Domestic Judicial Law-Making

Antonios Tzanakopoulos 

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law
June 10, 2013

Research Handbook on the Theory and Practice of International Law-Making, Catherine Brölmann and Yannick Radi, eds, Edward Elgar, Forthcoming 
Abstract:      
This contribution to the Research Handbook on the Theory and Practice of International Law-Making discusses the law-making potential of domestic courts. Given the seemingly strict 'dualist' approach of international law to domestic law and domestic court decisions ('merely facts'), the paper demonstrates the modest international law-developing function of domestic courts: it first details their methods in engaging international law, and then discusses the impact of such engagement. It concludes that domestic courts may, in terms of content, fine-tune rules of international law rather than set grand principles. In terms of process, this is done by 'suggesting' the fine-tuning, rather than in any way single-handedly developing international law.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 19

Keywords: domestic courts in international law, domestic law and international law, development of international law, international law-making

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2295410