Search

Begin New Search Journal The Goettingen Journal of International Law Publishing Institution The Goettingen Journal of International Law

61. Constitutionalism as a Cipher: On the Convergence of Constitutionalist and Pluralist Approaches to the Globalization of Law

Author:
Lars Viellechner
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Global constitutionalism still remains an essentially contested concept. While both its descriptive and normative usages remain unclear, the possibility and the desirability of framing the postnational constellation in constitutionalist terms meet equally strong objection. Yet, recently, even pluralist approaches to the globalization of law which call for a more radical departure from the statist legacy explicitly or implicitly refer to the notion of constitutionalism. Animated by democratic concerns for the inclusion of all those concerned by a rule as well as legal certainty and equality, they envisage a new kind of conflicts law that allows for a mutual recognition and reconciliation of the different legal orders and regimes emerging in world society. Hence, constitutionalism, when employed in a global context, appears but as a reminiscence of an historical achievement. It serves as a cipher under which the reconstruction of law under conditions of globalization has begun and will continue until more adequate concepts will be discovered.

62. The System Theory of Niklas Luhmann and the Constitutionalization of the World Society

Author:
Clemens Mattheis
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
The article takes a critical look at the current 'constitutionalization vs. fragmentation' debate and examines it on a system theory-based outlook. The historical background deals with Niklas Luhmann's system theory and analyses whether his move 'from territoriality to functionality' is applicable to modern international law. The contribution analyses a possible constitutionalization in Luhmann's “world society” in form of structural couplings and beyond a societal constitutionalism or a postnational order. The essential argument is that there is a constitutional system-theoretical element in modern, state-centered international law: a value-based, 'structural coupling' between the political system and the law system in terms common values such as core human rights and basic principles.

63. The Constitutional Function of Contemporary International Tribunals, or Kelsen's Visions Vindicated

Author:
Tomer Broude
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
In this article the author makes two complementary arguments, one deceptively simple, the other deceptively esoteric. First, contemporary international courts and tribunals (most, though not necessarily all) are increasingly requested, or required (often, though not always), to adjudicate issues in ways that are tantamount to international constitutional judicial review of national acts and domestic measures, rather than traditional interstate dispute resolution. This is a point that seems to have so far evaded most of the contemporary literature on the continually enhanced judicialized system of international law, and its constitutionalization. Second, in order to understand the emergence of this current predilection towards constitutional judicial review at the international level, it is instructive to look back to Hans Kelsen's post-World War II visionary approach towards the (then) prospective constitutional role of the international judiciary. This approach is analogous to (and has its roots in) Kelsen's Weimar-era positions on the preferred role of courts as constitutional guardians in domestic legal systems. These arguments are demonstrated through analyses of recent jurisprudence of the ICJ, the WTO, and the ECtHR.

64. Editorial

Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
We are proud to present the Goettingen Journal of International Law's first issue of 2012. After the successful three issues of last year, GoJIL can now turn to its new and exciting projects of 2012! Since our last issue in January 2012, several events of global importance have filled the newspapers, confronting the global community with the need for new judicial and political solutions. The Arab Spring movement still continues, with the situation in Syria aggravating further, which has led to the UN Security Council to authorize the establishment of the United Nations Supervising Mission in Syria (UNSMIS).
Topic:
Security and International Law
Political Geography:
Arabia and Syria

65. The Status and Future of International Law after the Libya Intervention

Author:
Pierre Thielbörger
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
This article uses the case of the Libya intervention to address three general claims about international law. Firstly, it examines whether the reliance of the intervention on the mechanisms of collective security under the UN Charter suggests that international law relating to peace and security has finally overcome its post-9/11 crisis. It concludes that the resolution's vague wording – which makes the distinction between what is “legal” under the resolution, and what is not, hard to draw – undermines such an assumption. Secondly, it explores whether the Libya intervention has put new emphasis on what has been termed the “emerging right of democratic governance”. In spite of the underlying democracy-enhancing spirit of the execution of the intervention, Resolution 1973 was exclusively written in the language of human rights. It did little to indicate a changed attitude of States towards a norm of democratic governance. Finally, the article examines whether the case of Libya shows a renewed international attitude towards States which violate the most fundamental human rights of their citizens. The article concludes by suggesting that, in this third respect, a more muscular liberalism is indeed on the rise again in international law, challenging the formerly almighty concept of State sovereignty. In contributing to this subtle transformation, the Libyan case has made a genuine contribution to the development of the international legal order.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
America, Libya, and United Nations

66. The Responsibility to Protect and the Role of Regional Organizations: An Appraisal of the African Union's Interventions

