Is International Law Progressive?

• Department of Law

The International Law Working Group hosts a paper presentation by Cormac Mac Amhlaigh (University of Edinburgh).

Abstract:

The rise of authoritarian populism in recent years has raised the question of whether international law can be co-opted for authoritarian purposes. Tom Ginsburg has recently argued for the rise of what he calls ‘authoritarian international law’ which, he claims, is undermining the hitherto progressive ethos of international law since the foundation of the United Nations. This paper critically examines this category of authoritarian international law. Adopting a Dworkinian interpretive methodology to the question of the normativity of international law, it argues that authoritarianism is incompatible with the normativity of international law as currently understood. This is the case, the paper concludes, notwithstanding the types of practices to which Ginsburg refers to support his Authoritarian International Law thesis.  

Cormac Mac Amhlaigh pursued his studies at Queen's University Belfast and University College Dublin, before completing his PhD at the EUI. His research focuses on the conceptual and theoretical aspects of law and legitimacy, with a particular interest in how emerging forms of law and governance, especially those beyond the state, challenge traditional legal paradigms. He is also exploring the potential role of public law in addressing these challenges. His book, New Constitutional Horizons: Towards a Pluralist Constitutional Theory was published with Oxford University Press in 2022.