Law Commons^™

The Persistence Of Sovereignty And The Rise Of The Legal Subject, Michael A. Helfand

Michael A Helfand

Several states have considered bills aimed at preventing courts from enforcing, considering, or relying on both religious and international law. This legislative pushback on international and religious law reflects a concerted effort to consolidate legal authority by asserting the state as the only source of legitimate law. As the core of this controversy stands an age-old philosophical dispute over the relationship between sovereignty and law: Does state sovereignty preclude the possibility of law both above the state – that is, international law – and below the state – that is, religious and customary law? This tension tracks a long-standing fissure …