Foundations of Global Law

Full course description

Law is typically thought of as the result of the exercise of State sovereignty. This intuition immediately confines the law’s effects to the territory where sovereignty is exercised, making it a local phenomenon. However, this picture of the law is insufficient. States are in constant interaction among themselves, requiring thus their own regulation. This regulation takes the form of international treaties and conventions. Considering these two spheres of action, the national and international, one might think that the picture of law starts becoming fully formed. 

Although this image of the law still stands in many respects, it is insufficient when addressing several contemporary issues that affect us globally. First, it does not account for the appearance of international non-state actors and supra-national institutions, such as the United Nations, European Union, World Trade Organization, World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, and transnational companies, and their interaction. Second, it does not provide fitting solutions to global problems, such as inequality, global poverty, climate change, global health, and mass-human migration. Third, the division between national and international simplifies the relationship between modern states and ignores global injustices western powers have committed in the past through imperialism and colonialism.

This course will provide the conceptual and normative tools required to critically assess current global issues and their impact on our understanding of the law. The new challenges we face demand a thorough re-examination of our current legal institutions and their place in a globalized world. It invites us to think of a new dimension that goes beyond the national and international: the global. Thinking of law as Global Law forces us to reassess traditional core categories in legal thinking, such as a) sources, b) authority, and c) subjects. These categories are at the core of this course.

What are the sources of global law? Given the very nature of the contemporary problems we face, traditional sources of law such as constitutions, legislators, and treaties and conventions are not suitable to answer this question. Who is the ultimate authority on issues that global law covers? What is the justification for such authority? What makes this authority legitimate? The traditional categories of authority do not cover enough ground to provide an adequate response to these inquiries. Lastly, who are the subjects of global law? What is the relationship between global law and non-human entities? What is the role of rights in the development of global law?

Over seven weeks, this course will critically explore these questions. Each session will revolve around a topic that will address a dimension of global law. Doing so will shed light on the challenges that an interconnected world brings to our current understanding of the law and related concepts.