The United States refuses to sign onto the treaty for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, fearing the court's independent prosecutor could direct actions against Americans. The World Trade Organization (WTO) hears a dispute on U.S. tariffs likely to have dramatic effects on whether clothes are designed and made in China or the United States. Protesting what it views as anti-U.S. policies, the New York state legislature holds up legislation that would permit the United Nations to increase its security and build more office space. These are some of the ongoing issues addressed in The Law of Global Governance and Regulation, taught by Professor José Alvarez, a former U.S. State Department legal advisor and a leading scholar in international law.
Photo Credit: David Arroyo
In the post-World War II era, large international organizations have proliferated. While these organizations are rarely explicitly authorized to make law, many do so—or at least engage in actions with legal effects. Some organizations enforce rules without benefit of either a legislative or executive branch. And despite the absence of a single global court with binding jurisdiction, an international judiciary exists. With some 20 full-scale international courts operating around the world, and nearly 100 less-formal international dispute settlers adjudicating in some way, questions arise: Why do states establish such bodies? Is their proliferation a positive development, or is international forum-shopping a problem? Do such entities threaten "sovereignty"?
The course examines how intergovernmental organizations are changing the traditional sources of international obligation, the types of law-making actors, and even the processes by which states are made to behave. The class differs from other international law courses because it focuses less on black letter rules than on institutions, especially UN system organizations, financial institutions such as the World Bank, and the WTO. The course spans the traditional boundaries separating public international law from international economic law. Students are as likely to be exposed to the rules governing UN peacekeepers as to those governing international trade. The course also explores enforcement mechanisms that are more social than legal, such as "mobilizing shame."
"Global Governance forces students to think critically about how international law gets made, as opposed to national law," says Prof. Alvarez. "For example, should international courts act like national courts to produce an international common law despite the absence of a doctrine of stare decisis? And, should international judges apply rules of constitutional interpretation or canons of interpretation that we associate with judges on the U.S. Supreme Court?"
Students are encouraged to write reactions to two public-speaking events organized by Prof. Alvarez through Columbia's Center on Global Legal Problems. Speakers have included lawyers of several UN system organizations, judges on the International Criminal Court, and prominent UN officials. Students also have heard from lawyers in private practice who are, for example, challenging the convictions of individuals facing the U.S. death penalty before the International Court of Justice, and those on both sides of a World Court advisory opinion on the legalities of a perimeter built by Israel that intersects the occupied territories.
