Matthew Saul
University of Oslo, Faculty of Law, Faculty Member
- Matthew Saul is an international lawyer with particular expertise in general international law, international human r... moreMatthew Saul is an international lawyer with particular expertise in general international law, international human rights law, and international adjudication. He is Associate Professor in Law at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, Oslo University.
Saul is the editor (with French and White) of International Law and Dispute Settlement: New Techniques and Problems (Hart 2010), (with Sweeney) of International Law and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy (Routledge 2015), and (with Follesdal and Ulfstein) of The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments: Europe and Beyond (forthcoming CUP 2017). His monograph Popular Governance of Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Role of International Law was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014.edit
Circulating transcripts reflect biologically relevant changes in early-onset severe preeclampsia and can accurately classify patient status.
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This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when applying the provisions of international human rights treaties. It brings into focus a methodological framework for operationalising... more
This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when applying the provisions of international human rights treaties. It brings into focus a methodological framework for operationalising international human rights law in judicial contexts.
The chapter begins with a short overview of the main global and regional human rights treaties. This highlights key similarities and differences in the contents and infrastructure of human rights treaties. The next section considers key concepts that help to explain the nature of human rights-based obligations.
The main part of the chapter addresses three central topics from the methodological toolbox. First, interpretation of human rights treaties. Second, tests and thresholds for applying human rights provisions. Third, deference to non-judicial institutions in the adjudication of rights. These are all topics that any institution adjudicating rights will encounter.
The analysis in this chapter provides a reference point for subsequent chapters in this volume, which identify and examine the significance of the choices that Indonesian judges make in the application of human rights.
The chapter begins with a short overview of the main global and regional human rights treaties. This highlights key similarities and differences in the contents and infrastructure of human rights treaties. The next section considers key concepts that help to explain the nature of human rights-based obligations.
The main part of the chapter addresses three central topics from the methodological toolbox. First, interpretation of human rights treaties. Second, tests and thresholds for applying human rights provisions. Third, deference to non-judicial institutions in the adjudication of rights. These are all topics that any institution adjudicating rights will encounter.
The analysis in this chapter provides a reference point for subsequent chapters in this volume, which identify and examine the significance of the choices that Indonesian judges make in the application of human rights.
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Part 1 The Changing Face of International Adjudication 1. Private Disputes and the Public Interest in International Law Vaughan Lowe 2. The International Court of Justice and Environmental Disputes Malgosia Fitzmaurice 3. Complaint and... more
Part 1 The Changing Face of International Adjudication 1. Private Disputes and the Public Interest in International Law Vaughan Lowe 2. The International Court of Justice and Environmental Disputes Malgosia Fitzmaurice 3. Complaint and Grievance Mechanisms in International Dispute Settlement Duncan French and Richard Kirkham 4. Stuck in the Middle With You?: Alternative Approaches to Realising Accountability for Human Rights Violations by Business Sorcha Macleod Part 2 Problems and Techniques in Substantive Areas of International Law 5. Practice and Procedure of Dispute Settlement in Individual Communication Cases within the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Congruence or Conflict? Sandy Ghandhi 6. Trends in Dispute Settlement in the Law of the Sea: Towards the Increasing Availability of Compulsory Means Robin Churchill 7. The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism as a New Technique for Settling Disputes in International Law Sury...
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This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples... more
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
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How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolonged occupation? To shed light on this question, the first part of this chapter examines doctrine on the meaning of the right in international... more
How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolonged occupation? To shed light on this question, the first part of this chapter examines doctrine on the meaning of the right in international law and its relation to the law of occupation. It explains how the right to self-determination may serve as part of the law of occupation’s interpretative framework, but also as a standalone component of the international legal framework for prolonged occupations. The second part of this chapter examines the prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory from the perspective of the right to self-determination. Specific attention is given to the Oslo Accords, circumstances in Gaza, population movement, and natural resource usage. The analysis brings more fully into focus the distinct nature of the two functions of the right to self-determination and illustrates the importance of keeping them separate. The third part of the chapter examines the legal consequences that follow from denying the right to self-determination. The focus is on the right’s importance for the international community of states and the obligations this generates. The chapter argues that when circumstances add complexity and uncertainty to the operation of a specialised legal regime, it is important to recognise that fundamental principles of international law continue to operate as a baseline securing protection of international community interests. The right to self-determination as a precept of non-domination provides legal protection in situations of prolonged occupation regardless of the haze that can form around the meaning and application of the law of occupation
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How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What challenges and opportunities do these connections create for the realization of human rights? What should the IHRJ do in order to maximize... more
How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What challenges and opportunities do these connections create for the realization of human rights? What should the IHRJ do in order to maximize the contributions of national parliaments to human rights? To shed light on these issues, this paper takes the following approach. Firstly, an account of how the IHRJ should be viewed in relation to the constitutional practices of states. This leads to consideration of what the role of parliaments should be to realise human rights. Subsequently, points of connection between the IHRJ and national parliaments are identified and explored, with a particular focus on how they might advance or detract from the human rights role of parliaments. The penultimate section examines why relations between the IHRJ and national parliaments break down and how the parties involved should respond. The final section proposes a set of principles for organising how IHRJ institutions relate to national parliaments: supportive subsidiarity, coordination of connections, and contextual sensitivity. Future research agendas are indicated.
