1.. HARD CASES 5. Legal Rights A. Legislation . . . We might therefore do well to consider how a philosophical judge might develop, in appropriate cases, theories of what legislative purpose and legal principles require. We shall find that he would construct these theories in the same manner as a philosophical referee would construct the character of a game. I have invented, for this purpose, a lawyer of superhuman skill, learning, patience and acumen, whom I shall call Hercules. I suppose that Hercules is a judge in some representative American jurisdiction. I assume that he accepts the main uncontroversial constitutive and regulative rules of the law in his jurisdiction. He accepts, that is, that statutes have the general power to create and extinguish legal rights, and that judges have the general duty to follow earlier decisions of their court or higher courts whose rationale, as l

Taking Rights Seriously

1. Intersections between trade and non-communicable disease 2. Normative integration: using health instruments in interpretation of the WTO covered agreements 3. Freedom to use taxes, subsidies and restrictions on marketing 4. Necessity and regulatory autonomy under the GATT 5. Product regulation and labeling measures under the SPS and TBT agreements 6. Reallocating authority at the international level: delegation, legalisation and harmonisation 7. Conclusion.

/pdf/trade-and-public-health-the-wto-tobacco-alcohol-and-diet-22nk9hjibu.pdf

Trade and Public Health: The WTO, Tobacco, Alcohol, and Diet

The ESIL Conference at which this article was originally presented as the Keynote Speech was devoted to the topic of " International Law in a Heterogeneous World " . The article attempts to demonstrate that heterogeneity does not exclude the universality of international law, as long as the law retains - and further develops - its capacity to accommodate an ever larger measure of such heterogeneity. After developing three different conceptions, or levels, of what the term ' universality ' of international law is intended to capture, the article focuses on international rules, (particularly judicial) mechanisms, and international institutions which serve the purpose of reconciling heterogeneous values and expectations by means of international law. The article links a critical evaluation of these ways and means with the dif- ferent notions of universality by inquiring how they cope with the principal challenges faced by these notions. In so doing, it engages a number of topics which have become immensely popular in contemporary international legal writing, here conceived as challenges to univer- sality: the so-called ' fragmentation ' of international law; in close connection with this fi rst buzzword the challenges posed by what is called the ' proliferation ' of international courts and tribunals; and, fi nally, certain recent problems faced by individuals who fi nd themselves at the fault lines of emerging multi-level international governance. The article concludes that these challenges have not prevented international law from forming a (by and large coher- ent) legal system. Most concerns about the dangers of fragmentation appear overstated. As for the ' proliferation ' of international judicial institutions, the debate on fragmentation has made international judges even more aware of the responsibility they bear for a coherent con- struction of international law. They have managed to develop a set of tools for coping with the * Judge at the International Court of Justice. This article was originally presented as the Keynote Speech at

Universality of International Law from the Perspective of a Practitioner

Partant de l’intuition que la notion d’Etat en droit international et en droit europeen fait apparaitre des elements tellement epars et desordonnes, on a pu demontrer que cette intuition de depart se reflete tres bien dans la realite. En effet, d’une branche a l’autre, on se rend compte que les ordres juridiques etudies offrent une vision polymorphe de la notion d’Etat, sous la forme d’« une figure a geometrie variable ». En explorant les regles d’imputation, les regles de rattachement et les regles d’expression de la volonte de l’Etat, force est de constater que la notion d’Etat peut etre apprehendee du point de vue organique, du point de vue materiel et du point de vue factuel. Au-dela de cette variabilite, il convient de rechercher l’unite fonctionnelle de la notion d’Etat. On en vient, des lors, a la conclusion selon laquelle : la fonction singuliere de la notion d’Etat est sa propension a etre un outil au service des necessites systemiques de l’ordre juridique international et europeen. La notion d’Etat est en effet mobilisee pour servir un objectif particulier, ce qui rend concevable sa geometrie variable. Ainsi, notre these s’evertue a faire ressortir l’unite dans la variabilite. Elle comporte toutefois en filigrane une proposition theorique, celle de « l’Etat fonctionnel ». Par « Etat fonctionnel », nous entendons toute entite qui n’est pas statutairement un Etat, mais qui neanmoins exerce pleinement et entierement des fonctions de nature etatique, et ceci de facon autonome. On vise par-la certaines entites federees (comme celles de la Belgique et le Quebec) et certaines entites secessionnistes ((comme la RTCN) ou des groupes terroriste (comme l’Etat islamique). La theorie de « l’Etat fonctionnel » ne va pas jusqu’a postuler la reconnaissance de la qualite d’Etat a ces entites, mais seulement de les considerer comme tel, de facon ponctuelle, afin de permettre une application effective et efficace de la norme internationale et/ou europeenne.

