A CONSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE DISCOURSE ON FUNCTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL COURTS

Author(s):  
Dmitriy Krasikov ◽  

Searching for the ways to incorporate the concept of constitution and its different aspects into the theory and practice of international law presents a one of the current dynamic trends in international legal research. A significant role of the arguments concerning the existence and functioning of international courts is a common feature of various views presented within the discussion of the constitutional dimension of international law. The article contains an overview of basic theoretical doctrines on those functions of international courts which acquire constitutional features.

Author(s):  
Jeffrey L Dunoff ◽  
Mark A Pollack

This chapter discusses the inner working of ICs, such as the drafting of judicial opinions; practices concerning separate opinions; the role of language and translation; and the roles of third parties. It also presents a preliminary effort to identify and examine the everyday practices of international judges. In undertaking this task, the authors draw selectively upon a large literature on ‘practice theory’ that has only rarely been applied to international law in general or to international courts in particular. A typology and synoptic overview of practices is presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Bharat H. Desai ◽  
Balraj K. Sidhu

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?


1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judge Manfred Lachs

Much has been written on the similarities and differences between arbitration tribunals and international courts; much more could and will certainly be written in the future. The purpose of my comments is to define similarities and differences in regard to the role of equity in both. However, I hope to enter the caveat at the very outset that in this paper I will focus solely on the role of equity in cases where the decision is to be based on international law. Accordingly, I will not here discuss cases of the type I had in mind when I pointed out in a speech delivered 34 years ago to the Legal Committee of the UN General Assembly that “[t]he arbitral solution has been applied in the past to a variety of problems, some of which were not judicial in character and did not raise issues of law”. Nor will I now discuss arbitrations in which the parties have agreed that the arbitrators need not be guided by law, or where the arbitral tribunal is expressly authorized by the parties to decide ex aequo et bono and thereby to settle the matter in a liberal spirit without regard to legal requirements and technicalities. Thus, cases in which the arbitrators have been empowered to seek mutual accommodations that would give offense to neither party are outside the scope of this discussion, as are cases where arbitrators recommended action by one of the parties as an act of grace.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROSANNE VAN ALEBEEK

AbstractThis paper explores the role of domestic courts in the development of international immunity rules. It assesses how domestic immunity decisions take meaning in the process of law formation and law determination, and examines whether the distinct influence of domestic-court decisions (as compared to international-court decisions) in that process results in a different role, and concomitant different rules, in the process of interpretation of rules of international law. The paper argues that while domestic courts are as a matter of international law bound by the same rules of interpretation as international courts, they are particularly well placed to address access to court concerns raised by immunity rules and may play a prominent role in the development of international law in this field in the years to come.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Ahmad

Humanitarian intervention is an attempt to prevent or stop the gross human rights violations with particular strengths (diplomatic and military) in a State, either with or without the consent of the State (countries with internal conflict). The problems in this journal are: first, how the arrangement of international law on humanitarian intervention. Secondly, the role of the UN in humanitarian intervention in armed conflicts. The method used is a normative legal research methods with the main source of data collection procedures is a legal substance that contains of normative law. The results showed that the rules of international law on humanitarian intervention by the United Nations stipulated in the UN Charter and general principles of international law. Humanitarian intervention legally justified by following provisions in applicable international law, namely Articles 39-51 of UN Charter. While the role of the UN in humanitarian intervention in armed conflicts carried out by the Security Council as the organ of the United Nations in maintaining peace with the decision issued in the form of a resolution for areas experiencing conflict. Therefore, it takes an international treaty that regulates clearly about humanitarian intervention, so that in practice, remain consistent with the objectives and executive organs of humanitarian intervention.


Author(s):  
Kirsten Schmalenbach

This chapter examines the theoretical foundations and the genealogy of international criminal jurisdiction in international law. While it is clear that international criminal jurisdiction cuts into national jurisdiction to a certain extent, the question concerning the proper foundation of international criminal jurisdiction—whether it rests on state consent or a mandate by the international community—remains more nuanced and more debated. The chapter also explores judicial perspectives on the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals. It argues that, where the Security Council has been involved in establishing a court or tribunal, jurisprudence supports the position that international criminal jurisdiction is exercised on behalf of the international community. In the case of the International Criminal Court (ICC), however, the picture becomes more complex, due to the role of domestic criminal jurisdiction and the difficulty in identifying a single international community.


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-287
Author(s):  
Anne-Catherine Hahn

Comparative and international law has traditionally played a relatively minor role in legal education and research. J Recent years, however, have seen an increasing interest in comparative law, in particular in Europe, where its protagonists are involved in a vivid debate over the harmonisation of national private law systems. In the following remarks, I will, on the basis of one particular example, try to illustrate the type of comparative legal research that supports this debate. Before doing so, I will briefly present the different drivingforces that contribute to the harmonisation ofEuropean private law systems.


2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaniv Roznai

AbstractThis article examines whether there are any limitations on constitutional amendment powers that are external to the constitutional system and above it—‘supra-constitutional’ limits. It considers the theory and practice of the relationship between natural law, international law or other supranational law, and domestic constitutional law in a comparative prism. After considering the alleged supremacy of supranational law over constitutional amendments, the author explores the problem of the relationship between the different legal orders in the external/internal juridical spheres, and the important potential and actual role of national courts in ‘domesticating’ supranational law and enforcing its supremacy. It is claimed that despite the growing influence of supranational law, state practice demonstrates that constitutional law is still generally superior to international law, and even when the normative hierarchical superiority of supranational law is recognized within the domestic legal order, this supremacy derives not from supranational law as a separate legal order, but rather from the constitution itself. Therefore, it is claimed that existing practice regarding arguments of ‘supra-constitutional’ limitations are better described by explicit or implicit limitations within the constitution itself, through which supranational standards can be infused to serve as valid limitations on constitutional amendment powers.


Author(s):  
Leslie Johns

Existing theories of international law are largely state-centric. While international cooperation can benefit all, states are often tempted to violate their promises in order to manage economic and political crises. States must accordingly balance enforcement against flexibility: legal institutions must provide enough enforcement that states comply most of the time yet also provide enough flexibility that states can violate during crises. Such a balance is possible when laws are crafted and enforced by unitary actors that will tolerate occasional violations by others in order to preserve their own right to occasionally violate. However, the changing doctrine of sovereign immunity has dramatically transformed the actual practice of international law. Non-state actors and domestic courts play an increasingly important role in challenging state legal violations, generating a divergence between the theory and practice of contemporary international law. This divergence is apparent in many issue areas, including terrorism, human rights, sovereign debt, and foreign investment. This divergence suggests that political scientists and legal scholars must reconsider the limits of state-centric theories and examine the role of non-state actors and domestic courts.


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