The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Law


Book Description

A comprehensive compendium for the field of transnational law by providing a treatment and presentation in an area that has become one of the most intriguing and innovative developments in legal doctrine, scholarship, theory, as well as practice today. With a considerable contribution from and engagement with social sciences, it features numerous reflections on the relationship between transnational law and legal practice.




The Balance between Worker Protection and Employer Powers


Book Description

This book analyses the most important problems and challenges of the current labour market from the point of view of the balance between the parties of the employment contract. The contributions here are related to various pressing topics, including, for example, the future of work and worker protection on an international level against the strengthening of employers’ powers. In addition, the nature and limits of employers’ power, non-competition contractual clauses and workers’ rights in the face of new communication and information technologies are also discussed. The contributors are drawn from several countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Bolivia, Italy, México and Switzerland. The book will appeal to lawyers, legal experts, human resources experts, economist, judges, academia, and staff from companies and trade unions, and employers’ representation. The volume features insights and contributions in different languages, with chapters in Spanish (12), English (4) and Portuguese (5).




Constitutional Change and Transformation in Latin America


Book Description

Over the past 30 years, Latin America has lived through an intense period of constitutional change. Some reforms have been limited in their design and impact, while others have been far-reaching transformations to basic structural features and fundamental rights. Scholars interested in the law and politics of constitutional change in Latin America are turning increasingly to comparative methodologies to expose the nature and scope of these changes, to uncover the motivations of political actors, to theorise how better to execute the procedures of constitutional reform, and to assess whether there should be any limitations on the power of constitutional amendment. In this collection, leading and emerging voices in Latin American constitutionalism explore the complexity of the vast topography of constitutional developments, experiments and perspectives in the region. This volume offers a deep understanding of modern constitutional change in Latin America and evaluates its implications for constitutionalism, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.




Constitutional Reasoning in Latin America and the Caribbean


Book Description

This book examines the reasoning practice of 15 constitutional courts and supreme courts, including the Caribbean Commonwealth and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Enriched by empirical data, with which it strives to contribute to a constructive and well-informed debate, the volume analyses how Latin American courts justify their decisions. Based on original data and a region-specific methodology, the book provides a systematic analysis utilising more than 600 leading cases. It shows which interpretive methods and concepts are most favoured by Latin American courts, and which courts were the most prolific in their reasoning activities. The volume traces the features of judicial dialogue on a regional and sub-regional level and enables the evaluation and comparison of each country's reasoning culture in different epochs. The collection includes several graphs to visualise the changes and tendencies of the reasoning practices throughout time in the region, based on information gathered from the dataset. To better understand the current functioning and the future tendencies of courts in Latin America and the Caribbean, the volume illuminates how constitutional and supreme courts have actually been making their decisions in the selected landmark cases, which could also contribute to future successful litigation strategies for both national constitutional courts and the Inter-American Court for Human Rights. This project was made possible due to the collaboration and funding provided by the Rule of Law Programme for Latin America of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Law School of the University of San Francisco de Quito.




The Inter American Court of Human Rights


Book Description

This book provides a critical legal perspective on the legitimacy of international courts and tribunals. The volume offers a critique of ideology of two legal approaches to the legitimacy of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) that portray it as a supranational tribunal whose last say on human rights protection has a transformative effect on the democracies of Latin America. The book shows how the discussion between these Latin American legal strands mirrors global trends in the study of the legitimacy of international courts related to the use of constitutional analogies and concepts such as the notion of judicial dialogue and the idea of democratic transformation. It also provides an in-depth analysis of how, through the use of those categories, legal experts studying the legitimacy of the IACtHR enact self-validation processes by making themselves the principal agents of transformation. These self-validation processes work as ideological apparatuses that reproduce and entrench the mindset that the legal discipline is a driving force of change in itself. Further, the book shows how profiling the Court as an agent of transformation diverts attention from the ways in which it has pursued a particular view of human rights and democracy in the region that creates and reproduces relations of inequality and domination. Rather than discarding the IACtHR, this book aims to de-centre the focus away from formal legal institutions, engaging with the idea that ordinary people can mobilise and define the content of law to transform their lives and territories. The book will be a valuable resource for scholars working in the areas of human rights law, law, public international law, legal theory, constitutional law, political science and legal philosophy.




