Introduction: domestic courts as agents of development of international law

This introductory paper to the symposium hosted by the Leiden Journal of International Law, and edited by the authors, deals with the function of domestic courts as agents for the development of international law. The paper ‘sets the scene’ for the contributions to the symposium, which seek to trace the impact of domestic courts in the development of canonical areas of international law, such as jurisdiction, immunity, state responsibility, the law of international organizations/human rights, and the law of armed conflict/conduct of hostilities. It discusses the formal quality and actual influence of domestic-court decisions on the development of international-law, and introduces the concept of ‘agents’ of international-law development. This is the analytical perspective that the contributions to the symposium adopt

Article 31

Commentary to Article 31 of the 2004 UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Propert

Judicial dialogue in multi-level governance: the impact of the Solange Argument

States increasingly 'contract out' their governmental authority in favour of international organizations. As a result, remedies available under domestic law to individuals and legal entities may no longer be available, leaving them without redress. (Domestic) courts have devised a method to react to such diminution of their jurisdiction, which at the same time comprises a message for various addressees and engages a dialogue on multiple levels. This method is shaped by the spirit and thrust of the argument the German Constitutional Court put forward in its Solange jurisprudence, and has the potential of fostering a harmonisation of domestic and international law, as well as that of establishing a rudimentary normative hierarchy at the international level

Treaty Interpretation and On the Interpretation of Treaties

Review of Richard Gardiner's "Treaty Interpretation" and Ulf Linderfalk's "On the Interpretation of Treaties

United Nations Sanctions in Domestic Courts: From Interpretation to Defiance in Abdelrazik v. Canada

Domestic courts are increasingly being seized by persons subjected to or affected by sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, particularly through the regime established under Resolution 1267. In Abdelrazik v. Canada, the Canadian Federal Court 'interprets away' the obligations of Canada under the 1267 regime, potentially forcing upon the state a breach of its international obligations under the resolution and the UN Charter. But at the same time it offers an important - if implicit - justification for that breach under international law. © Oxford University Press, 2010