The Logic of International Law

Description

Most work in legal logic is generalist or takes domestic law as the standard case. International law as a field has some distinctive features, however. Lacking a formal and centralised structure, international law is the result of the direct action of its addressees: States, international organisations, non-governmental entities, transnational companies, and even individuals. Furthermore, while in domestic law the rules are organised hierarchically, in international law such vertical order is still scarce. Finally, international law undergoes continuous expansion — the proliferation of special regimes can lead to complex challenges to international cooperation, obscuring which applicable rules are determinative in case of a conflict.

In this manner, insights from domestic law may not always be automatically applied to international law. Sometimes, a 'translation' is necessary. In other cases, the distinctive features pertaining to international law demand the development of specific logical tools to deal with its singular matters. In that connection, it is relevant to point out that there is no single logic in the world but many workable logics. Defining which logic is the best for each case depends on the purpose for which that logic is to be used, among other reasons. As such, international law may provide fruitful ground for legal logicians to develop, expand, and test their theories. At the same time, some of the perspectives presented by legal logic may offer valuable tools to international legal scholars for analysing and conceptualising international law. Investigating the relationship between legal logic and the field of international law appears to be a worthwhile endeavour.

Period	14 Nov 2022 → 15 Nov 2022
Event type	Conference
Location	Maastricht, NetherlandsShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International