Common European Legal Thinking


Book Description

Common European Legal Thinking emanates from the existence of a shared European legal culture as especially reflected in the existence of a common European constitutional law. It denotes a body of individual constitutional principles – written and unwritten – that represent the common heritage of the constitutions of the Member States. Taking into account the two major European organisations, the Council of Europe and especially the European Union, the essays of this Festschrift discuss a range of constitutional principles, including the rule of law, democracy, and the exercise of political power in a multilevel system which recognises fundamental rights as directly applicable and supreme law. Other essays examine the value of pluralism, the commitment of private organisations to uphold public values, principles or rules, and the objectives and methods of a transnational science of administrative law. These articles highlight the fact that the Ius Publicum Europaeum Commune is “politically” in the making, which can often be seen in the shape of general legal principles. The publication recognises the role of Albrecht Weber as a forerunner of Common European Legal Thinking.




Equal Access to Justice for All and Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Agenda: Challenges for Latin America and Europe


Book Description

The book provides an extensive overview of objectives and current implementation of Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and Europe. Based on discussions at the GIZ-EIUC conference in Venice of May 2017, the book offers new insights into specifically Goal 16.3 from a Latin American and European perspective. Current challenges to access to justice before the European and the Inter-American Courts of Human Rights as well as common and different challenges to the European and Inter-American Human Rights systems are assessed. Based on the foundational work of the GIZ-DIRAJus project in Latin America specific challenges of access to justice in Mexico, Peru, Brazil, El Salvador and Chile are comprehensively examined. The issues identified in the book based on Latin American and European efforts in ensuring access to justice offer guidance in what way additional indicators for Goal 16.3 could be developed.




Reimagining the International Legal Order


Book Description

International law is usually conservative, with lawyers and judges emphasizing consistency, stability and predictability as the major advantages of the law. Legal scholars often prefer not to challenge the status quo, to suggest amendments, or to reform institutions, advocating simply to focus on the implementation of the laws that already exist. This collection stands different. It shares the authors’ discomfort with the present legal order and some of its institutions and courts, and dives into either a corrective or a profound reimagination of these, so that they can better address rising global challenges. Leading experts in their areas present their new and cutting-edge perspectives. Divided into six parts, the volume paints a vast yet solid thematic landscape of unique and critical approaches. The book invites and allows for a deep engagement with a wide range of opinions from across the world. It enables a free and courageous reimagining of the international legal order, detached from the endless feasibility skepticism. The work will be fascinating reading for students, academics and researchers working in the areas of International Law and International Relations.




Constitutionalism


Book Description

This book is a compilation of twenty essays prepared for the occasion of the XIII Academic Conference of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Colombia, held in Bogota in January 2019. Gathering some of the most prominent authors in constitutionalism and legal theory, the chapters critically examine classical debates, such as the role of judicial review in a democracy, the enforcement of socio-economic rights, the doctrine of unconstitutional amendments, the use of international and foreign precedents by national Courts, and the theory of transitional justice. The book opens a dialogue between philosophers and empirical researchers, building bridges between 'Global North' and 'Global South' approaches to constitutionalism. As such, it is an invitation to reengage with the classical debates on constitutionalism whilst also providing fresh insights into the future of this discipline.




Judicial Convergence and Fragmentation in International Human Rights Law


Book Description

This book provides an innovative analysis of the complex issue of judicial convergence and fragmentation in international human rights law, moving the conversation forward from the assessment of the two phenomena and investigating their triggering factors. With a wide geographical focus that include the most up-to-date case-law from the three main regional systems (the African, European and Inter-American) and the UN Human Rights Committee, the book confirms the predominant judicial convergence across international human rights law. On this basis, the book engages with an interdisciplinary investigation into the legal and non-legal factors that could explain both convergence and fragmentation, ranging from the use of judicial dialogue and the notions of necessity and proportionality to the composition of the courts and the role of NGOs. The aim is to provide the tools to understand the dynamics between human rights adjudicatory bodies and possibly foresee future instances of judicial fragmentation.