Law is widely assumed to provide contemporary society with its most important means of organizing responsibility. Across a broad range of areas of social life – from the activities of states and citizens, to work, business and private relationships – it is understood that legal regulation plays a crucial role in defining and limiting responsibilities. But Law and Irresponsibility pursues the opposite view: it explores how law organizes irresponsibility. 
With a particular focus on large-scale harms – including extensive human rights violations, forms of colonialism, and environmental or nuclear devastation – this book analyzes the ways in which law legitimates human suffering by demonstrating how legal institutions operate as much to deflect responsibility for harms suffered as to acknowledge them. Drawing on a series of case studies, it shows not only how law facilitates the dispersal and disavowal of responsibility, but how it does so in consistent and patterned ways. 
Irresponsibility is organized, and its organization is traced here to the legal forms, and the social and political conditions, that sustain ‘our’ complicity in human suffering.
This innovative and interdisciplinary book provides a radical challenge to conventional thinking about law and legal institutions. It will be of considerable interest to those working in law, political and legal theory, sociology and moral philosophy.

Law and Irresponsibility: On the Legitimation of Human Suffering

The European Union has existed for over half a century. Having started as the 'Europe of the Six' in a specific industrial sector, the Union today has twenty-seven Member States and acts within almost all areas of social life. The Union's constitutional structures have evolved in parallel with this immense growth. Born as an international organisation, the Union has developed into a constitutional Union of States. This textbook analyses the constitutional law of the European Union after Lisbon in a clear and structured way. Examining the EU through a classic constitutional perspective, it explores all the central themes of the course: from the history and structure of the Union, the powers and procedures of its branches of government, to the rights and remedies of European citizens. A clear three-part structure and numerous illustrations will facilitate understanding. Critical and comprehensive, this is required reading for all students of European constitutional law.

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European Constitutional Law

Part I. Introduction: 1. Introduction 2. What is health law? 3. What is European Union health law? Part II. EU Internal Health Law: The Individual Focus: 4. Consumerism: the moving patient 5. Consumerism: the moving health product or service 6. Consumerism: the moving health care professional 7. Rights: health rights as human rights 8. Rights: mobile patients' rights as human rights Part III. EU Internal Health Law: The Systemic Focus: 9. Competition, solidarity, equality: health insurance 10. Competition, solidarity, equality: health institutions and professions 11. Competition, solidarity, equality: the pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical equipment industries 12. Risk: clinical trials 13. Risk: health system products - pharmaceuticals 14. Risk: health system products - human blood, tissue and cells, organs medical devices 15. Risk: tobacco, food, alcohol Part IV. EU External Health Law: 16. The global context: institutions and instruments 17. The global context: consumerism, rights, justice and equality: human organs and access to essential medicines 18. The global context: opportunities and threats: health knowledge, communicable diseases, global food and tobacco law Part V. Conclusions: 19. Conclusion.

European Union Health Law: Themes and Implications

This article analyses H.L.A. Hart's concept of international law from the perspective of analytical jurisprudence and in light of the state of contemporary international law. The article challenges Hart's view that international law is ‘law’ but not a ‘legal system’. Hart arrives at this conclusion on the basis of a comparison of the international legal order with the municipal legal system. This comparison is distorted by Hart's general focus on private law and criminal law and becomes less convincing when constitutional law is added to the equation. As a consequence, Hart's methodological approach is inconsistent and should be modified. Rather than asking whether international law resembles municipal law in form, it should be asked whether international law encompasses legislative, executive, and judicative structures which are able to perform the same functions as the legal order of a nation state, and which thereby overcome the defects of a primitive social order. Against the background of this modified analytical framework, Hart's analysis is revisited in light of recent developments and changes in the structure of international law at the beginning of the 21st century.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2026192_code1714217.pdf?abstractid=1927819&mirid=1

The Concept of International Law in the Jurisprudence of H.L.A. Hart

Emerging robustly in the 1990s as a global tour de force in the globalisation process, ‘multinational corporations’ (MNCs), also referred to as ‘multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) or ‘transnational corporations’ (TNCs) introduced complex international structures connected to states, but at the same time transcending national boundaries. According to Shaw, MNCs ‘constitute private organisations comprising several legal entities linked together by parent corporations and are distinguished by size and multinational spread’. The operations of multinational corporations raise important questions of shared responsibility, because of the globalised nature of their operations and the impact of their activities. As Clapham correctly pointed out, a single actor by its action can generate multiple violations by a range of actors, thereby raising the question of shared responsibility and allocation of liability. In other words, an MNC through its global transactions with other actors may set in motion a chain of activities that may lead to multiple harmful outcomes and subsequent claims. The situation is further complicated by the structure of international law and the fact that at present there is no international tribunal or court that has jurisdiction over MNCs. It is argued in this chapter that despite the conceptual difficulties in applying shared responsibility to MNCs under international law, there are significant developments at the international level which may facilitate allocation of shared responsibilities between MNCs and other entities implicated in a violation of international law.

This chapter starts by contextualising the situations that may lead to shared responsibility between MNCs and other parties under international law (section 2). The chapter thereafter discusses the state of international law on the responsibility of states for the actions of MNCs (section 3). The chapter also examines situations that may lead to shared responsibility in the interaction between home states, host states and MNCs, especially in the context of investment treaties (section 4). The chapter further examines existing soft law rules on the international responsibility of MNCs and their potential implication (if any) for the concept of shared responsibility (section 5). Attention is paid to the United Nation’s Framework for Business and Human Rights (Framework) and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles) developed by the former United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Human Rights and Business, John Ruggie, because of their currency and possible potential for the future. The chapter also discusses the relevant case law (section 6) and conceptual difficulties posed by the current structure of international law to shared responsibility of MNCs (section 7).