Author:
Tom Kabau
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
This article examines the dilemmas and opportunities of the African Union, a regional organization, in implementing the responsibility to protect concepts in respect to forceful intervention to prevent or stop the occurrence of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union specifically mandates the Union to forcefully intervene in a Member State in such circumstances. Although the African Union has successfully resolved some situations where peaceful negotiations or consensual military intervention was sufficient, there has also been failure by the Union where such means fail or are inadequate. Such instances include the Darfur conflict where peacekeeping was insufficient, and recently in Libya where the African Union openly opposed enforcement of no fly zones to protect civilians. This article is of the view that the African Union's failure to implement Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act, even in deserving situations, may have been aggravated by the failure to institutionalize the concept of responsible sovereignty within the Union's legal framework and processes. Despite the forceful intervention mandate, there are also provisions that affirm the principles of non-interference. The AU system therefore fails to resolve the dilemma between sovereignty and intervention. Sovereignty preservation remains as an effective legal and political justification for non-intervention by the AU. This has promoted a subsequent trend of greater sovereignty concerns by the Union. Institutionalization of the concepts postulated under the emerging norm of responsibility to protect within the AU framework and processes can contribute to the elimination of the legal and political dilemmas of forceful intervention by the Union.
Topic:
Crime and War
Political Geography:
Africa and Libya

67. The Continuing Functions of Article 98 of the Rome Statute

Author:
Jens M. Iverson
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
According to the current jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court, Article 98 of the Rome Statute does not forbid the issuance of an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state. The African Union Commission vehemently objects to this reading of Article 98. Because it viewed the function of Article 98 as forbidding such arrest warrants, it views the current jurisprudence as effectively reading Article 98 out of the Statute, with no continuing function. This article demonstrates the continuing function of Article 98. This continuing function includes immunities resulting from agreements under Article 98(2), as well as customary immunities pertaining to property, persons, diplomatic immunity, and state immunity. Countering the rhetoric and providing a close analysis of the current state of Article 98 in ICC jurisprudence is useful, both with respect to understanding the current operation of Article 98 and to reflect on balancing multiple maximands of criminal law, human rights law, and the international law of immunity.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Law
Political Geography:
Africa and Rome

68. Sovereign Debt Crises as Threats to the Peace: Restructuring under Chapter VII of the UN Charter?

Author:
Matthias Goldmann
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Sovereign debt crises might significantly decrease the level of socioeconomic rights enjoyment for the population in the affected state. According to recent data, they even increase the risk of civil unrest. However, the resolution of sovereign debt crises is compromised by legal obstacles which result from the absence of a statutory, obligatory bankruptcy procedure for states. On the one hand, creditors might refuse to accept an exchange of their debt instrument in the frame of a workout and choose to litigate against the state. On the other hand, states might worsen their situation by unnecessarily delaying inevitable workouts. This article explores whether and to what extent the powers UN Security Council could be deployed in order to mitigate these problems. This requires a reconsideration of the concept of peace in Article 39 UN Charter. The article concludes that, at the request of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Security Council might put a stay on the enforcement of creditors' claims or order workout negotiations.
Topic:
Security, International Law, War, and International Monetary Fund
Political Geography:
Germany and United Nations

69. Have Measures Adopted by States to Cope With the Global Financial Crisis Been in Accordance With Their Obligations Under International Investment Law?

Author:
Maximilian Hocke
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
International investment law guarantees broad protection. The following article examines how measures against the Global Financial Crisis, e.g. the acquisition of shares or the refusal to help particular financial institutions, affected those standards. However, the article argues that due to public policy reasons the measures have been in accordance with all protection standards.
Topic:
Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
China, Germany, and Switzerland

70. Human Rights and International Investment Law: Investment Protection as Human Right?

Author:
Nicolas Klein
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Legal research conceptualized the relationship between International Investment Law (IIL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL) until recently rather as opposing fields of law with colliding policy interests as well as contradictory rules and regulations. However, lately a new approach is gaining increasing support in the academic community: Investment protection could be understood as being part of human rights law. Such a conclusion may be perceived as highly controversial, however, from a conceptual perspective IIL and IHRL share more common ground than differences. This article will argue, first, that certain material standards of IIL can be conceptualized to be human rights-like guarantees of a minimum standard of protection and second, that such an understanding does not lead to a neoliberal proliferation of economic rights but, to the contrary, may serve as an important conceptual tool to prevent overly extensive interpretations of investment treaties and to balance economic rights with other human rights in case of norm conflict. After all, IIL could prove to be not more, but also not less, than “One Out of a Crowd” of all other fundamental human rights.
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Germany, and Guinea

Refine your search