The Rule of Law in the 21st Century


Book Description

Foreword to the first edition by Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Seiten 7-8). This book examines the concept of the rule of law from a variety of perspectives, beginning with the basic principles and all-important definitional issue of what the term "rule of law" means. It includes fully updated chapters on the independence of the judiciary and the internationalisation of the rule of law. This edition also contains several new chapters.




Justice and Security in the 21st Century


Book Description

This book examines the question of whether justice or security is the primary virtue of 21st-century society. The issue of enhancing security without undermining justice – managing risk without undermining the rule of law – has always been problematic. However, recent developments such as new counter-terrorism measures, the expanding scope of criminal law, harsher migration control and an increasingly pronounced concern with public safety, have posed new challenges. The key element of these contemporary challenges is that of membership and exclusion: that is, who is to be included within the community of justice, and against whom is the just community aiming to defend itself? Justice and Security in the 21st Century brings together researchers from various academic disciplines and different countries in order to explore these developments. It attempts to chart the complex landscapes of justice, human rights and the rule of law in an era when such ideals are challenged by increasing demands for efficiency, effectiveness, public safety and security. This edited volume will be of much interest to students of critical legal studies, criminology, critical security studies, human rights, sociology and IR in general.




International Economic Law in the 21st Century


Book Description

The state-centred 'Westphalian model' of international law has failed to protect human rights and other international public goods effectively. Most international trade, financial and environmental agreements do not even refer to human rights, consumer welfare, democratic citizen participation and transnational rule of law for the benefit of citizens. This book argues that these 'multilevel governance failures' are largely due to inadequate regulation of the 'collective action problems' in the supply of international public goods, such as inadequate legal, judicial and democratic accountability of governments vis-a-vis citizens. Rather than treating citizens as mere objects of intergovernmental economic and environmental regulation and leaving multilevel governance of international public goods to discretionary 'foreign policy', human rights and constitutional democracy call for 'civilizing' and 'constitutionalizing' international economic and environmental cooperation by stronger legal and judicial protection of citizens and their constitutional rights in international economic law. Moreover intergovernmental regulation of transnational cooperation among citizens must be justified by 'principles of justice' and 'multilevel constitutional restraints' protecting rights of citizens and their 'public reason'. The reality of 'constitutional pluralism' requires respecting legitimately diverse conceptions of human rights and democratic constitutionalism. The obvious failures in the governance of interrelated trading, financial and environmental systems must be restrained by cosmopolitan, constitutional conceptions of international law protecting the transnational rule of law and participatory democracy for the benefit of citizens.




The Rule of Law in America


Book Description

Drawing upon extensive experience in law, government service, teaching, and research, Ronald Cass offers a contribution to the ongoing public discussion on law and society. After opening his discussion with chapters on the rule of law in American society, Cass turns to the hard case of its application to the president of the United States. Through this prism Cass examines the behavior of judges who may not always act according to a "perfect model." This book provides a corrective to criticism of the American legal system raised all too frequently by some members of the academy. Rather than concentrating on relatively minor inconsistencies in the law and slight departures from the ideal of perfectly constrained decision making, Cass argues that the energies of his fellow scholars could be better spent on more serious defects in the legal system. With a special section on the 2000 presidential election, including the Florida recount and Supreme Court decision, The rule of law in America offers a look at a subject of interest to legal scholars and general readers alike.




Human Rights for the 21st Century


Book Description

A new moral, ethical, and legal framework is needed for international human rights law. Never in human history has there been such an elaborate international system for human rights, yet from massive disasters, such as the Darfur genocide, to everyday tragedies, such as female genital mutilation, human rights abuses continue at an alarming rate. As the world population increases and global trade brings new wealth as well as new problems, international law can and should respond better to those who live in fear of violence, neglect, or harm. Modern critiques global human rights fall into three categories: sovereignty, culture, and civil society. These are not new problems, but have long been debated as part of the legal philosophical tradition. Taking lessons from tradition and recasting them in contemporary light, Helen Stacy proposes new approaches to fill the gaps in current approaches: relational sovereignty, reciprocal adjudication, and regional human rights. She forcefully argues that law and courts must play a vital role in forging a better human rights vision in the future.







Money and the Rule of Law


Book Description

Contemporary monetary institutions are flawed at a foundational level. The reigning paradigm in monetary policy holds up constrained discretion as the preferred operating framework for central banks. But no matter how smart or well-intentioned are central bankers, discretionary policy contains information and incentive problems that make macroeconomic stability systematically unlikely. Furthermore, central bank discretion implicitly violates the basic jurisprudential norms of liberal democracy. Drawing on a wide body of scholarship, this volume presents a novel argument in favor of embedding monetary institutions into a rule of law framework. The authors argue for general, predictable rules to provide a sturdier foundation for economic growth and prosperity. A rule of law approach to monetary policy would remedy the flaws that resulted in misguided monetary responses to the 2007-8 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the case for true monetary rules is the first step toward creating more stable monetary institutions.




Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law


Book Description

Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law is a collection of original research on the rule of law from a panel of leading economists, political scientists, legal scholars, sociologists and historians. The chapters critically analyze the meaning and foundations of the rule of law and its relationship to economic and democratic development, challenging many of the underlying assumptions guiding the burgeoning field of rule of law development. The combination of jurisprudential, quantitative, historical/comparative, and theoretical analyses seeks to chart a new course in scholarship on the rule of law: the volume as a whole takes seriously the role of law in pursuing global justice, while confronting the complexity of instituting the rule of law and delivering its promised benefits. Written for scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers, Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law offers a unique combination of jurisprudential and empirical research that will be provocative and relevant to those who are attempting to understand and advance the rule of law globally. The chapters progress from broad questions regarding current rule of development efforts and the concept of rule of law to more specific issues pertaining to economic and democratic development. Specific countries, such as China, India, and seventeenth century England and the Netherlands, serve as case studies in some chapters, while broad global surveys feature in other chapters. Indeed, this impressive scope of research ushers in the next generation of scholarship in this area.




The Cambridge Companion to the Rule of Law


Book Description

The Cambridge Companion to the Rule of Law introduces students, scholars, and practitioners to the theory and history of the rule of law, one of the most frequently invoked-and least understood-ideas of legal and political thought and policy practice. It offers a comprehensive re-assessment by leading scholars of one of the world's most cherished traditions. This high-profile collection provides the first global and interdisciplinary account of the histories, moralities, pathologies and trajectories of the rule of law. Unique in conception, and critical in its approach, it evaluates, breaks down, and subverts conventional wisdom about the rule of law for the twenty-first century.




The End of Law


Book Description

Scholarly and political interest in the work of the controversial twentieth century German thinker Carl Schmitt has exploded in the 20 years since William E. Scheuerman’s important book was first published. However, Scheuerman’s work remains distinctive. Firstly, it focuses directly on Schmitt’s complex ideas about law, situating his views within broader debates about the rule of law and its fate. The volume shows how every facet of his political thinking was decisively shaped by his legal reflections. Secondly, the volume takes Schmitt’s Nazi-era political and legal writings no less seriously. Finally, the volume offers a series of studies on figures in postwar US political thought (Friedrich Hayek and Joseph Schumpeter), demonstrating how Schmitt shaped their own influential theories. This timely second edition underscores how and why the recent growth of interest in Schmitt has been prompted by political developments, for example, debates about counterterrorism and emergency government, and the rise of authoritarian populism.