Call for Papers: The Political and Legal Theory of International Courts and Tribunals

PluriCourts has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "The Political and Legal Theory of International Courts and Tribunals," to take place June 18-19, 2018, in Oslo. Here's the call:

PluriCourts Workshop:

The political and legal theory of
international courts and tribunals

Oslo, June 18-19, 2018

Call for Papers

PluriCourts announces a workshop that brings together scholars of philosophy, political theory and legal theory who study one or more regional and international courts and tribunals (ICs). States have established manifold regional and international ICs to resolve disputes, interpret treaties, and deter illegal behavior. These ICs cover a range of issues including, human rights, trade, investment, border disputes, and international crimes. ICs’ competences, level of authority, method of interpretation, and geographical reach widely vary. ICs’ increase in number and influence has spawned controversy and complaints, often phrased as charges that they are illegitimate. The workshop aims at clarify the various senses in which they might be illegitimate, and to evaluate such criticism and proposed responses. The workshop welcomes both abstract and practice-focused perspectives on those issues.

We invite papers that address one or more such IC, on such themes as:

• The appropriate legitimacy standards for ICs from the perspectives of history of ideas and/or contemporary legal and political theory, such as human rights, transparency, or rule of law;
• Their multilevel separation of authority, and its impact on adjudication;
• Law and morality in international adjudication;
• Norm-indeterminacy and international adjudication;
• Specialization and fragmentation in ICs;
• ICs and the international rule of law;
• Independence and accountability of ICs;
• International judicial review and democracy;
• IC performance, ranging from securing states’ objectives to global justice;
• The comparative advantages of ICs;
• Best practices and models for ICs;
• IR theory perspectives on ICs.

Some travel grants are available upon request.

About PluriCourts

PluriCourts is a multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence whose overriding research objective is to analyze and assess the legitimate present and future roles of this international judiciary in the global legal order: Why and when are these international courts and tribunals legitimate authorities, whose decisions should enjoy deference by various domestic and international ‘compliance communities’? The PluriCourts Research Plan is available here.

Timeline

November 1, 2017 Expression of interest with provisional paper title, abstract, travel grant request can be submitted here

December 15, 2017 Decisions on acceptance of proposals and travel grants announced

May 15, 2018 Draft papers due

June 18-19, 2018 Workshop