https://corpus.ulaval.ca/jspui/bitstream/20.500.11794/28108/1/33726.pdf

Notion d'Etat en droit international et en droit européen : de l'impossible approche conceptuelle à la nécessaire approche fonctionnelle

The comment focuses on the construction of time in the normative regime of occupation Beginning (in section 2) with a critique of the ICJ's reading of Article 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning the scope of applicability ratione temporis of the Convention in cases where the duration of an occupation lasts longer than one year, the comment proceeds (in section 3) to argue (a) that the gap between the working assumption informing Article 6 (of relatively short-term occupations) and reality (of prolonged occupations) defines a problem which the Court erroneously construed as a solution; (b) that the problem of prolonged occupation has allowed for the substitution of an indefinite for a temporary duration of an occupation a move which defies the basic tenets of the normative regime of occupation; and (c) that a proper solution involves the construction of the notion of "reasonable time" into the Fourth Geneva Convention The comment includes (in section 4) a proposal designed to minimize the temporary/indefinite blurring of boundaries in situations where an occupation has not ended within one year

'A la Recherche Du Temps Perdu': Rethinking Article 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Light of the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Advisory Opinion

Proportionality is the tool of choice for the EU Court of Justice’s review of measures affecting the enjoyment of fundamental rights. The use of proportionality is normally beneficial, as it ensures that public authorities pursue public policies without any avoidable waste of fundamental rights protection. In the field of internet-based activities, however, certain recurrent elements make proportionality unfit for the purpose. This article argues against the systematic recourse to the mythology of proportionality in the judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU. Most instances of putative proportionality assessment are in fact window-dressing for pragmatic or policy-based arguments. The claim relies on a critical reading of the recent case law of the Court in internet-related disputes. Accordingly, it is preferable to abandon the proportionality test when certain factual conditions – which are commonplace in the digital milieu – prevail.

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The Mythology of Proportionality in Judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Internet and Fundamental Rights

Alla ricerca della coerenza: le tecniche del "dialogo nascosto" fra i giudici nell'ordinamento costituzionale multi-livello

/pdf/shaping-rule-of-law-through-dialogue-2wqi03lknk.pdf

Shaping Rule of Law Through Dialogue

The purpose of this essay is to provide a detailed examination of two recent decisions issued by the constitutional courts of two Member States of the European Union (hereinafter ‘EU’). These decisions raise a series of issues regarding the process of integration of the Union since, in both cases, the courts appear to take on the role of guardians of the constitutional domestic system and act as reviewers of the Union’s policies.

How Interpretation Techniques Can Shape the Relationship Between Constitutional Courts and the European Union

The jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals and the admissibility of inter-State claims under international law are central to international adjudication, operating as a gateway to the litigation on the merits – the end goal of the proceedings. Still, these concepts remain inherently under-defined, and can be shaped in multiple ways to formulate preliminary objections in international litigation in general. International investor-State arbitration adds specific aspects and complexities to the issue. This introductory contribution accounts for the theoretical deficiencies underpinning the notions of jurisdiction and admissibility, with a special focus on international investment arbitration, and introduces the selected case-studies which form the subject-matter of the articles in this Special Issue. The recent Urbaser award is also used as an example of the unexplored potential of novel – and critical – legal argumentation relating to the jurisdiction of investment tribunals.

/pdf/jurisdiction-and-admissibility-in-investment-arbitration-a-147cwdsxzb.pdf

Filippo Fontanelli

Papers

The Mythology of Proportionality in Judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Internet and Fundamental Rights

Alla ricerca della coerenza: le tecniche del "dialogo nascosto" fra i giudici nell'ordinamento costituzionale multi-livello

Shaping Rule of Law Through Dialogue

How Interpretation Techniques Can Shape the Relationship Between Constitutional Courts and the European Union

Jurisdiction and Admissibility in Investment Arbitration. A View from the Bridge at the Practice