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Research Interests: Law and Political Science
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This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the legitimacy of a transitional authority. Transitional authorities often have a weak claim to represent the will of the people. A commitment to... more
This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the legitimacy of a transitional authority. Transitional authorities often have a weak claim to represent the will of the people. A commitment to the international law of self-determination may help a transitional authority to persuade its domestic and international audiences that its purpose is advancement, rather than denial, of governance by and for the people. Yet the content of this law is subject to contestation. The analysis in this chapter covers several features of the self-determination practice of transitional authorities: establishing a transitional authority; developing space for political communication; and creating a popular mandate. The chapter argues that international law offers a transitional authority a means to articulate its normative vision of self-determination, but also to operate lawfully without fully delivering this vision. This reduces the value of a commitment to the law as part of an explanation for why domestic and international audiences should recognise that a transitional authority has the right to rule. It increases the importance of ad hoc instruments for the regulation of transitional periods: peace agreements, aid agreements, and UN Security Council resolutions.
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This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples... more
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
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We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by regional human right courts and the UN human rights treaty bodies. This emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) is said to... more
We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by regional human right courts and the UN human rights treaty bodies. This emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) is said to threaten national democratic processes and 'hollow out' the scope of domestic, democratic decision-making. Against this backlash, it is striking that domestic parliaments have a key role in holding state authorities to their international human rights based obligations. They interpret and apply human rights in the laws they make, and when holding the executive to account. Parliaments often fail in these tasks, with implications for the individuals whose rights are infringed – and burdening the IHRJ with cases. If progress is to be made, capacity and awareness must increase amongst parliamentarians at the domestic level. Thus argue international parliamentary bodies, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-P...
Research Interests: Human Rights Law, International Law, Human Rights, Political Science, Legislative Politics, and 9 moreDeliberative Democracy, Parliamentary Studies, European Convention of Human Rights, Democracy, Conceptual politics and Parliamentary Studies, Legislative Studies, European Court of Human Rights, UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies, and Executive Legislative Relations
This article addresses how the processes of national parliaments feature in the ECtHR’s practice of affording states a margin of appreciation. The analysis is centered on a collection of recent case law, including prominent cases such as... more
This article addresses how the processes of national parliaments feature in the ECtHR’s practice of affording states a margin of appreciation. The analysis is centered on a collection of recent case law, including prominent cases such as Animal Defenders International v UK, and S.A.S v France, which have been associated with a deepening of the Court’s concept of subsidiarity. Questions addressed include: How does the Court’s attention to the quality of parliamentary process relate to a theory of deepened subsidiarity? Which cases support the thesis of deepened subsidiarity in the context of parliamentary process? What is the scope of the Court’s concept of parliamentary process? What criteria has the Court used for assessing the quality of parliamentary process? And, to what level of scrutiny have parliamentary processes been examined? A key argument is that although there is considerable ambiguity in how the Court depicts its engagement with the quality of parliamentary processes, ...
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) can review the quality of a legislative process. This article calls such review ‘active subsidiarity’ and investigates empirically when and how such subsidiarity shapes legislative processes by... more
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) can review the quality of a legislative process. This article calls such review ‘active subsidiarity’ and investigates empirically when and how such subsidiarity shapes legislative processes by tracing implementation of the Court’s decision in one case: Lindheim and Others v. Norway. How did the ECtHR’s criticism of the absence of a balancing exercise shape the corrective legislative process? The article shows that the ECtHR’s reasoning caused the legislative process to include a visible balancing exercise, but that this did not enhance the democratic quality of the parliament’s work on the rights issues. The article analyses these findings from the perspective of the variety of legislative circumstances that come before the ECtHR. It is difficult to anticipate how active subsidiarity will affect legislative processes as a general matter but certain contexts, such as those of minority governments, may be more conducive to democracy enhancin...
