In person icon How Can International Courts be Legitimate?

Abstract

The growing role of international courts and tribunals (ICs) in global governance has been noted by scholars and policy makers alike. As ICs have become more entangled in governing, concerns arise over their legitimacy. For example, last year the International Criminal Court suffered through a very public legitimacy crisis. This panel takes up the issue of the normative legitimacy of ICs. What tools or strategies are available to ICs to enhance their legitimacy? Should ICs be democratically legitimate – and if so how? Can and should ICs enhance their legitimacy through public outreach programs, or through public reason? How do judicial review, lawmaking and judicial interpretation shape the legitimacy of ICs and tribunals? Are there particular design features of ICs (access, independence, etc.) that can enhance their legitimacy? Together the papers consider behavioral as well as design dimensions of courts and how these dimensions relate to legitimacy. Drawing upon a variety of empirical and philosophical approaches these papers address the principles and values that lie at the center of the legitimacy of international courts. The panel takes a broad look at the legitimacy of international courts by including papers that speak in relation to ICs in general as well papers that address specific ICs. In this regard, the papers jointly offer a broad comparative picture of the legitimacy of ICs and tribunals, looking at International Court of Justice, the European Court of Justice, the WTO dispute mechanism, the European Court of Human Rights, investor-state arbitration, and regional trade courts.

Title	Details
(De-)Legitimating International Courts and Tribunals: Strategies and Effects	View Paper Details
Participation and International Courts: Legitimacy Enhancing?	View Paper Details
Can the European Court of Justice be an Exemplary Institution of Public Reason?	View Paper Details
What does it Mean to Say that an International Court has a 'Public Reason'?	View Paper Details