Workshop: Transnational Standards in the Domestic Legal Order: Authority and Legitimacy

On October 24, 2014, the University of Amsterdam and its research project Architecture of Postnational Rulemaking will host a workshop on "Transnational Standards in the Domestic Legal Order: Authority and Legitimacy." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The decline of sovereign states in global governance was accompanied by the expansion of transnational standard-setting bodies, which are not part of treaty-based institutions. The standard-setting in these bodies is led not only by governmental regulators, but also by industry representatives and scientific experts.

These bodies’ transnational standards permeate national standards, domestic statutes, administrative instruments, and judicial decisions. The interactions between transnational standards and the domestic legal order have significantly evolved, and reduced regulatory fragmentation across states without the rigidity of concluding any formal international treaties.

The evolving interactions between transnational standards and the domestic legal order give rise to the fundamental questions about authority and legitimacy. Extensive studies have already been produced on the role of transnational standard-setting bodies. Much less recognized are the interactions of transnational standards with the domestic legal order. Given that the regulatory significance of transnational standards often depends on domestic acceptance, it is important to examine the queries of how the authority of transnational standards is constituted at the domestic level, and whether the authority is legitimate.

Against this background, the workshop will address the evolving interactions between transnational standards and the domestic legal order, particularly from the following three angles:

* Transnational standards in domestic legal practices

* Authority of transnational standards

* Legitimacy of transnational standards