280 research outputs found
Populism and International Law: What Backlash and Which Rubicon?
No full textThis chapter introduces the theme of the volume, populism and international law, as well as its chapters. It does so by first discussing the Dutch political reality with its increasingly populist tendencies that was on the minds of the Editors when deciding to devote a volume to this theme. Subsequently, it explores briefly the many faces of populism and the different manifestations of the relationship between populism and international law. Rather than taking the so-called populist backlash against globalisation, international law and governance, at face value, this volume aims to dig deeper beyond mere ‘backlash’ rhetoric and wonders ‘what backlash are we talking about, really?’ While populism is contextual and contingent on the society in which it rises and its relationship with international law and institutions thus has differed likewise, this chapter’s historical reflections assist in our examination of what we find so dangerous about populism and problematic in its relationship with international law. It concludes by introducing the chapters individually and to some degree in relation to each other.</p
Towards a legal methodology of globalization
No full textAccording to the German sociologist and philosopher Niklas Luhmann, globalization is characterized by a shift from territorial borders to functional boundaries.1 Important issue areas2 such as the market, environment, or human rights, have left territorial boundaries behind. Thus, the state has become unable to strike the balance between different values and interests associated with different issue areas. However, on the global scale, no mechanism is in place to substitute for this role of the territorial state.3 In a “club model”, different functionally defined “issue areas” could be separated in a way that the different professional “cells” administering the systems were not connected with each other.4 With the expansion of the narrow schemes to cover more and more ground, however, their self-sufficiency and lack of contact over both territorial and functional borders are becoming untenable
The Phenomenon of Yearbooks in International Law:An Introduction
No full textIn 1970 the first Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (NYIL) was published. The current Volume is No. 50, which means that the Yearbook has now been with us for half a century. The current General Editors decided not to let this moment pass unnoticed, and have devoted this entire Volume to an analysis of the phenomenon of Yearbooks in international law as such. Indeed, not many academic disciplines have Yearbooks, so why do we? What is the added value of having a Yearbook alongside the abundance of international law journals, regular monographs and edited volumes that are produced each year? Does the existence of Yearbooks tell us something about who we are, or who we think we are, or what we have to contribute to the world?</p
Norm violations and punishment beyond the nation-state:Normative orders, authority, and conflict in international society
No full textPunitive practices are highly revealing of a society's social fabric, normative order, and power structure. However, the social sciences and humanities have hitherto studied punishment mostly in the context of the nation-state by examining how people, organizations, and legal institutions punish individual offenders within national boundaries. In contrast, this chapter examines punitive practices of international society, where punitive practices have assumed three main forms: sanctions, international courts and tribunals, and the punitive use of armed force. A punitive lens on international affairs contributes to the understanding of international society in three ways: It identifies which norms and values are at the core of the international order and its conception of justice, it helps identify structures of power and authority in international society, and an analysis of the penal philosophies that buttress the punitive enforcement of norms points to the potential for conflict and cooperation in international society.</p
Does Indonesia have a"low-pay"civil service?