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This article explores the treatment of democracy in the formulation of UN resolutions, peace agreements, and external aid agreements related to the post-conflict reconstruction of Sierra Leone. In so doing, it seeks to contribute towards... more
This article explores the treatment of democracy in the formulation of UN resolutions, peace agreements, and external aid agreements related to the post-conflict reconstruction of Sierra Leone. In so doing, it seeks to contribute towards a fuller understanding of the relevance of the practice of post-conflict reconstruction for the debate on democracy in international law. The analysis takes account of not only whether democracy was treated as an international legal concept, but also the relationship between the approach taken to the definition of democracy and the effectiveness of the reconstruction process. A central argument is that internationally facilitated post-conflict reconstruction can appear to be conducive to the articulation, by states, of democracy in international legal terms. However, it is also contended that the willingness of states to take this step can be seen as dependent on the existence of an appropriate forum. On this basis, it is concluded that the signific...
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How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolonged occupation? To shed light on this question, the first part of this chapter examines doctrine on the meaning of the right in international... more
How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolonged occupation? To shed light on this question, the first part of this chapter examines doctrine on the meaning of the right in international law and its relation to the law of occupation. It explains how the right to self-determination may serve as part of the law of occupation’s interpretative framework, but also as a standalone component of the international legal framework for prolonged occupations. The second part of this chapter examines the prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory from the perspective of the right to self-determination. Specific attention is given to the Oslo Accords, circumstances in Gaza, population movement, and natural resource usage. The analysis brings more fully into focus the distinct nature of the two functions of the right to self-determination and illustrates the importance of keeping them separate. The third part of the chapter examines the legal consequences that follow from denying the right to self-determination. The focus is on the right’s importance for the international community of states and the obligations this generates.
The chapter argues that when circumstances add complexity and uncertainty to the operation of a specialised legal regime, it is important to recognise that fundamental principles of international law continue to operate as a baseline securing protection of international community interests. The right to self-determination as a precept of non-domination provides legal protection in situations of prolonged occupation regardless of the haze that can form around the meaning and application of the law of occupation
The chapter argues that when circumstances add complexity and uncertainty to the operation of a specialised legal regime, it is important to recognise that fundamental principles of international law continue to operate as a baseline securing protection of international community interests. The right to self-determination as a precept of non-domination provides legal protection in situations of prolonged occupation regardless of the haze that can form around the meaning and application of the law of occupation
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Ronald St. John Macdonald and Douglas M. Johnston (eds.). Towards World Constitutionalism, Issues in the Legal Ordering of the World Community ; Colin Warbrick and Stephen Tierney (eds.). Towards an International Legal Community? The Sovereignty of States and the Sovereignty of International Lawmore
This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the legitimacy of a transitional authority. Transitional authorities often have a weak claim to represent the will of the people. A commitment to... more
This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the legitimacy of a transitional authority. Transitional authorities often have a weak claim to represent the will of the people. A commitment to the international law of self-determination may help a transitional authority to persuade its domestic and international audiences that its purpose is advancement, rather than denial, of governance by and for the people. Yet the content of this law is subject to contestation. The analysis in this chapter covers several features of the self-determination practice of transitional authorities: establishing a transitional authority; developing space for political communication; and creating a popular mandate. The chapter argues that international law offers a transitional authority a means to articulate its normative vision of self-determination, but also to operate lawfully without fully delivering this vision. This reduces the value of a commitment to the law as part of an explanation for why domestic and international audiences should recognise that a transitional authority has the right to rule. It increases the importance of ad hoc instruments for the regulation of transitional periods: peace agreements, aid agreements, and UN Security Council resolutions.
