Institutions in International Law in the United States

In national law, the main institutions are independent courts, representative parliaments, an accountable executive, the administration (including the police) and the legal profession. They all serve the civil society. John Locke, in his Two Treatises of Government, and Montesquieu, in The Spirit of the Laws, advocated for a separation of powers between the political, legislature and executive bodies.

Institutions in international law covers the place of international institutions within the international legal order, considering their structure, normative underpinnings, and activities. It focuses on international organisations (both inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations) and the role of civil society and national governments in both types of institution. International institutions reflect conflicting notions of fragmentation and unity in international law.

Principal topics covered by institutions in international law include:

• Diplomacy
• European Union
• International Organizations
• International Relations
• League of Nations
• United Nations
• Relationship between international institutions and international law
• Theory of fragmentation in international law and its relevance to international institutions
• International institutions: legal issues they face International institutions: how they relate to each other
• International institutions: key factors influencing them (from the perspective of law, policy, politics, diplomacy, and management)
• The complex role of international institutions in the development of international law and global governance
• The specialised international institutions (often based in Geneva), including their history, trends in their mission, influence and importance, recent developments, and reform proposals
• The theory surrounding fragmentation of international law, including the proliferation of institutions and dispute settlement tribunals and the proliferation of substantive laws
• Inter-organisational cooperation, coordination and conflict in areas such as trade, human rights the laws of war, and development;

Resources:

• Principles of international investment law, R Dolzer… – OUP Catalogue, 2012
• The development of international law by the International Court, H Lauterpacht – 2011
• The function of law in the international community, H Lauterpacht – 2011
• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Role in International Law, J Salzman – 2012
• Does International Law Promote the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes? Evidence from the Study of Territorial Conflicts since 1945
• PK Huth, SE Croco… – American Political Science …, 2011 – Cambridge Univ Press
• International Law and International Relations: Introducing an Interdisciplinary Dialogue, J Dunoff… – 2012
• Making the Law of the Sea: a Study in the Development of International Law, J Harrison – 2011