Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-30T10:56:14.221Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

National Courts and the International Rule of Law, by André Nollkaemper. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, xlv + 304 + (bibliography and index) 33pp (£70 hardback). ISBN 9780199236671.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Michael Freitas Mohallem
Michael Freitas Mohallem*
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Book Review
Information
Legal Studies , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 516 - 522
Copyright
Copyright © Society of Legal Scholars 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

100. Brownlie, I Principles of Public International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008)Google Scholar p 31; Harris, DJ Cases and Materials on International Law (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2004)Google Scholar p 66; Shaw, MN International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar p 120; Starke, JG Monism and Dualism in the Theory of International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1936)Google Scholar; Cassese, A ‘Modern constitutions and international law’ in Recueil des Cours vol 192 (Amsterdam: Martinus Nijhoff, 1986)Google Scholar p 394.

101. Buergenthal, T ‘Modern constitutions and human rights treaties’ 36 Columbia J Transnational Law 211 Google Scholar at 215.

102. Sunstein, CR And Holmes, S ‘The Politics Of Constitutional Revision In Eastern Europe’ In Levinson, S (Ed.) Responding to Imperfection: The Theory and Practice of Constitutional Amendment (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995)Google Scholar p 290; Stein, E ‘International Law in internal law: toward internationalization of Central-Eastern European constitutions’ 88 Amercian J Int Law 427 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 429. On the Latin American perspective, see Mohallem, MF ‘Immutable clauses and judicial review in India, Brazil and South Africa: expanding constitutional courts' authority’ 15 Int J Human Rights 765 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 767.

103. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 1.

104. Ibid, p 26.

105. Kirby, M ‘International law: the impact on national constitutions’ 1 American Society of Int Law Annual Meeting 55 Google Scholar.

106. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 1.

107. Ibid.

108. See, eg, France, Belgium and Costa Rica (Buergenthal, above n 101, at 215). Cassese (above n 100, p 402) refers to international law that is enforced in the level of supra-statutory legislation as ‘quasi-constitutional law’.

109. This is the case, eg, of Argentina and Brazil (among many Latin American countries) and Austria (with regard to the European Convention on Human Rights) (Buergenthal, ibid, at 217).

110. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, pp 112 and 124.

111. Ibid, p 4.

112. Sloss, D, The role of Domestic Courts in Treaty Enforcement: A Comparative Study (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar p 2.

113. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 5.

114. Ibid, p 7.

115. Ibid.

116. Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts. Available at http://www.oxfordlawreports.com.

117. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 57.

118. Ibid, p 58.

119. Ibid, p 24.

120. Ibid.

121. As Nollkaemper notes: ‘The principles of international law that are relevant to the jurisdiction of national courts are primarily concerned with the power of states rather than with the power of courts’ (ibid, p 22). Among the exceptions he refers to Art 67 of the Fourth Geneva Convention in addressing the power of courts of occupying states. The International Court of Justice decided in Cumuraswamy (Advisory Opinion) that the courts in Malaysia were obliged to deal with the question of immunity from legal as a preliminary question in legal processes (ibid, p 23). The decision, however, did not address which court should deal with the matter (ibid, p 24).

122. The book brings an example of the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) decision in Drozd and Janousek v France and Spain. On the occasion, the ECtHR referred to national courts being bound by the Convention ‘suggesting that the courts of Member States, and not only Member States as such, are bound by the European Convention on Human Rights (ibid, p 23). Also, Art 5(2) of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a rare example of ‘international source of judicial power’ as it obliges states to ‘establish its jurisdiction’ over issues protected by the treaty (ibid, p 35).

123. Ibid, p 122.

124. Ibid, p 126.

125. Ibid.

126. Ibid, p 128.

127. Ibid, p 122.

128. Ibid, p 143.

129. Ibid.

130. See De Londras, F ‘Dualism, domestic courts and the rule of international law’ in Sellers, M and Tomaszewski, T (eds) Ius Gentium: The Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective (Vienna: Springer, 2004)Google Scholar, ch 12; De Mestral, A and Fox-Decent, E ‘Rethinking the relationship between international and domestic law’ (2008) 53 McGill Law J 573 Google Scholar; Benvenisti, E ‘Substituting international law’ (1993) 100 Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law 289 Google Scholar.

131. Benvenisti, E and Downs, GW ‘National courts, domestic democracy and the evolution of international law’ (2009) 20 European J Int Law 59 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 243.

132. Ibid at 64.

133. Spiro, PJ ‘Treaties, international law and constitutional rights’ (1999) 55 Stanford Law Review 2026 Google Scholar.

134. Kumm, M ‘International law in national courts: the international rule of law and the limits of the internationalist model’ (2003) 44 Virginia J Int Law 19 Google Scholar.

135. McGinnis, J and Somin, I ‘Democracy and international human rights law’ (2009) 84 Notre Dame Law Review 1739 Google Scholar; McGinnis, J and Somin, I ‘Should international law be part of our law?’ (2007) 59 Stanford Law Review 1175 Google Scholar.

136. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 224.

137. Shelton, D ‘Legal norms to promote the independence and accountability of international tribunals’ (2003) 2 Law and Practice of Int Courts and Tribunals 27 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 27.

138. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 231.

139. Benvenisti, E and Downs, GW ‘toward global checks and balances’ (2009) 20 Constitutional Political Economy 366 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 383.

140. National Courts and the Rule of International Law, p 60.

141. Ibid, p 63.

142. Ibid, p 300.

143. Ibid, p 1.

144. Ibid, p 220.