Global Constitutionalism argues that parts of international law can be understood as being grounded in the rule of law and human rights, and insists that international law can and should be interpreted and progressively developed in the direction of greater respect for and realization of those principles. Global Constitutionalism has been discussed primarily by European scholars. Yet without the engagement of scholars from other parts of the world, the universalist claims underlying Global Constitutionalism ring hollow. This is particularly true with regard to East Asia, where nearly half the world's population and a growing share of global economic and military capacities are located. Are East Asian perspectives on Global Constitutionalism similar to European perspectives? Against the background of current power shifts in international law, this book constitutes the first cross-cultural work on various facets of Global Constitutionalism and elaborates a more nuanced concept that fits our times.
The law of immunity of states, of international organisations, and of public officials is one of the most important and most controversial topics of international law. The book consists of five parts: ‘State Immunity – National Practice’; State Immunity before the ICJ – The case Germany v Italy; ‘Commercial Activities and State Immunity’; ‘Immunity and Impunity’; and ‘Immunities of International Organisations’. Although immunities are in principle firmly anchored in international law, their precise legal implications are often unclear. The book takes up a number of new trends and challenges in this field and assesses them within the framework of global constitutionalism and multilevel governance. Contains chapters in both English and French.
Drawing on critical theories within and without the international legal discipline, this book offers a fresh approach to the debate on global constitutionalism – an approach that attempts to get beyond the liberal democratic trajectories in which it is currently entrenched.
This thoroughly revised Handbook presents an up-to-date political and philosophical history of global constitutionalism. By exploring the constitutional-like qualities of international affairs, it provides key insight into the evolving world order.
Aoife O'Donoghue explains why normative constitutionalism must underpin the global constitutionalisation debate if it is to realise its critical potential.
The constitutionalization of intellectual property law is often framed as a benign and progressive integration of intellectual property with fundamental rights. Yet this is not a full or even an adequate picture of the ongoing constitutionalization processes affecting IP. This collection of essays, written by international experts and covering a range of different areas of intellectual property law, takes a broader approach to the process. Drawing on constitutional theory, and particularly on ideas of "new constitutionalism", the chapters engage with the complex array of contemporary legal constraints on intellectual property law-making. Such constraints arising in international intellectual property law, human rights law (including human rights protection for right-holders), investment treaties, and forms of private ordering. This collection aims to illuminate the complex role of this constitutional framework, by analysing the overlaps, complementarities, and conflicts between such forms of protection and seeking to establish the effects that this assemblage of global and regional norms has on legal reform projects and interpretations of IP law. Some chapters take a broad theoretical perspective on these processes. Others focus on specific situations in which the relationship between intellectual property law and broader constitutional norms is significant. These contexts range from Art 17 of the EU's Digital Single Market Directive, to the implementation of harmonized trade secrets protection, from the role of Canada's Charter of Rights to the impact of the social model of property in Brazil.
This book develops a sociologically informed theory of constitutionalism in the global realm, addressing both national and transnational forms of constitutional ordering. The book begins with the argument that current approaches to constitutionalism remain tied to a state-based conception of constitutions, and overlooks underlying structural transformations that trigger the emergence of constitutional forms of ordering. Poul F. Kjaer aims to address this shortcoming by offering a sociological and historically informed analysis of the evolution of constitutionalism in the face of globalisation. The analysis contextualises on-going constitutional developments through the use of a long-term historical perspective, which is capable of highlighting the impact of deeper structural transformations unfolding within society. The book looks at the ways in which national and transnational legal forms have evolved alongside one another. It demonstrates that the formation of global constitutions has not resulted in a corresponding decrease in the power of nation states, but instead, legal and political aspects of both the nation state and the transnational have been reconfigured and intensified in a mutually supportive manner. In combining insights from a range of fields, this interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to students and scholars of constitutional law, sociology, global governance studies, and legal, social and political theory.
The Indian Supreme Court, the South African Constitutional Court and the Colombian Constitutional Court have been among the most important and creative courts in the Global South. In Asia, Africa and Latin America, they are seen as activist tribunals that have contributed (or attempted to contribute) to the structural transformation of the public and private spheres of their countries. The cases issued by these courts are creating a constitutionalism of the Global South. This book addresses in a direct and detailed way the jurisprudence of these Courts on three key topics: access to justice, cultural diversity and socioeconomic rights. This volume is a valuable contribution to the discussion about the contours and structure of contemporary constitutionalism. It makes explicit that this discussion has interlocutors both in the Global South and Global North while showing the common discourse between them and the differences on how they interpret and solve key constitutional problems.