Development International Law – Part 17

UNHCR’s Contribution to the Development of International Refugee Law: Its Foundations and Evolution
Corinne Lewis
International Journal of Refugee Law
Volume 17, Number 1, March 2005 p.67-90

[Articles] Parochial versus Universal Criminal Law
Fletcher, G. P.
Journal of International Criminal Justice
Volume 3, Number 1, March 2005

This paper takes two legislative developments in the English-speaking world – the precedent of statutory criminalization of treason in England, and the establishment of federal criminal law in the United States – and compares them with the development of two distinct branches of supranational criminal law: International Criminal Law and European criminal law. In doing so, the author demonstrates two different approaches to criminal law and the way in which criminal law can be used to protect different values. The author argues that the criminalization of certain violations follows two distinct patterns. In some cases, criminal law aims at preserving self-interest: for example, in the EU, this has taken the form of concentrating efforts to criminalize fraud against the EU’s budget. This is what the author calls ‘parochial criminal law’. In other cases, criminal law has the broader purpose of pursuing the protection of universal interests: this is the case of the provisions criminalizing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The author concludes with some suggestions for reform of the general parts of both International Criminal Law and European criminal law.

[Articles] ‘The Milosevic Trial — Live!’: An Iconical Analysis of International Law’s Claim of Legitimate Authority
Steinitz, M.
Journal of International Criminal Justice
Volume 3, Number 1, March 2005

It has been argued that in order for a normative system to qualify as ‘law’, it must, at the least, claim to possess legitimate authority and to be supreme to other normative systems. This article examines one highly visible development in international law – the criminal war trials – from a sociological perspective, trying to discern whether and how international law claims legitimate authority and supremacy. Specifically, it focuses on a deeply symbolic example of international criminal adjudication: the Milosevic trial – a ‘transitional justice’ trial in that it is a trial held after a conflict that has deeply disrupted the relevant community. The article offers a sociological reading of the symbolism of the interpersonal dynamics of the Milosevic trial and concludes that what is in fact attempted, and perhaps achieved, through internationalizing the transitional-justice trials is the internationalization of the transition process itself. The subject of the transition from an illiberal and illegitimate regime to a liberal and legitimate one is not in fact the former Yugoslavia, but the ‘international community’ itself. The Rule of law that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia seeks to vindicate is not only law as such, and not necessarily the law of the former Yugoslavia, but the rule of international law.

[Articles] THE ‘HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH’ ADVOCATED BY THE UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND BY THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION:: IS IT RELEVANT FOR WTO LAW AND POLICY?
Petersmann, E.-U.
Journal of International Economic Law
Volume 7, Number 3, 2004

The today universal recognition of ‘inalienable’ human rights implies that the legitimacy and legality of all government measures, including rules and decisions of intergovernmental organizations, depend also on their respect for human rights as defined in national Constitutions and international law. This contribution argues that the universal human rights obligations of every Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) pursue objectives (like protection of personal autonomy, freedom of choice, legal security) that complement those of liberal trade and may be legally relevant context for the interpretation of WTO rules (chapters I-II). The human rights approach to international trade advocated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (chapter III) could, like the 1996 WTO and 1998 ILO Declarations on core labor standards (chapter IV), promote synergies between human rights law and GATT/WTO law. The ‘basic rights approach’ to trade liberalization in European integration (chapter V), as well as the GATT-, WTO- and EC dispute settlement jurisprudence (chapter VI) confirm that, on the level of principles, human rights and liberal trade rules do not conflict with each other. The emerging ‘human right to democratic governance’ requires, however, more effective parliamentary involvement, citizen participation, and ‘deliberative democracy’ in WTO matters (chapter VII). A WTO Declaration (1) confirming the commitment of WTO Members to respect their existing human rights obligations in all policy areas; (2) supporting the progressive development of human rights through the competent UN and other human rights bodies; and (3) welcoming the UN initiatives for harnessing the complementarity of WTO rules and human rights for welfare-increasing cooperation among free citizens, could enhance the ‘input-legitimacy’ as well as the ‘output-legitimacy’of WTO negotiations without creating new WTO obligations or new WTO competencies. The limited mandate of the WTO, however, and the divergent human rights concepts and diverse constitutional traditions in WTO member countries, make a consensus among WTO Members on such a Declaration unlikely. Even though the WTO should leave the interpretation, monitoring, and progressive development of human rights to specialized human rights bodies outside the WTO, WTO dispute settlement bodies may be legally required to address arguments that human rights may be relevant legal context for interpreting WTO rules (chapter VIII).

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Constitutions, Development International Law, International Criminal Law, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Rule of law.