Rule of Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-388
Author(s):  
Michael Kirby
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Law System ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

This article, first delivered at The University of Queensland as the Naida Haxton AM Oration 2019, explores some of the components of the rule of law. It starts with building blocks in the common law system, including law reporting for the derivation of precedents. It describes the notable career of Naida Haxton and her approach to law reporting. It then extends to municipal and international law, including that relevant to universal human rights. In that connection, it describes the author’s work as chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on North Korea. It explains its successes and disappointments. Finally, it concludes with the importance of building effective protections for peace and security and justice, including addressing existential challenges such as pandemics, global climate change, and the control of nuclear weapons. The author argues that these components of the rule of law are ultimately integrated and essential to the safety and protection of human beings and the biosphere everywhere.

‘The Law of Nations Is Common to All Mankind’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Longfield Karr
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The Common ◽  
Fundamental Categories ◽  
Ius Gentium ◽  
Universal Rule

For humanist sixteenth-century jurists such as Guillaume Budé, Ulrich Zasius, Andrea Alciati the ‘rule of law’ was central. In response to the use of law and legal theory to legitimize arbitrary forms of authority, they called for substantive reforms in legal education and practice, which could alleviate the dangers of masking the arbitrary will of rulers with the language of security, utility, and the common good. By focusing on fundamental categories such as ius, natural law, and ius gentium they effectively argued for a universal ‘rule of law’ that could hold political and legal authorities to a higher criterion of justice. In so doing, they redefined fundamental legal categories, ideas, and terms that continue to underpin and structure modern understandings of universal jurisprudence and international law to this day.

Inherited legal systems and effective rule of law: Africa and the colonial legacy

2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Fullerton Joireman
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Law System ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Law System ◽  
The Individual

The question of whether particular types of legal institutions influence the effectiveness of the rule of law has long been answered with conjecture. Common law lawyers and judges tend to believe that the common law system is superior. This opinion is based on the idea that the common law system inherited from the British is more able to protect the rights of the individual than civil law judicial systems. Quite the opposite point of view can be found in lawyers from civil law countries, who may view the common law system as capricious and disorganised. This paper compares the effectiveness of the rule of law in common law and civil law countries in Africa, through a cross-national statistical comparison using Freedom House and Political Risk Services data. The comparison reveals that common law countries in Africa are generally better at providing ‘rule of law’ than are civil law countries.

scholarly journals RULE OF LAW, STATELESS INDIANS AND EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 51-73
Author(s):  
Tamara Joan Duraisingam
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Indian Community ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Employment Rights

This paper focuses on the Rule of Law and it’s reach in terms of the stateless Indian in Malaysia. The term rule of law has been a term used by politicians to secure political mileage during election campaign periods and continues to be used upon formation of a new government. Regardless of its transcendent nature and noble assurance of a government of laws and not men, there would be gaps in the usage of the term rule of law as it does not reach all levels of community. As beneficent as the concept maybe, it does not serve to assist the stateless Indian community in securing employment in the state. Hence the significance of the research is to identify the gaps in the application of Rule of Law in Malaysia towards the stateless Indian. This study is a purely conceptual one which evaluates the constitutional concept of rule of law and its limitations in providing employment rights for Stateless Indians. The predominant research question is whether the Rule of Law as understood by constitutional philosophers helps mitigate the plight of the stateless Indian. It investigates that notion that perhaps stateless Indians are not stateless after all but have been given that categorisation so as to allow for their plight to be catapulted into the international sphere where customary international law and treaty law could in ideal circumstances apply to the stateless Indian. It proposes a thesis that regardless of how closely a State like Malaysia follows and upholds the rule of law, the stateless Indian Community in Malaysia will not necessarily enjoy second generation rights that ought to be made available to all human beings. The second generation right specifically referred to in this research is the right to employment for the stateless Indian.