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How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What challenges and opportunities do these connections create for the realization of human rights? What should the IHRJ do in order to maximize... more
How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What challenges and opportunities do these connections create for the realization of human rights? What should the IHRJ do in order to maximize the contributions of national parliaments to human rights? To shed light on these issues, this paper takes the following approach. Firstly, an account of how the IHRJ should be viewed in relation to the constitutional practices of states. This leads to consideration of what the role of parliaments should be to realise human rights. Subsequently, points of connection between the IHRJ and national parliaments are identified and explored, with a particular focus on how they might advance or detract from the human rights role of parliaments. The penultimate section examines why relations between the IHRJ and national parliaments break down and how the parties involved should respond. The final section proposes a set of principles for organising how IHRJ institutions relate to national parliaments: supportive subsidiarity, coordination of connections, and contextual sensitivity. Future research agendas are indicated.
Research Interests:
We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by regional human right courts and the UN human rights treaty bodies. This emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) is said to... more
We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by regional human right courts and the UN human rights treaty bodies. This emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) is said to threaten national democratic processes and 'hollow out' the scope of domestic, democratic decision-making.
Against this backlash, it is striking that domestic parliaments have a key role in holding state authorities to their international human rights based obligations. They interpret and apply human rights in the laws they make, and when holding the executive to account. Parliaments often fail in these tasks, with implications for the individuals whose rights are infringed – and burdening the IHRJ with cases. If progress is to be made, capacity and awareness must increase amongst parliamentarians at the domestic level. Thus argue international parliamentary bodies, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The present book confronts the backlash head on, by examining the human rights role of national parliaments and insisting that the international human rights judiciary may advance the efforts of parliaments.
The book identifies and analyses opportunities and challenges for developing how the IHRJ relates to national parliaments. Taking Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as its main focus, and drawing on theory, doctrine, and practice from a range of perspectives, the contributing authors reflect on a series of key issues:
- What should be the role of parliaments to realise human rights?
- Which factors influence the effects of the IHRJ on national parliaments' efforts?
- How can the IHRJ adjust its influence on parliamentary process?
- What triggers backlash against the IHRJ from parliaments, and when?
- In an environment of increasing scepticism about supranational rights adjudication, how might greater parliamentary engagement in the interpretation and application of human rights law enhance the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of the IHRJ?
This chapter provides the background and analytical framework for the book, through an account of the research problem in relation to on-going scholarly and policy debates to which the book contributes. An indication of the contents of the individual chapters is also provided.
Against this backlash, it is striking that domestic parliaments have a key role in holding state authorities to their international human rights based obligations. They interpret and apply human rights in the laws they make, and when holding the executive to account. Parliaments often fail in these tasks, with implications for the individuals whose rights are infringed – and burdening the IHRJ with cases. If progress is to be made, capacity and awareness must increase amongst parliamentarians at the domestic level. Thus argue international parliamentary bodies, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The present book confronts the backlash head on, by examining the human rights role of national parliaments and insisting that the international human rights judiciary may advance the efforts of parliaments.
The book identifies and analyses opportunities and challenges for developing how the IHRJ relates to national parliaments. Taking Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as its main focus, and drawing on theory, doctrine, and practice from a range of perspectives, the contributing authors reflect on a series of key issues:
- What should be the role of parliaments to realise human rights?
- Which factors influence the effects of the IHRJ on national parliaments' efforts?
- How can the IHRJ adjust its influence on parliamentary process?
- What triggers backlash against the IHRJ from parliaments, and when?
- In an environment of increasing scepticism about supranational rights adjudication, how might greater parliamentary engagement in the interpretation and application of human rights law enhance the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of the IHRJ?
This chapter provides the background and analytical framework for the book, through an account of the research problem in relation to on-going scholarly and policy debates to which the book contributes. An indication of the contents of the individual chapters is also provided.
