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How And Why International Law Binds International Organizations, Kristina Daugirdas
How And Why International Law Binds International Organizations, Kristina Daugirdas
Articles
For decades, controversy has dogged claims about whether and to what extent international law binds international organizations (“IOs”) like the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. The question has important consequences for humanitarian law, economic rights, and environmental protection. In this Article, I aim to resolve the controversy by supplying a theory about when and how international law binds IOs. I conclude that international law binds IOs to the same degree that it binds states. That is, IOs are not more extensively or more readily bound; nor are they less extensively or less readily bound. This means that IOs, …
Custom's Method And Process: Lessons From Humanitarian Law, Monica Hakimi
Custom's Method And Process: Lessons From Humanitarian Law, Monica Hakimi
Book Chapters
A central question in the literature on customary international law (CIL) goes to method: what is the proper method for "finding" CIL - that is, for determining that particular norms qualify as ClL? The traditional method is to identify a widespread state practice, plus evidence that states believe that the practice reflects the law (opinio juris). That method has long been criticized as incoherent, unworkable, and out of touch with modern sensibilities. Thus, much of the CIL literature addresses its perceived problems. The principal goals of this literature are to help resolve whether norms that are claimed to be CIL …
Customary International Law: An Instrument Choice Perspective, Laurence R. Helfer, Ingrid B. Wuerth
Customary International Law: An Instrument Choice Perspective, Laurence R. Helfer, Ingrid B. Wuerth
Faculty Scholarship
Contemporary international lawmaking is characterized by a rapid growth of “soft law” instruments. Interdisciplinary studies have followed suit, purporting to frame the key question states face as a choice between soft and “hard” law. But this literature focuses on only one form of hard law—treaties—and cooperation through formal institutions. Customary international law (CIL) is barely mentioned. Other scholars dismiss CIL as increasingly irrelevant or even obsolete. Entirely missing from these debates is any consideration of whether and when states might prefer custom over treaties or soft law.
Customary International Law, Ingrid Wuerth, Laurence R. Helfer
Customary International Law, Ingrid Wuerth, Laurence R. Helfer
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Contemporary international lawmaking is characterized by a rapid growth of “soft law” instruments. Interdisciplinary studies have followed suit, purporting to frame the key question states face as a choice between soft and “hard” law. But this literature focuses on only one form of hard law — treaties — and cooperation through formal institutions. Customary international law (CIL) is barely mentioned. Other scholars dismiss CIL as increasingly irrelevant or even obsolete. Missing from these debates is any consideration of whether and when states might prefer custom over treaties or soft law. This article applies an instrument choice perspective to demonstrate custom’s …