The Authority of International Law
- This book tackles an old, but ever relevant question: does international law enjoy legal authority over domestic orders? If so, what is the form and extent of the authority of international law? The book answers the first question in the positive. International law enjoys authority over domestic political and judicial organs. Such authority, however, has sui generis characteristics. It may not be conclusive authority. It may also not demand blind obedience. What international law demands at the very least is minimalist deference. The book answers the second question by holding that each and every international law does not make identical claims to authority. What form and extent of authority international law enjoys depends on whether a particular international law imposes a strong, a weak, or a rebuttable duty. The duty of a domestic judge and politician is to reflectively ask and engage with what kind of a duty she is engaged in when bringing the international law’s authority back home. The book has a decidedly practice-based and doctrinal approach to the questions it sets for itself. It demonstrates that realists, rationalists, and more recently democratic theorists have long attacked international lawyers. It is time to respond by offering a defence of the authority of international law and how it functions.