Hugo Grotius and the Universal Rule of Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Stumpf
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Hugo Grotius ◽  
Universal Rule ◽  
Modern Sense ◽  
The Ideal

In this chapter, it is argued that Hugo Grotius’s system of international law is informed by a profound concept of a ‘rule of law’. While there is a strong tradition of reading Grotius’s works in a ‘liberal’ sense, as propagating a supposedly ‘modern’ sense of minimalist international law set apart from morality, this chapter follows an interpretation first put forward by Martin Wight according to which Grotius conceives of a ‘dual’ or ‘concentric’ system of international relations: hence, there is an inner circle of nations following the ideal of a society of Christian nations in the sense of the respublica Christiana following Christian law, and a wider circle of nations united by the universal fellowship among human beings governed by natural law. The chapter first analyses Grotius’s categorization of legal norms, then his views on the setup of States, and finally his perception of the rule of law in war.

scholarly journals On the essentials of international law in Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (60) ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
Liu Huawen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Governance ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
Central Idea ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Work Related ◽  
History Of ◽  
Current Change ◽  
The Common

Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law was formally established in November, 2020 at the First Central Conference on Work Related to Overall Law-based Governance in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC). It includes a wealth of ideas about international law, which are embodied in his propositions on and accounts of international law, and it has been developed under the current change of the world situation never seen for a century. Essentially, for his thought on international law, the core principles are the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the central idea is to promote building a community with a shared future for mankind, and the main proposition is that the common values of mankind be the guideline for the global governance and international law. As reflected in his thought on the rule of law, the international governance of law is also closely related to the domestic rule of law. His propositions concerning the international governance of law shall be the important guidelines for China to study and practice international law, and will promote and then lead the progress and development of contemporary international law.

Cardinal Richelieu between Vattel and Machiavelli

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Carty
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
God's Will ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
Rule Of Reason

The view that no form of international law existed in seventeenth-century France, and that this time was a part of ‘prehistory’, and thus irrelevant for international legal thought today is challenged. In addition, the traditional claim of Richelieu to be an admirer of Machiavelli and his Ragion di Stato doctrine to the detriment of the aim of concluding treaties and keeping them (as sacred), is refuted by careful historical research. In Richelieu’s thinking, there is a role for law to play but it is law as justice, law in the classical natural law tradition. Those who rule are subject to the rule of law as justice, the rule of God, or the rule of reason. In Richelieu’s world, kings and ministers are rational instruments of the practical implementation of God’s will on earth.

International ethics and international law

1992 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Nardin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
International Ethics ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Ethical Significance

In this paper I am going to argue a familiar but still controversial thesis about the relation between international ethics and international law, which I would sum up in the following list of propositions:First, international law is a source as well as an object of ethical judgements. The idea of legality or the rule of law is an ethical one, and international law has ethical significance because it gives institutional expression to the rule of law in international relations.Secondly, international law—or, more precisely, the idea of the rule of law in international relations—reflects a rule-oriented rather than outcome-oriented ethic of international affairs. By insisting on the priority of rules over outcomes, this ethic rejects consequentialism in all its forms.

The Involvement of UN in Palestine and the Possibility of a Global Protection Force

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-112
Author(s):  
Kainat Kamal
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions are mandated to help nations torn by conflict and create conditions for sustainable peace. These peacekeeping operations hold legitimacy under international law and the ability to deploy troops to advance multidimensional domains. Peacekeeping operations are called upon to maintain peace and security, promote human rights, assist in restoring the rule of law, and help conflict-prone areas create conditions for sustainable peace ("What is Peacekeeping", n.d.). These missions are formed and mandated according to individual cases. The evolution of the global security environment and developing situations in conflictridden areas requires these missions to transform from 'traditional' to 'robust' to 'hybrid', accordingly (e.g., Ishaque, 2021). So why is it that no such model can be seen in restoring peace and protection of Palestinian civilians in one of the most protracted and deadly conflicts in history?

Stakeholder Theory and Justice Issues: The Leap from Business Management to Contemporary International Law

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-180
Author(s):  
Bronik Matwijkiw ◽  
Anja Matwijkiw
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Stakeholder Theory ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The United Nations

AbstractIn this article, the two authors examine the leap from business management to contemporary international law in the context of stakeholder theory. Because stakeholder theory was developed for business management, they provide a thorough account of the original framework. Furthermore, to illustrate the theory's application as a recently adopted parameter for the United Nations, they use former Secretary-General Kofi Atta Annan's 2004-report to the Security Council, "The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies". Proceeding on the hypothesis that while all premises ultimately match traditional positions in general jurisprudence, it appears that stakeholder theory nevertheless forces the United Nations to take sides in an unprecedented manner, especially pertaining to rights-typology and the credentials-checking for this. Finally, some of the most important implications are distilled as part of an attempt to formulate a few recommendations for United Nations justice managers and administrators.

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