Comments on: Is international law a legal system?

By: Credit rating agencies as courts of international finance | ThinSkull Blog

Credit rating agencies as courts of international finance | ThinSkull Blog — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:31:02 +0000

[...] US is an independent country subject no one’s will despite the international law. But since theinternational law is a legal system, there must be some consequences for the US. One such factor is international rating agencies. You [...]

By: Pulat Yunusov

Pulat Yunusov — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:07:21 +0000

David, no, never had a chance. But I had math and logic training, and I like analytic jurisprudence.

By: David Shulman

David Shulman — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:29:14 +0000

Were you once a philosophy student?

By: Pulat Yunusov

Pulat Yunusov — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:08:23 +0000

Thank you very much for your comments. Marnie, I’ll think about writing more on this topic…

By: Marnie Tunay

Marnie Tunay — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:49:51 +0000

Gee, what an interesting paper. Close to the end of it, you say: “This is the necessary first step in proving the nature of international law as a legal system. Next, I would like to demonstrate that international law is efficacious. Since an empirical proof seems impractical, I propose a theory based on Lon Fuller’s ideas43 and an “interactional theory of international law”44. This theory argues that international law is efficacious because it possesses internal morality.”

I would like to suggest, since you asked for suggestions, that in the next step after that, you start to consider what the unique character of an “international legal system” would be. Every real system has qualities unique to it.

Also, I can see the broad applicability of your reasoning in the paper to considerations of other global systems, for example, to the virtual system of protocols whereby “intelligence organizations” such as CSIS, M16, the C.I.A, and the JTTF share info with each other and with other “friendlies.”

And speaking of virtuality, it strikes me that your international legal system has something of a ‘virtual’ character to it.

There are a couple of people I can think of who might be helpful to you along the way in your search to arrive at the essential nature of the ILS. One is “Pithlord,” a lawyer who works for the B.C. govt and is an expert in “pith and substance law.” Seriously, he is. He’s written books and he gets quoted in court cases by judges. His blog URL is:
http://www.pithandsubstance.blogspot.com/
We don’t personally agree on many things; but he’s a very nice man, and he will help you if he can.
The other person you might look up on your way to Damascus is Andy Moyer. He’s an expert in systematics:
http://www.soliancegroup.com/andrew.htm

Also, if you publish anything more along these lines, I would love to read it. If you develop your theory to the point of publishing a book along these lines, I would definitely buy it.
My email address is marnietunay@shaw.ca
So don’t forget me if you publish anything.

By: Omar Ha-Redeye

Omar Ha-Redeye — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:14:40 +0000

I asked the same question, right before I started law school.

Since then, I’ve refined my position to suggest that international law does exist, but it is a different type of law than we commonly think of.

Perhaps the greatest example of the existence of an “international legal system” is that many international laws are incorporated into domestic law. As you mention, states themselves choose to bind their actions through custom and treaty. Human rights legislation is just one example of this, but there are many others.

This does not mean that there are not problems with enforcing international law. It does not mean that international laws are not broken. And it does not mean that international laws can change from what they are now to something else in the future.

But all of these problems are also present in domestic legal systems.