Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Law
Human Rights, Emergencies, And The Rule Of Law, Evan J. Criddle, Evan Fox-Decent
Human Rights, Emergencies, And The Rule Of Law, Evan J. Criddle, Evan Fox-Decent
Faculty Publications
This article illuminates the normative basis for international law’s regulation of public emergencies by arguing that human rights are best conceived as norms arising from a fiduciary relationship between states (or state-like actors) and persons subject to their power. States bear a fiduciary duty to guarantee subjects’ secure and equal freedom, a duty that flows from their institutional assumption of sovereign powers. The fiduciary theory disarms Carl Schmitt’s critique of constitutionalism by explaining how emergency powers can be reconciled with the rule of law.
The Fiduciary Constitution Of Human Rights, Evan Fox-Decent, Evan J. Criddle
The Fiduciary Constitution Of Human Rights, Evan Fox-Decent, Evan J. Criddle
Faculty Publications
We argue that human rights are best conceived as norms arising from a fiduciary relationship that exists between states (or statelike actors) and the citizens and noncitizens subject to their power. These norms draw on a Kantian conception of moral personhood, protecting agents from instrumentalization and domination. They do not, however, exist in the abstract as timeless natural rights. Instead, they are correlates of the state’s fiduciary duty to provide equal security under the rule of law, a duty that flows from the state’s institutional assumption of irresistible sovereign powers.