu to be an admirer of Machiavelli and his Ragion di Stato doctrine to the detriment of the aim of concluding treaties and keeping them (as sacred), is refuted by careful historical research. In Richelieu’s thinking, there is a role for law to play but it is law as justice, law in the classical natural law tradition. Those who rule are subject to the rule of law as justice, the rule of God, or the rule of reason. In Richelieu’s world, kings and ministers are rational instruments of the practical implementation of God’s will on earth.

scholarly journals ‘Not dead but sleeping’: Expanding international law to better regulate the diverse effects of ceasefire agreements

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-743
Author(s):  
Marika Sosnowski
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Development Studies ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Economic Networks ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Governance Institutions ◽  
New Research

AbstractCeasefire agreements are legally governed by international humanitarian law because they have generally been considered in relation to how they affect levels of violence. However, new research in the fields of anthropology, security, and development studies suggests that ceasefires can have many more ramifications. These range from their ability to influence governance institutions, property and citizenship rights, economic networks, and security mechanisms. Consequently, this article suggests that a broader legal framework is needed through which to consider ceasefires and their consequences. While canvassing the option of ceasefires being types of contractual documents or as special agreements under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, the article concludes that the best way to regulate ceasefire agreements is through an expanded version of lex pacificatoria. Rather than being governed by hard international law, such a move would allow for the implementation of more flexible programmatic standards to influence the myriad ways ceasefires are negotiated, the conduct of belligerents, and their diverse effects on the ground during wartime.

Cynicism and Guilt in International Law after Rwanda

Global Jurist ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Russi
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
Formal Relations

AbstractFraming the Rwandan genocide as a “failure” of international law forces one to approach it as an unintended consequence of an otherwise benign system of formal relations between states. The present article looks at it instead as a physiological product of international law, disclosing the possibility to contemplate the latter as a fundamentally imperialistic system pegged on the controversial notion of “rule of law”. International law embodies a system of legalised extraction swaying between cynicism and guilt: despite its real face showing on occasions like Rwanda, it keeps revamping itself so as to prevent a fundamental appraisal of the contradictory nature of the system as a whole.

International ethics and international law

1992 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Nardin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
International Ethics ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Ethical Significance

In this paper I am going to argue a familiar but still controversial thesis about the relation between international ethics and international law, which I would sum up in the following list of propositions:First, international law is a source as well as an object of ethical judgements. The idea of legality or the rule of law is an ethical one, and international law has ethical significance because it gives institutional expression to the rule of law in international relations.Secondly, international law—or, more precisely, the idea of the rule of law in international relations—reflects a rule-oriented rather than outcome-oriented ethic of international affairs. By insisting on the priority of rules over outcomes, this ethic rejects consequentialism in all its forms.

The Сoncept of Сyber Sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China: Development History and Essence

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-264
Author(s):  
Ekaterina A. Mikhalevich
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Internet ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Development History ◽  
Common Destiny ◽  
China Development

The transformation of cyber sovereignty into an independent concept is a recent phenomenon, and thus its development and distribution is currently underway, which indicates the relevance of studying this topic. Being one of the most influential actors of contemporary international politics, China uses the concept of cyber sovereignty to promote its national interests and is able to shape the rules in the highly volatile field of international cyberspace. The study is based on quantitative and qualitative content analysis of legal acts and concept of Chinas cyber sovereignty. The author defines a concept of cyber sovereignty and identifies its place in the system of international law and in the architecture of international information security. Chinas concept of cyber sovereignty does not imply the division of a common cyberspace into separate segments but contributes to the creation of a cyber community of a common destiny, in which states can exercise their rights to govern the Internet on the principles of equality, justice, cooperation, peace and rule of law. It is concluded that this concept can be used as the basis for the formation of an international legal framework that regulates relations between states in the field of cyberspace.

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