Immanuel Kant’s Perpetual Peace (1795) might still be the most renowned philosophical voice that outlines – with mild irony – the relevance of the law (of nations) for “World Peace”. Borrowing from Kant’s insight that “war … is only the sad recourse in the state of nature (where there is no tribunal which could judge with the force of law)” (Sixth Preliminary Article), the nineteenth century saw an increasing number of successful attempts by scholars, politicians, and peace activists to put into practice third-party tribunals which arbitrated disputes between states by drawing on international law. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Rule of Law
An Empire of Capital? ISDS in CETA and TTIP as the Institutionalization of Unjustified Privilege
I. The case against ISDS in CETA and TTIP: Hysteria or genuine concern?
Among those familiar with the field of investment arbitration, the strong political reaction against the investor state dispute settlement provisions (ISDS) included in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA) and originally planned to be included in Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the EU and the US (TTIP) comes as a surprise. After all, European states have concluded more than 1400 BITS in the past. Continue reading
What Judges Don’t Say – Judicial Strategy and Constitutional Theory
Constitutional courts have become an almost universal solution to a perennial anxiety of democratic regimes, promising to reign in the excesses of majoritarian politics. Yet, however insulated from other branches of government courts are intended to be, their power is not exercised in a politics-free zone, and concerns over their political effectiveness, if not bare survival, accompany constitutional courts everywhere. Continue reading
Harte Zeiten für Rule of Law – Die Krise des globalen Konstitutionalismus
Die Entwicklung der globalen Rechtsordnung nach dem Ende des Kalten Kriegs vollzog sich unter der Vorherrschaft der Idee eines „liberal peace“. Die Europäische Gemeinschaft war das Modell: Friede, Gerechtigkeit und Prosperität Continue reading