Realism in International Legislation

Authors

  • Jasper Doomen Department of Law, Leiden University, The Netherlands

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33178/ijpp.4.1.3

Abstract

The status of ‘international law’ is examined critically. In the first section, the basis of (national) legislation is described. This consists of an inquiry into a credible meaning of ‘natural law’. It is focused on the question whether universal principles exist and, if so, of what kind. Section 2 deals with the issue of enforcement. National legislation invariably realizes this, but this is not obvious at the international level. Section 3 deals with human rights. It is discussed whether their presence points to the existence of ‘international law’. To this end, a possible reason for these rights to have developed is expounded.

References

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Published

2012-01-01

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