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ID:
148774
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| Summary/Abstract |
Today, concepts of constitutionalism are widely used in international legal scholarship, both to describe and to promote changes in the international legal order in support of the rule of law, the protection of human rights and other common values of the international community. Against this background, the present article deals with a question so far addressed only cursorily—the “writtenness” of international constitutional law. Can we assume the existence of an “unwritten” international constitution, or does the very concept of a constitution in the modern sense require that a constitution is laid down in written form? The article discusses the importance of “writtenness” in modern constitutionalism and addresses the “English exception”, that is the absence, in the United Kingdom, of a document called “the constitution”. The paper concludes with a plea for taking the constitutional character of the UN Charter more seriously, arguing that the idea of an unwritten constitution of the international community does not provide a viable alternative.
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| 2 |
ID:
163439
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| Summary/Abstract |
In the past twenty years or so, the concept of the rule of law, cherished for centuries as a constitutional principle in a domestic legal context, has attracted much attention from international lawyers and international organizations. In particular, the United Nations has devoted substantial effort and time to studying and defining the international dimension of the concept, to concretizing specific legal consequences, and to applying the concept to its own mandate and work, especially in the area of the maintenance of international peace and security. Against this background, the present article enquires into the relationship between the concept of an international rule of law as advanced by the United Nations and the UN Charter. To what extent can the concept be said to be inherent in the Charter, although the term itself does not appear in its text? Comparing the original design of the Charter with the rule of law as developed by the UN, the article observes a progressive expansion of the concept in several dimensions, but at the same time its persistent vagueness.
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