/pdf/the-practice-of-shared-responsibility-in-international-law-45w6ngwf3t.pdf

The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law

Introduction 1. The Origins and Evolution of CSDP 2. The Common Security and Defence Policy within the Framework of Common Foreign and Security Policy 3. The Substantive and Institutional Framework of Common Security and Defence Policy 4. The Policy Context of CSDP 5. CSDP Military Missions 6. CSDP Civilian Missions 7. International Agreements 8. Interactions Between CSDP and Other Strands of External Action 9. Practical and Economic Underpinnings of CSDP 10. Conclusions

The EU Common Security and Defence Policy

In the post-9/11 world, the European Union has been trying to define its international presence in a way which corresponds to its economic power and enlarged membership. In an effort to assert its identity on the international scene, it has developed a very wide range of economic relations with third countries and international organisations. It has also developed a Common Foreign and Security Policy in the context of which it is gradually shaping its Security and Defence Policy. These policies are carried out on the basis of distinct, albeit interrelated sets of legal rules. This book provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of these economic, political and security aspects of the relations of the European Union with the rest of the world. It examines their genesis, development and interactions and places them in the specific context of the establishment of the internal market and the broader context of the increasingly interdependent international economic and geopolitical environment. Issues covered include the coexistence of Community and national competence in external relations, the approach of the Court of Justice to international law, the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of international agreements, the relationship between EC and WTO law and the development of the political and security policies of the Union. The book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and students of EU law.

EU International Relations Law

This book examines how the increasing interdependence between trade and foreign policy can be managed within the legal framework of the European Union. In the context of the legally distinct characteristics of the European Community and the Common Foreign and Security Policy,it analyses the problems underpinning the regulation of three areas: sanctions against third countries, armaments, and exports of dual-use goods. The focus is on whether the constitutional order of the European Union may address these problems while performing a variety of functions: ensuring the consistency and coherence of its external relations, preserving the acquis communautaire and respecting the right of the Member States to conduct their foreign policy as fully sovereign subjects of international law. The book concludes that the interactions between trade and foreign policy may be regulated in a legally sensible and realistic way within the current structure of the European Union.

Trade, foreign policy and defence in EU constitutional law.

Introduction (Christophe Hillion and Panos Koutrakos) Part I. Typology of mixed agreements 1. Typology of mixed agreements (Marc Maresceau, Ghent) 2. Cross-pillar agreements (Ramses Wessel, Twente) Part II. The constitutional framework 3. Mixed Agreements Today (Christiaan Timmermans (Judge, ECJ, Luxembourg) 4. The jurisdiction of the ECJ to interpret mixed agreements (Panos Koutrakos, Bristol) 5. International responsibility from mixed agreements (Pieter-Jan Kuijper, Amsterdam) 6. The requirements of consistency and coherence (Christophe Hillion, Leiden) 7. Mixity and the federal principle (Robert Schutze, Durham) 8. Mixity in the era of the Reform Treaty (Alan Dashwood, Cambridge) 9. The Future of Mixity (Allan Rosas, Judge, ECJ, Luxembourg) Part III. The actors of mixed agreements 10. A view from the Commission (Frank Hoffmeister, European Commission) 11. A view from the Council (Czuczai Jeno, Council) 12. A view from the European Parliament (Ricardo Passos, European Parliament) 13. A view from Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Ivan Smyth, FCO) 14. A view from The Netherlands (Ivo van der Steen, MFA, The Hague) 15 A view from Norway (Henrik Bull, Judge, EFTA Court, Luxembourg) 16. A view from the State Department (Peter M. Olson, Department of State, US) Part IV. The practice of mixed agreements 17. Dispute settlement under mixed agreements and the autonomy of the EC legal order (Inge Govaere, Ghent and College of Europe) 18. Disconnection clauses (Marise Cremona, EUI) 19. The establishment of EC, EU and national positions under mixed agreements (Joni Heliskoski, Helsinki) 20. Mixity and the European Convention of Human Rights (Nanette Neuwahl, Montreal) Conclusion (Christophe Hillion, Panos Koutrakos)

Mixed Agreements Revisited - The EU and its Member States in the World

Contents: Introduction Panos Koutrakos PART I: COHERENCE IN EU FOREIGN POLICY 1. Consistency, Coherence and EU External Action: The Path to Lisbon and Beyond Simon Duke 2. Coherence in EU Foreign Relations Law Marise Cremona PART II: EUROPE'S JUDGES AND THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER 3. Volkerrechtsfreundlich? International Law and the Union Legal Order Jan Klabbers 4. Volkerrechtsfreundlichkeit as Comity and the Disquiet of Neoformalism: A Response to Jan Klabbers Achilles Skordas PART III: THE EU AND ITS NEIGHBOURS 5. The EU and its Neighbours: Progressive Legal Experimentation Bart Van Vooren 6. The European Union's Policy on Kosovo Stephan Keukeleire, Arben Kalaja and Artan A ollaku PART IV: COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY 7. The Common Security and Defence Policy in a Multilateral World Mark Webber 8. The Law in Common Security and Defence Policy: Functions, Limitations, and Understandings Panos Koutrakos PART V: THE EU IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS 9. The Position of the European Union in (Other) International Organizations: Confronting Legal and Political Approaches Knud Erik JA rgensen and Ramses A. Wessel

Panos Koutrakos

Papers

The EU Common Security and Defence Policy

EU International Relations Law

Trade, foreign policy and defence in EU constitutional law.

Mixed Agreements Revisited - The EU and its Member States in the World

European Foreign Policy - Legal and Political Perspectives