Research Interests: Human Rights Law, International Law, Human Rights, Legislative Politics, Deliberative Democracy, and 8 moreParliamentary Studies, European Convention of Human Rights, Democracy, Conceptual politics and Parliamentary Studies, Legislative Studies, European Court of Human Rights, Executive-Legislative Relations, and UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies
How should the population of a post-conflict state be involved in the decision-making on the reconstruction of the state? This book has identified and explored the suitability of the international legal parameters that are most relevant... more
How should the population of a post-conflict state be involved in the decision-making on the reconstruction of the state? This book has identified and explored the suitability of the international legal parameters that are most relevant to this question. In so doing, it has argued that international law is not without relevance in this area, but also that the usefulness of the law is heavily linked to the preferences of the actors with authority. This concluding chapter recaps some of the main findings of the book that underpin this argument. It then considers the implications that this study has for related issues in international law and politics. In particular, the policy debate on best practice in post-conflict reconstruction and the multidisciplinary jus post bellum debate, especially the part that queries how international law might most usefully be harnessed after conflict. Attention is also given to how the findings of the book might inform thinking on matters related to the nature of the international legal norms and institutions that have been addressed. Recap The context and problem Over the last twenty years, the practice of large-scale international involvement in a state for the purposes of reconstruction after conflict has been a prominent feature of international relations. This practice has generated a host of policy-based literature. Contributors to this debate have studied the efforts in places such as Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Iraq, with a view to discovering what works and what does not work, in terms of the approach taken to the rebuilding of the states. One of the main recommendations from this work has been about popular involvement in governance, specifically, that the legitimacy and effectiveness of internationally enabled reconstruction is likely to be linked to the input that the affected population have into 225 * This is the pre-proof version of the concluding chapter of M. Saul Popular Governance of Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Role of International Law (CUP, 2014)
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This chapter has two main aims. The first is to draw attention to the scope for international law to influence the approach that international actors take to the identification of an interim government to lead post-conflict... more
This chapter has two main aims. The first is to draw attention to the scope for international law to influence the approach that international actors take to the identification of an interim government to lead post-conflict reconstruction. It does this by identifying the requirements of the relevant international law and considering the extent to which this is likely to restrain the discretion of international actors when determining who to support. The second aim is to develop a clearer understanding of the appropriateness of the international law from the perspective on the policy debate for best practice for international engagement. It does this by considering how international law relates to key best practice principles and examining the significance of the current condition of international law for the internationally enabled reconstruction process that unfolded in Afghanistan from 2001 onwards.
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What role does international law have in post-conflict reconstruction policy? By addressing certain areas of practice where there is a particularly close relationship between law and policy and/or potential for the relationship to be... more
What role does international law have in post-conflict reconstruction policy? By addressing certain areas of practice where there is a particularly close relationship between law and policy and/or potential for the relationship to be particularly antagonistic, the individual chapters of this book have made an important contribution to a fuller understanding of the ways in which international law and policy on reconstruction interact in the aftermath of conflict. This concluding chapter attempts to help further develop the knowledge base. It does so by drawing on the individual chapters to identify and reflect upon key points that correspond with the three main research questions that underpin the book as a whole: how does international law regulate policy making on post-conflict reconstruction? How does international law relate to the implementation of the best practice postulates on post-conflict reconstruction? What potential is there for international law to be harnessed more effectively towards the interests of achieving a sustainable peace through reconstruction after conflict? How does international law regulate policy on post-conflict reconstruction? This question is about the substantive requirements of the relevant international law, but it is also about the form that the requirements take and the nature of the associated compliance mechanisms. The book as a whole has provided insights of general relevance both in terms of the contents of international law and the way in which it operates to exert an influence in the aftermath of conflict. This is the draft version of the concluding chapter of M. Saul and J. A. Sweeney (eds.) International Law and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy (Routledge, 2014) Thanks to James A Sweeney for useful comments on an earlier draft.
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The quality of parliamentary process has been a relevant factor for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) in a number of recent judgments. This article asks: to what extent could the technical purpose for assessing... more
The quality of parliamentary process has been a relevant factor for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) in a number of recent judgments. This article asks: to what extent could the technical purpose for assessing parliamentary process – margin of appreciation and/or proportionality analysis – structure the assessment? The analysis combines study of the ECtHR's practice with theory on the margin of appreciation and the proportionality test. Four cases are selected to represent different ways in which parliamentary process has been dealt with by the Court: Animal Defenders International v. UK; Sukhovetskyy v. Ukraine; Lindheim v. Norway; and Parrillo v. Italy. The main argument is that the Court has been hazy about the technical purpose that reference to parliamentary process is serving in its reasoning. This has affected the coherence of reasoning within cases and the development of a general doctrine on the assessment of parliamentary process. Judges interested in the legitimacy of the Court and in favour of placing value in parliamentary process should work towards clearer explanation of the technical purpose it serves within the Court's reasoning.
