The Exercise Of Public Authority By International Institutions

The concept of global governance, which first emerged in the social s- ences, has triggered different responses in the discipline of law. This volume contains our proposal. It approaches global governance from a public law perspective which is centered around the concept of inter- tional public authority and relies on international institutional law for the legal conceptualization of global governance phenomena. This proposal results from a larger project which started in 2007. The project is a collaborative effort of the directors of the Max Planck Ins- tute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, research f- lows and friends of the Institute, as well as eminent members of the Law Faculty of the University of Heidelberg. Most of the materials contained in this volume were first published in the November 2008 - sue of the German Law Journal (http://www.germanlawjournal.com). We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the journal’s editors in chief, Professors Russell Miller (Washington and Lee University School of Law) and Peer Zumbansen (Osgoode Hall Law School, York U- versity, Toronto), for the opportunity to publish our papers as a special issue of their journal. The 2008-2009 University of Idaho College of Law German Law Journal student editors deserve special recognition for their hard and diligent work during the publication process. At the Institute, Eva Richter, Michael Riegner and the editorial staff of this publication series were instrumental in bringing this publication to fr- tion.

Also available as an e-book The book argues that the decision-making processes within international organizations and other global governance bodies ought to be subjected to procedural and substantive legal constraints that are associated domestically with the requirements of the rule of law. The book explains why law — international, regional, domestic, formal or soft — should restrain global actors in the same way that judicial oversight is applied to domestic administrative agencies. It outlines the emerging web of global norms designed to protect the rights and interests of all affected individuals, to enable public deliberation, and to promote the legitimacy of the global bodies. These norms are being shaped by a growing convergence of expectations of global institutions to ensure public participation and representation, impartiality and independence of decision-makers, and accountability of decisions. The book explores these mechanisms as well as the political and social forces that are shaping their development by analysing the emerging judicial practice concerning a variety of institutions, ranging from the UN Security Council and other formal organizations to informal and private standard-setting bodies.

Over the past two decades new international courts have entered the scene of international law and existing institutions have started to play more significant roles. The present volume studies one particular dimension of their increasing practice: international judicial lawmaking. It observes that in a number of fields of international law, judicial institutions have become significant actors and shape the law through adjudication. The contributions in this volume set out to capture this phenomenon in principle, in particular detail, and with regard to a number of individual institutions. Specifically, the volume asks how international judicial lawmaking scores when it comes to democratic legitimation. It formulates this question as part of the broader quest for legitimate global governance and places it within the context of the research project on the exercise of international public authority at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.

Over the past two decades new international courts have entered the scene of international law and existing institutions have started to play more significant roles. The present volume studies one particular dimension of their increasing practice: international judicial lawmaking. It observes that in a number of fields of international law, judicial institutions have become significant actors and shape the law through adjudication. The contributions in this volume set out to capture this phenomenon in principle, in particular detail, and with regard to a number of individual institutions. Specifically, the volume asks how international judicial lawmaking scores when it comes to democratic legitimation. It formulates this question as part of the broader quest for legitimate global governance and places it within the context of the research project on the exercise of international public authority at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.

States are no longer alone on the international scene. Other institutions intervene alongside States, and even sometimes in their place, such as international organizations, multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, regions or global cities. Still, one would look in vain for clear indications in international law, including for the basic principles of an “international law of institutions” that could address the three fundamental questions of social and political organization that are representation, regulation and responsibility. What institutions may act in whose name internationally? What are the conditions for their actions to bind us legally and have the legitimacy to do so? And what institutions should be held responsible, by whom and how, in case of violation of international law? The time has come to reconstruct the international institutional order.

The book illustrates the function of legal doctrines in a discourse on the extent of powers of international institutions, and questions whether a move to a constitutional vocabulary can transcend the dichotomy at the heart of diverging constructions of powers.

This book attempts to illustrate the whole picture of international investment rule of law between China and African countries and find the way forward through combining theory and practice. It is a book by a Chinese professor based on her long-term research experience in the international investment law field and her African field work in person. Its main feature is its well-balanced thinking on the structure of investment international rule of law. It should be the most comprehensive research on the international investment rule of law between China and African countries. With the increase of Chinese investment in Africa, various discussions and viewpoints on Chinese investment in Africa have become striking. The purpose of this book is to explore systematically the protection and sustainability of Chinese investment under the concept and framework of the international investment rule of law, so as to serve the sustainable development of Africa and China. For the purpose of this book, great importance is attached to the idea of the international rule of law, and the international investment law with the function of rule of law is adhered to. The conclusion of this book is that China should take proactive steps to protect Chinese investment in Africa and regulate Chinese overseas investors and their investments in addition to complying with the laws in the host states and thus make them conductive to African and Chinese sustainable development; however, the most significant issue is that China-Africa investment relations should be regulated by the evolving and specific international investment rule of law, and the China-Africa international investment rule of law should conform to normative in form, support common sustainable development in value, and reflect the social reality of China and Africa. For both researchers and students, it is an approach to understand international investment rule of law from a perspective of China and Africa. For those who are interested in China and Africa, it is a useful reference book.

The global landscape has changed profoundly over the past decades. As a result, the making of international law and the way we think about it has become more and more diversified. This Research Handbook offers a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of international lawmaking today. It takes stock at both the conceptual and the empirical levels of the instruments, processes, and actors involved in the making of international law. The editors have taken an approach which carefully combines theory and practice in order to provide both an overview and a critical reflection of international lawmaking. Comprehensive and well-structured, the book contains essays by leading scholars on key aspects of international lawmaking and on lawmaking in the main issue areas. Attention is paid to classic processes as well as new developments and shades of normativity. This timely and authoritative Handbook will be a valuable resource for academics, students, legal practitioners, diplomats, government and international organization officials as well as civil society representatives.