No full textGovernment officials and polcy analysts maintain that Indonesia's civil servants are poorly paid and have been for decades. This conclusion is supported by anecdotal evidence and casual empiricism. The authors systematically analyze the realtionship between government and private compensation levels using data from two large household surveys carried out by Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics: the 1998 Sakernas and 1999 Susenas. The results suggest that government workers with a high school education or less, representing three-quarters of the civil service, earn a pay premium over their private sector counterparts. Civil servants with more than a high school education earn less than they would in the private sector but, on average, the premium is far smaller than commonly is alleged and is in keeping with public/private differentials in other countries. These results prove robust to varying econometric specifications and cast doubt on low pay as an explanation for government corruption.Decentralization,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,National Governance,Knowledge Economy,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,NationalGovernance,Knowledge Economy,Education for the Knowledge Economy,Parliamentary Government
Pursuing Justice for MH17:The Role of the Netherlands
No full textOn 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that set off to fly from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Eastern Ukraine, where an armed conflict took place between Ukrainian armed forces and separatists supported by Russia. This chapter discusses the legal developments around the MH17 crash up to 2018 and what actions the Netherlands has taken and is considering in their pursuit of justice for MH17. In 2018, the Netherlands announced that it holds Russia accountable for its involvement in downing MH17, that it invited Russia to engage in negotiations, and that legal action may follow. Moreover, the Netherlands declared that it is not considering similar action against Ukraine for failing to adequately communicate about the security risks in their airspace unless new evidence would appear. This chapter discusses what those announcements mean, what legal arguments exist against Russia and Ukraine, and what deliberations are relevant for the Netherlands in their consideration whether or not to pursue the judicial path in finding justice for the MH17 victims
Sisyphus in robes: International law, legal interpretation and the absurd
No full textLegal systems across the world contain the obligation to prevent 'absurd interpretations' of law. In international law, an instruction to avoid 'manifestly absurd' interpretations can be found in Article 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. This gives rise to at least two questions that I will take up in this article. First, what is meant by the 'absurd' that is to be avoided in legal interpretation. The short answer to this question is: no one knows exactly. The absurd, by its very nature, resists definition in pre-given categories, as I will argue on the basis of four core thinkers on the absurd: Soren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Thomas Nagel. The second question is more technical and easier to answer: how should lawyers try to avoid absurd interpretations? Here, I turn to absurdist writing and the theatre of the absurd for assistance. Absurdist writing and theatre have developed a number of techniques to make the absurd appear, to let the audience experience that something is fundamentally out of tune. Lawyers use similar techniques, but in reverse and with an opposite purpose: they add exposition, narrative, reasonable language, and stable, rational legal personae. In this way, they boost the rationality and reasonableness of the legal order. However, to come full circle, it is exactly the pretension of rationality and reasonableness that makes the law vulnerable to manifestations of the absurd. The rationality of law is the springboard for the very same absurdity it tries to suppress.</p
Buribunks and foundational paradoxes of international law
No full textSchmitt’s essay ‘The Buribunks’ reflects some age-old problems, tensions and paradoxes of international legal theory, including Schmitt’s own treatment of the history of international law. Both Schmitt’s essay and international legal theory are unable to define their main subject in a fully coherent way. They oscillate between naturalism and positivism, facticity and normativity and between internal and external perspectives. However, the inability to define its main subject does not as such discredit international legal theory or Schmitt’s essay. On the contrary: it is the specific paradoxes and tensions that define what it is to engage in international legal reasoning, just as it is the endless going back and forth between opposite poles that makes the reader familiar with the strange character of the Buribunks
Legal Equality and the International Rule of Law
No full textLegal equality of states is a fundamental principle of international law. The contributions in this special volume examine this principle in today’s international law context while engaging also with Pieter Kooijmans’ book The Doctrine of the Legal Equality of States. This chapter introduces this 1964 book and briefly discusses the various contributions in the present volume against the background of this book
German Yearbook of International Law: Origins, Development, Prospects
No full textThis chapter examines the history, development, function, and future of the German Yearbook of International Law (GYIL). The chapter traces the evolution of the GYIL over many decades, from its inception in the aftermath of the Second World War to the present day, demonstrating how it has moved beyond its origins as a forum in which German scholars could publish their research to become a global platform for the dissemination of scholarship in international law. The chapter also aims to show how the structure and contents of the GYIL have developed in the years since its establishment, reflecting in particular on the impact of the decision to begin to publish contributions authored in English in order to reach the widest possible international audience and the introduction of a double-blind peer review procedure. The chapter concludes that the function and future of the GYIL lie in its capacity to inform a global readership about current research and practice in the sphere of international law taking place in Germany while, at the same time, presenting international viewpoints to a German audience
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