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This chapter examines the role of and problems faced by the UN Security Council (SC) in relation to collective security and dispute settlement. The chapter is particularly interested in the effectiveness of the SC and how this could be... more
This chapter examines the role of and problems faced by the UN Security Council (SC) in relation to collective security and dispute settlement. The chapter is particularly interested in the effectiveness of the SC and how this could be improved. A central argument is that effectiveness is dependent upon legitimacy, which in large part includes respect for the canons of international law. Analysis is centred on the key dispute settlement functions undertaken by the SC: investigation, judgment, and implementation (enforcement). The focus is on the SC because it alone has the power to bind Member States, a power which is not shared by the UN General Assembly (GA), except in budgetary matters. This is not to suggest, of course, that the GA has no role in international dispute settlement, nor that it does not act in a quasi-judicial manner, but the absence of binding powers limits its impact. Similarly, mention of the SC as a legislature is only to the extent that a particular action is relevant for the analysis of its dispute settlement function.
ABSTRACT
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ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
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Research Interests: Law and International Law
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples... more
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
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This article identifies and explores some of the legal consequences that flow from the various normative levels that have been ascribed to the right of self-determination in international legal doctrine. Four normative levels are... more
This article identifies and explores some of the legal consequences that flow from the various normative levels that have been ascribed to the right of self-determination in international legal doctrine. Four normative levels are considered: human right, association with sovereignty, erga omnes, and jus cogens. A particular focus of the article is on how the doctrinal debate surrounding each normative level might impact on the willingness of states to help improve the determinacy of the scope and content of the right. The article argues that there is a haziness surrounding the normative status of the right to self-determination and that this can help to explain the reluctance of states to publicise their views on the scope and content of the norm in international law. The article concludes with some suggestions as to how a clearer understanding of the normative status of the right to self-determination might be achieved.
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This article is an attempt to draw attention to the nature of the assistance model of state reconstruction and its significance for the UN system. Traditional international legal doctrine identifies valid state consent with an effective... more
This article is an attempt to draw attention to the nature of the assistance model of state reconstruction and its significance for the UN system. Traditional international legal doctrine identifies valid state consent with an effective domestic government. Moreover, effective control remains the means for applying the legal right of self-determination for the population of a state as a whole. Nonetheless, a frequently adopted paradigm for large-scale international involvement in the reconstruction of an ineffective state operates through the consent of an ineffective government. The assistance model is found in the recent past of Haiti (1994-1997; 2004-), Sierra Leone (1998-2005), Liberia (2003-), Afghanistan (2001-), in Iraq following the formal end of the belligerent occupation (2004-), and there are signs that it could soon be pursued in Somalia. To reveal how the assistance model of state reconstruction in fact relates to the political independence of the target state and its people, the key features of the assistance model and related legal issues are addressed. The main argument is that while the assistance model appears unremarkable, in fact it offers little protection for political independence and as a consequence puts at risk the core values of the UN system of self-determination of peoples and international peace.
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The book under review, Hierarchy in International Law:The Place of Human Rights, is one outcome of a research project at the Amsterdam Center for International Law. The broader project has the title: ‘The emerging international... more
The book under review, Hierarchy in International Law:The Place of Human Rights, is one
outcome of a research project at the Amsterdam Center for International Law. The
broader project has the title: ‘The emerging international constitutional order: the implications
of hierarchy in international law for the coherence and legitimacy of international
decision-making’. The debate on whether and in what manner the international
legal order should be conceptualised in constitutional terms is long running and includes
various theoretical perspectives. Hierarchy in International Law does not attempt
to add another strand of theory to this debate. Rather it seeks to contribute to the
debate by examining how international human rights law has been treated by judicial
bodies when it conflicts with other international law. The premise of the book is that if
international human rights law is treated by courts in a favourable manner when it
conflicts with other international law, this will provide evidence of legal superiority
and thereby support the idea that international human rights law has constitutional
status in international law.
outcome of a research project at the Amsterdam Center for International Law. The
broader project has the title: ‘The emerging international constitutional order: the implications
of hierarchy in international law for the coherence and legitimacy of international
decision-making’. The debate on whether and in what manner the international
legal order should be conceptualised in constitutional terms is long running and includes
various theoretical perspectives. Hierarchy in International Law does not attempt
to add another strand of theory to this debate. Rather it seeks to contribute to the
debate by examining how international human rights law has been treated by judicial
bodies when it conflicts with other international law. The premise of the book is that if
international human rights law is treated by courts in a favourable manner when it
conflicts with other international law, this will provide evidence of legal superiority
and thereby support the idea that international human rights law has constitutional
status in international law.