SDGs and their impact on African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states and CARICOM – soft law on its way through the legal order

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-167
Author(s):  
Winfried Huck
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Matthias Knauff

In combating the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, soft law has played an important, albeit not a central, role. Its use basically corresponds to that of under “normal circumstances”. In accordance with the German constitutional order, almost all substantial decisions are made in a legally binding form. However, these are often prepared through or supplemented by soft law. This article shows that soft law has played an important role in fighting the pandemic and its effects in Germany, although there cannot be any doubt that legally binding forms of regulation have prevailed. At the same time, the current pandemic has shed light on the advantages and effects of soft law in the context of the German legal order.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-340
Author(s):  
Gloria Fernández Arribas

The Kimberley Process represents a new method of international cooperation between subjects of international law. It was named by its creators as a process, setting it apart from international organizations, and leading too to its consideration as informal international law-making or soft law. In this study we shall analyze the extent to which the Kimberley Process falls into these categories. Our main task, however, is to compare it to formal international organizations, with a view to establishing whether what really has been created is an institutionalization process that is like an international organization, but with a different name. To do this, we will analyze with reference to the Kimberley Process the various respective fields of international organizations, such as founding agreement, membership, structure, decision-making process and legal order.


2021 ◽  
pp. 94-140
Author(s):  
Nigel Foster

This chapter takes an overall view of the EU legal order and examines its legal system, including the elements which are either different from or similar to member states’ legal systems. It begins by taking an overall view of the EU legal order, the different forms of EU law, and the various sources of law contributing to this legal order, in particular now the rich source of human and fundamental rights in the EU legal order. It considers the non-strictly legally binding rules known as ‘soft law’. It also looks at the ways or processes by which the binding laws are made and reviews alternative decision-making and law-making developments.


Focaal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 (56) ◽  
pp. 3-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo M. Zerilli

This introductory article aims to clarify why soft law is an interesting field to explore from a legal anthropological perspective and to point out a number of issues this theme section suggests taking into consideration. The article provides the context for the theme section, inserting soft law within global legal concerns and processes. It outlines the emergence of the notion of soft law, and summarizes the controversies it has raised among legal scholars and law practitioners. Then it explains why, despite the elusive character of the notion and its uncertain normative status, as soon as we move beyond a number of emblematic concerns for law practitioners, soft law mechanisms and practices appear to be a vantage point to explore the emerging transnational legal order, and particularly the relations among state, supra-state, and non-state (private) forms of regulation. Finally, the article introduces the articles in the special section of this issue by highlighting the ways in which they empirically deal with soft law practices and global legal pluralism in a variety of social fields and contexts, using ethnographic sensitivity and imagination.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danai Petropoulou Ionescu ◽  
Mariolina Eliantonio

The increased recourse to soft law by the European Union (EU) as a flexible solution to complex social and policy issues has raised several questions about the democratic legitimacy of decision-making at the EU level. With the aim to provide a normative direction for future empirical assessment of EU soft law, this article explores the democratic credentials that EU soft law measures should fulfil to ensure their legitimacy. Drawing from the intersections of liberal, republican and deliberative conceptions of democracy, this article proposes four democratic legitimacy standards for the evaluation of soft law measures in practice: parliamentary involvement, transparency, participatory quality and reviewability.


2021 ◽  
pp. 325-332
Author(s):  
Erika George

In conclusion, the book reflects on what these different developments mean for international law. It describes an emerging “transnational legal order” promoting policy and practice in the absence of a binding regulatory instrument. It presents and addresses concerns and caveats over business enterprises incorporating rights versus co-opting rights. It is argued that self-regulation is a misnomer in that constituencies outside the corporation co-create conditions for enforcement. Information and activism that raised awareness concerning the adverse human rights impacts associated with particular business practices and have prompted change in many instances, at minimum the creation of a corporate code or policy that incorporates reference to human rights and speaks to responsibility. Less well articulated is accountability to victims of rights violations and access to remedy. Ensuring policies that are in place are put into practice and corporate performance is consistent with responsibility to respect remains a challenge. Mandating information can aid and accelerate efforts to ensure business enterprises take the responsibility to respect human rights seriously—a “smart mix” of strategies will be required, and we must appreciate that soft law and social pressure are an important part of the mix.


Author(s):  
Oana Andreea Stefan ◽  
Matej Avbelj ◽  
M. Eliantonio ◽  
Miriam Hartlapp ◽  
Emilia Korkea‐aho ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-31
Author(s):  
Ilya Lifshits ◽  
Vladislav Ponamorenko

The global financial crisis strengthened the role of international financial standards in global commercial architecture and outlined the specialization of standard-settingbodies. These standards may be transposed in international agreements or be implemented in the legal order of states and state communities (such as the European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)). The development of standard-setting bodies and the evolving process of soft law rulemaking have led to the establishment of a specific mechanism, which may be called “the soft law mechanism.” The authors argue that this mechanism includes several components: normative (IFS), institutional (SSBs), controlling (peer reviews), and assuring (implementing incentives) components. However, despite the rising influence of international financial standards, a strict boundary between soft and hard law should be established. This article outlines these boundaries and justifies the use of the term soft law. In post-crisis global financial regulation, the role of soft law has increased not only in the financial market but also in the field of monetary regulation. Along with the traditional mechanisms of financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), states may use alternative bilateral and regional mechanisms. At the level of integration associations, soft law manifests in different ways. In the EU, despite the expansion of its field of action, soft law is purely an auxiliary element of the Union’s legal system. In EAEU law, the mechanism of soft-law regulation can beconsidered promising, given the peculiarities of the integration model. 


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document