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Begin New Search Author Jan Klabbers Publication Year within 10 Years

1. Friedrich Kratochwil. The Status of Law in World Society: Meditations on the Role and Rule of Law

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>When Fritz Kratochwil published his classic Rules, Norms and Decisions in 1989, it was reviewed by an obviously bewildered David Bederman in the American Journal of International Law. Clearly, it seemed, here was something international lawyers should take note of, but equally clearly, Bederman, no intellectual slouch by any standard, had a hard time figuring out what made the book relevant, or even just interesting, for international lawyers. It seems Bederman was expecting something along the lines of a description of the role of law in global politics, but no such story unfolded. Instead, Rules, Norms and Decisions posited not a description, but a way of looking at the role of norms in international politics, and did so unlike much of what had gone on before: this was neither a variation on realism, nor riding the wave of institutional liberalism, nor anything like the New Haven approach or sociological jurisprudence or Henkin- style behaviouralism. As it turned out, Rules, Norms and Decisions became the closest thing to a manifesto of constructivism in the study of world politics, and therewith became pigeonholed as one of the three grand theories of international relations.</p>

2. The Emergence of Functionalism in International Institutional Law: Colonial Inspirations

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The theory of functionalism dominates the law of international organizations, explaining why organizations have the powers they possess, why they can claim privileges and immunities, and often how they are designed as well. Yet, the theory of functionalism is rarely spelt out in any detail, and its origins have remained under-explored. The purpose of the present article is to outline how functionalism came about by focusing on the 'pre-history' of international institutional law. To that end, the article studies the work of a number of late 19th, early 20th century authors on the law of international organizations, paying particular attention to the writings of Paul Reinsch. It turns out that functionalism, as developed by Reinsch, was inspired by his familiarity with colonial administration: colonialism and international organization both manifested cooperation between states. While this is no reason to discard functionalism, it does provide an argument for viewing international organizations more critically than functionalism habitually does.
Topic:
Law

3. The EJIL Foreword: The Transformation of International Organizations Law

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article discusses the ongoing transformation of international organizations law. It first provides an overview (an anatomy) of the paradigmatic theory concerning the law of international organizations: the theory of functionalism. Subsequently, it investigates how functionalism came about and how, from the 1960s onwards, its flaws increasingly became visible. The argument, in a nutshell, is that functionalism, as a theory concerned with relations between international organizations and their member states, has little or nothing to say about the effects of international organizations on third parties – non-member states, individuals and others. Moreover, it is often applied to entities that can hardly be deemed 'functional' in accordance with the theory. All of this is increasingly viewed as problematic and forces functionalism to adapt. Whether it can do so is questionable, though, since some of its problems are structural rather than contingent. Things are illustrated by the invocation of the United Nations's possible responsibility for causing (or failing to prevent) the outbreak of cholera in Haiti.

4. Isabelle Ley. Opposition im Völkerrecht: Ein Beitrag zur Legitimation internationaler Rechtserzeugung [Opposition in International Law: A Contribution to the Legitimation of International Law-Making]

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Isabelle Ley, in her exemplary dissertation defended at Humboldt University, takes the emergence of regulatory international law as her starting point and aims to investigate how its democratic legitimacy could be enhanced. For her, democracy is not just a matter of particular institutions or practices but, rather, of open and possibly oppositional politics. Building on the work of Claude Lefort and, in particular, Hannah Arendt, she develops a framework for discussing democracy in international law conceptualized as the possibility for opposition. A democratic polity is one where every participant has the possibility of helping to take care of the common world, as Arendt might have put it, and presupposes open politics. This politics is, so to speak, politics for the sake of politics or politics in the Olympic spirit: what matters is not so much winning but taking part; what matters is not so much which policies will be adopted but the political process itself. Following Aristotle, taking part in public affairs is viewed as the most salient manifestation of human excellence: man being a political animal, he can do no better than take part in the political process – this is where individual happiness is achieved and, therewith, the ultimate justification of democracy.
Topic:
International Law, International Organization, Political Theory, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

5. The Transformation of International Organizations Law: A Rejoinder

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Jan Klabbers responds to critiques by Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, André Nollkaemper and Guy Fiti Sinclair of his EJIL Foreword.
Topic:
International Relations, International Law, International Organization, and Critique
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

6. EJIL Editors’ Choice of Books 2015

Author:
Sarah Nouwen, Christian Tams, Jan Klabbers, and Jean d'Aspremont
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
At the end of 2014, we invited the EJIL Board members to reflect on the books that had had a significant impact on them during the year. Their contributions, posted on EJIL: Talk!, were met with great interest and curiosity. As the end of another year approaches, we decided once more to invite our Board members to look back on their reading in 2015. In the following pieces Sarah Nouwen, Christian Tams, Jan Klabbers and Jean d’Aspremont write about the books they read or re-read this year and which they found inspiring, enjoyable or even ‘must reads’ for their own work or international law scholarship in general.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, History, and Courts
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and South Sudan